I can never outline my fics. I've tried to do it before, but whenever I do that it always ends up evolving on me and becoming something completely different from what I originally wanted it to be. Once the story settles on a certain direction or form then I can keep up with it, but bad things happen when I try to actually outline fics.
I can never outline my fics. I've tried to do it before, but whenever I do that it always ends up evolving on me and becoming something completely different from what I originally wanted it to be. Once the story settles on a certain direction or form then I can keep up with it, but bad things happen when I try to actually outline fics.
The same thing happens to me except it's in battle scenes. Just when I think I have most of it figured out, something eventually changes and I have to constantly make adjustments.
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone new, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone knew, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Different, and thus fairly interesting in that respect. It's always fascinating to take a look at something in a new light, and get into a character's thoughts.
And I guess the song helped set the mood; someone was checking out backs. ;p
Location: In a place of extremes. From below freezing to above boiling.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone new, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Your author's notes kill me dead, Mistress. I swear to God they do.
Onto the fic itself now: I must say that I was surprised you would write something about this particular pairing, but it was... interesting nonetheless. I'm sorry to say that I can't help but feel a bit queasy when reading that a man of 31 years of age is pining after an eighteen-year-old. I know the concept is not yours, but I still wanted to state my opinion on it.
I sympathize with Yuuno's feelings of hurt as he sees his former girlfriend become attracted to someone else; they were portrayed very well and it makes one feel somewhat bad for him, even if he's slowly learning to move on... but I still feel it's a bit too squick for me to completely feel for him.
__________________
"You wanted to say that, but you didn't have enough common sense."
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone new, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Nice . I liked how Yuuno wanted that closure, yet he had still moved on. It's an interesting nebulous area that I think you caught quite well, and everyone handled it like adults (well, maybe Vivio's deliberate? ignoring of Yuuno might be a tad childish, but she's the youngest person involved here so she can be forgiven). Although it may seem selfish of Yuuno, since he was the one who let Vivio go and moved on first, his mild jealousy is still very sympathetic and understandable.
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone new, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
I had to actually go back on my notes to see if I had missed something in the setting before I realized that it wasn't your setting, but Raiser's. Anyway, onto the fic itself, it did put a certain amount of closure to Vivio, but I didn't felt as much for Yuuno himself. Sure, he felt less bad about the relantionship with Vivio, but he decided to 'move on' more on a rational decision than an emotional one.
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
“Don’t it always seem to go
That you don’t know what you got ‘til it’s gone?
They paved paradise and put up a parking lot.”
Yuuno Scrya knew that in any other situation he could easily have been considered a stalker; the only thing that saved him from gaining that distinction was that the couple he’d glimpsed over the past week happened to visit his workplace at least once a day, so thankfully he escaped being labeled as a stalker by any overzealous moral guardian.
But in the end, nothing changed the fact that they were in again.
“They” being Vivio Takamachi and Lutecia Alphine. The second girl Yuuno didn’t care for much; she was nice, certainly, and relatively friendly from the few times he had spoken to her, but she didn’t really hold his attention for all that long.
No, the girl he saw, the one who he couldn’t look at without aching, was Vivio. His former girlfriend. The girl he’d given up on when she’d taken too long to come to him once she turned eighteen. The girl he’d broken up with three months ago, when he had struck out and started to date another woman.
Not that he regretted being with his current girlfriend. Ebony Audi, a fellow colleague and the person he had dated over the past three months, was an intelligent, beautiful woman in her own right. He enjoyed her company a great deal, and he knew that her feelings for him ran deep and true. He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody.
But still, the shadow of what could have been flitted across his mind from time to time.
Almost without even thinking, his eyes found her. Vivio was wandering through the stacks, absently running her finger over the spines of books as she checked out the shelves, occasionally pulling one down and opening it to flip through a few pages. Lutecia wasn’t with her; the older woman had left her behind awhile ago to do something, leaving Vivio alone for the time being.
He knew he was staring, but Vivio didn’t seem to be aware that he was watching her; of that if she was aware, she didn’t acknowledge it. It was a drastic change from three months ago; before then, she never would have been able to stay in the library this long, much less ignore the times he so much as glanced at her.
It hurt; it hurt because Yuuno knew what it meant. Oh, he’d known all along that eventually Vivio would move on and find someone new, and this past week he’d seen some pretty strong hints that the younger girl was moving in Lutecia’s direction. Her flirtatious comments and teasing, while quiet while in the library, had been almost impossible to miss. The fact that Lutecia had smirked and responded assured Yuuno that the attraction was vastly mutual.
Shaking his head, Yuuno cleared his mind and hesitated a moment before he made a decision. Rising from his place behind the desk, he rounded it and started towards Vivio. He didn’t know what he was trying to do, he just knew he needed to do something to get this nagging uncertainty off his mind, something to confirm—
“Vivio? I checked the vending machines and they didn’t have much of a selection, so I got you the closest I could get to caramel milk; I wasn’t about to question what they had in there…”
Lutecia’s voice was soft, but she didn’t need to shout to get Vivio’s attention; as the older woman appeared at the end of the aisle, two drinks balanced in her arms, the teenager glanced up and saw her friend. Her eyes lit up, her whole body seemed to straighten, and a happy smile curved her lips. Setting down her book, she walked over to her friend, gently fishing a drink from her hold. Clicking open the can and taking a long drink, she lowered it with a smirk. “Doesn’t taste so bad to me.”
Yuuno didn’t know why, but the comment made the summoner blush. Vivio’s smirk widened.
Neither of them even seemed aware of his presence.
Realizing what it meant, Yuuno ached for an instant longer; and he let go. Blowing out a quiet breath, he slid his hands into his pockets and rocked back on his heels before he turned and headed back to his desk. Despite everything, somehow….
The pain wasn’t so bad anymore.
Settling back down again, he made a mental note to call Ebony tonight; she would be returning from her dig pretty early, and it had been a long time since they’d gotten together and did something nice.
Vivio was moving on with her life.
Yuuno knew it was about time he started doing the same thing.
The End
Spoiler for Author's Notes:
I struggle over this fic for several days, then switch on my iTunes and listen to "Baby Got Back" and finish it in four minutes. WHAT. THE. HELL.
Nice, though I wouldn't call it a Vivio/Yuuno fic
Anyways, I did like it and it was well written, but something feels a bit off. Maybe it's due to the hour...
In One Step Behind, Yuuno had already moved on for the most part. Since Vivio hadn't contacted him for many weeks after she graduated, he [erroneously] assumed that meant she had lost interest in him which is why he started seeing some one new. When Vivio did meet him, she lied and said that was exactly the case and that was the end of that so far as Yuuno was concerned. Of course he still might have his doubts if it really was true, so your fic still works and seeing her with Lutecia would confirm that she lost interest in him.
... Geh, I'm not sure if I'm getting my point across or not or if I'm just babbling x_x Anyways, from Yuuno's POV, Vivio is the one who dumped him.
... Maybe I'll be able to figure out what my point is in the morning
Anyways, from Yuuno's POV, Vivio is the one who dumped him.
I suppose I always interpreted the ending differently. When I read it I always saw as Vivio being the one who was dumped, since Yuuno never actively tried to go after her himself and just waited, and then decided to move on when she didn't come. That was my thought process, which might explain why the fic turned out the way it did.
I suppose I always interpreted the ending differently. When I read it I always saw as Vivio being the one who was dumped, since Yuuno never actively tried to go after her himself and just waited, and then decided to move on when she didn't come. That was my thought process, which might explain why the fic turned out the way it did.
What's interesting about this is that since both waited for each other, both think that they were dumped. Both Yuuno and Vivio didn't activelly pursued an answer. The thing was that Yuuno 'moved on' (I still don't see that part too well) earlier. He had this girl around that was in love with him, so it was easier for him to grab the next best thing. Not that it was 'right' but he 'moved on'.
Well, I guess it's more a fault with One Step Behind if anything In the first place I wrote that fic because RB wanted to see what would happen if Yuuno had found some one new during the year, so I had to think of some way to get him to give up on Vivio after all the feelings he showed for her in the previous installments. Assuming that Vivio dumped him is what I came up with
I revised my first chapter and made some significant changes but I want your opinions as well. I'm damn sure I need to change something somewhere so please point out.
“Why…Fate…why did you do this?” Nanoha croaked with blood flowing from her mouth.
Fate just stared at her with an expression mixed with indifference and sympathy, her eyebrows dropping a little.
“I’m not the Fate you once knew. I’d rather we do not cross paths again in case I have to kill you. You are not a priority target so go before I change my mind,” Fate said with a glassy look.
“But…” Nanoha started but Fate pointed Bardiche at Nanoha’s face menacingly.
“I may not have all my will but I still retain some…so please…do me a favor…and go,” Fate said as her expression changed to sadness.
Nanoha got to her feet and slowly backed away with Raging Heart in her right hand. She gritted her teeth in pain as the pain surged from her dislocated left leg.
“Fate, remember this. I will save you and I will make sure you’re back to your old self,” Nanoha muttered and limped away.
When Nanoha was out of earshot, Fate closed her eyes and her glassy look returned.
“I wouldn’t count on luck, Nanoha. You don’t have the time,” Fate said and swished her tail.
Turning around, she walked the opposite direction and disappeared among the burning streets of Cranagan.
Three years prior…
“In other news, the rebellion at Jericho has ended and the rebels surrendered to the TSAB. It is understandable that the people on Jericho were unsatisfied with the government but living on a planet with a population of two million people and under the TSAB’s watchful eyes, one comes to wonder how and why the rebellion happened in the first place and surrendered even though the rebels were self-sufficient. Three months of fighting against the TSAB forces and the government forces did not seem to slow their momentum but before the end of March, the rebels surrendered unconditionally. Two rebel leaders are now in custody and are being questioned by investigators.”
Nanoha turned up the volume of her radio and continued chopping some carrots in the kitchen.
“No one knows how the rebellion was spurred but one-third of the planet’s population has joined the rebellion and it must take a charismatic and brave leader to make war with the government and an inter-dimensional peacekeeping force. Though they did not reveal the name of their leader, they refer their leader as Our Great Leader. TSAB officials believe that the leader of the rebellion spread lies about the TSAB, saying that the organization is corrupt, unjust and caring only for the planetary superpowers like Mid-Childa. The propaganda seemed to work because this is reinforced with the existence of an inept government and the lack of presence and support from the TSAB that many Jerichoians wanted. Jacob Klaus, secretary-general of the TSAB, stated that the Board of Directors may consider increasing TSAB presence on Jericho and other less-cared-for planets in order to prevent another uprising and to care for the needs of the people,”
“And that means a transfer for me,” Nanoha muttered.
She turned her head towards the dining table and looked at the transfer letter placed next to a glass of water. Two hours ago, she received the transfer letter and she was being transferred to Jericho to assist in peacekeeping missions. It wasn’t a permanent transfer-seven months maximum-but Nanoha felt more at home in Cranagan and with her family.
“Meanwhile, the TSAB is reinvesting the case of mass illegal researches after calls from Dr. Einhaust Ford to renew investigations-” Nanoha turned off the radio.
“Heard that too many times,” Nanoha said to herself.
Just then, her communicator beeped. She stopped chopping the carrots and went to receive the call.
“Hello.”
“Hello, Nanoha, how are you?” Fate asked happily.
“Ah, it’s great to hear from you, Fate. I’m doing quite well but I’m getting transferred to Jericho to assist in peacekeeping missions. Apparently, the TSAB presence at Jericho is weak at the moment and they’re transferring mages from several well-established worlds to the less established ones,” Nanoha answered.
“Think you can handle Jericho’s low gravity and ion storms? I heard that Jericho’s a wasteland,” Fate said.
“It should be fine. The TSAB has several mobile bases established and have up-to-date storm shields. Besides, I doubt that I’ll be seeing any combat since the rebellion is already over. I’m nothing more than a peacekeeper and trainer,” Nanoha said with a chuckle.
“And to instill fear in the enemy,” Fate added. “Your achievements over the years have earned you much fame and I doubt that the rebels don’t know about you. My guess is that if you show your face there, the TSAB hopes to prevent future rebellions from happening.”
“Well…that could be true though I never had the impression that I’m that well-known,” remarked Nanoha.
“You can thank the media for that.”
“No thanks, I’d rather stay who I am.”
“Good luck on that, Nanoha. Oh, I have to go now. I’m going to Eridani with a team to investigate the illegal activities that has happened for who-knows-how-long ago. Damn that Einhaust Ford.”
“Take care, Fate. Hope to see you again when I come back from Jericho,” Nanoha said and closed her communicator.
Nanoha paused for a while and rubbed her chin. After ten seconds of silence, she dialed Hayate’s communicator number. The line was busy and Nanoha assumed that Hayate was busy.
“I have to find someone to look after Vivio. I’ll be leaving soon,” she said to no one in particular.
She thought for a while and dialed Subaru’s number.
“Hello?” Subaru’s voice came from the other end.
“Hello, Subaru, it’s me, Nanoha.”
“Captain Nanoha, what a surprise to hear from you. Is there any favor that I owe you?”
“Yes, in fact, I have two things I want you to do for me if it is okay with you.”
“And what will those two be?”
“I’ll be leaving for Jericho soon on peacekeeping missions and I need you to take care of Vivio. Also, since I’m away and there aren’t any other trainers around to teach the new batch of trainees, I want you to ask Nove and see if she is willing to act as substitute trainer.”
“Hmm, my father has retired from the TSAB so I guess he should have the time to care for Vivio. As for your second request, I’ll give you the answer once I ask Nove about it. If you would excuse me, Captain, I have some urgent meetings to attend to. The Jericho Rebellion Incident is a pain in the ass.”
The line went dead instantly. Nanoha nodded and looked at the clock. She quickly made some lunch for herself and wrote a note to Vivio while waiting for her soup to cook. She stuck it on the front door and went to take a bath. Half an hour later, she came out from the house with a luggage bag in her left hand after taking her lunch.
“Another day, another hour wasted thinking on what to do on Jericho,” Nanoha said with a crooked smile.
***
“Name please?” the registration officer said to a new recruit.
“Lumina Belensky,” the teenage recruit in front of her desk said.
“Home world?”
“Earth.”
“Do you mean Non-management World 97?” the officer asked while looking at Lumina.
“If that is what you call it, then I guess it’s a yes,” Lumina answered.
The officer stared at her for a while before continuing with her work.
“We don’t see many recruits from non-administered worlds and you’re the fourth one from Non-management World 97. How did you come to know of the TSAB?” the officer asked as she typed something into her computer.
“I was told by a man that I have magical powers in me. At first I didn’t believe in him but after a “mock battle” with a monster he summoned, he taught me how to activate some…thingy with command lines and all. It’s complicated but in the end, I agreed to join the TSAB,” Lumina explained.
“You seem rather eager to leave your family behind.”
“Screw them, they don’t care about me so why continue my boring life and all when I can do something that no one else can do?”
The officer nodded her head. “An ambitious young lady, aren’t you? Just so you know that you’ve met one of the secret recruiters sent to non-administered worlds to recruit those with magical powers. I know it’s wrong but the Board of Directors say that the TSAB has spread too thin and we have insufficient manpower to cover every planet we have established our presence on. It’s an act of desperation,” the officer said without looking up at Lumina.
She gave a form to Lumina and an ID card. Pointing at the door beside the registry counter, the officer said, “After filling the form, just hand it to the next registration officer and she will have your ID card activated. Your weekly schedule will be given to you later.”
Lumina thanked the officer and went into the next room. There were a lot of new recruits and many of them came from different worlds and backgrounds. Some were tall and pale while others looked like an ordinary human from Earth.
“Now I’ve seen it all,” Lumina muttered.
She took out a pen and sat at an empty table and began filling the form. When she was half done, Lumina was approached by a tomboyish lady.
“You seem rather slow in writing,” the lady said.
Lumina looked up at her and smiled weakly.
“Just thinking of answers,” she said casually.
The lady smiled and extended a hand towards Lumina. “My name is Camriel Logan from Jericho. I’m here because I’ve always wanted to join the TSAB.”
“My name is Lumina Belensky from Earth. I came here because I wanted to get away from an extremely boring life,” Lumina answered.
“The TSAB isn’t a place for fun and games, Lumina. Keep that in mind and you’ll spare the trainer’s wrath. Do you know who our trainer is?” Camriel asked with arms crossed.
“Not exactly.”
“She’s known as the Ace of Aces and her name is Nanoha Takamachi. Five years ago, she helped took down a gigantic Belkan warship known as the Saint’s Cradle. That’s a pretty impressive feat if you ask me.”
“You mean she attacked it from the outside?!” asked Lumina while imagining a woman carrying a minigun and shooting at a ship.
“No, that would be a bit impossible. She attacked it from the inside and deprived the ship of its controller. I heard that this controller is actually her daughter and she’s a pretty tough one to beat. If that is true, I must meet her face to face.”
Just then, another registration officer came into the room to address the new recruits. “Please hurry up and fill in your details in the form.”
“Tch, what a bossy woman,” Camriel snorted.
“I suggest we fill in the forms and proceed. I feel uncomfortable with her watching at us,” Lumina said softly.
With the registration completed, the recruits were given their uniforms and had their ID cards activated. They were not given any devices though some of the recruits already had one. Lumina looked at her amulet, which was shaped like a star.
“You already got a device? Lucky you,” Camriel joked.
“That strange recruiter guy gave it to me to fight the monster he summoned. Don’t you guys use any guns around here?” Lumina asked while fiddling with her amulet.
“Well, the TSAB bans firearms and mass weaponry so the only way to fight is to use magical devices. Personally, I feel that magical devices are far better than firearms.”
“We’ll see about that,” Lumina said.
***
Vice winced as a lightning bolt struck too close to his helicopter. The sky was nothing but a blanket of dull yellow clouds that blocked the blue sky and spewed lightning bolts every five seconds. He was supposed to fly to the Southern Cross Command Base to evacuate some civilians to a less hostile area of Jericho but the ion storm grounded his aircraft and there was no way to get there. For an hour, the storm has caused damages to the outpost he was at and the engineers were working around the clock to repair the faulty storm shield that went offline prior to the start of the ion storm. Another bolt struck close to his helicopter, throwing up some dirt at the helicopter’s wind screen.
“Screw the storm, I’m outta here,” Vice grumbled.
He put on his oxygen mask and exited the helicopter. The moment he opened the door, he could smell ionized air. The wind was blowing quite hard, making it hard for him to move. Haze covered the area and visibility was less than 50 meters. He could vaguely see the pulsating light of the outpost’s communications tower.
“Vice, what are you doing out of your helicopter? Get back in there or you’ll get killed,” his commanding officer said over the comm piece.
“Sorry sir but staying in there is going to kill me as well. I need proper shelter,” Vice answered.
Just as he said that, a lightning bolt blew his helicopter into burning bits. A piece of shrapnel nearly cut his thigh as it flew past Vice like a missile.
“This storm is hampering my mission, sir. As much as I have to carry out my orders, I’m not going anywhere if my equipment malfunctions,” Vice added.
“Alright, get back inside now. I can’t afford to lose another helicopter pilot,” the commanding officer replied.
Vice found the base entrance and entered. He was glad to be out of the firing zone but he was ordered not to take off his mask because the outside air was leaking into the base.
“Let’s just hope the storm calms before the mages arrive. Currently, we can’t establish contact with the flagship Windsor so we’re taking orders directly from Southern Cross until the ion storm calms down,” Vice’s commanding officer said.
“And how long will that take?”
“I’m not sure. The weather patterns are hard to predict and the ion particles in the atmosphere are messing with our equipment. Who would’ve guessed that civilization still exist in a wasteland such as Jericho,” the officer said dryly.
A dull explosion occurred at the east wing of the outpost and the entire base was plunged into darkness. The emergency lights came on and illuminated the base with eerie red lights.
“Damn, the storm must have knocked out the power plant,” the commander muttered. He looked at Vice and said, “Vice, the civilians still need evacuation and personals at Southern Cross are still bringing in more and more survivors from the ruins of Jericho City. Sooner or later, the refugee quarters will be packed. Can you pilot anything else besides a helicopter?”
“I have limited training with armored personal carriers but are you serious in asking me to ride into the storm? Southern Cross is a few hundred miles from here and we have no satellite navigation to guide us. Besides, a dust storm is brewing as well and visibility is less than fifty meters. Added to the danger is the presence of the ever-growing ion storm that blasted my helicopter to bits,” Vice complained.
“At least your device is still safe,” the commander said casually. He looked outside and muttered something. “No wonder the TSAB refused to establish a strong presence here. This place is hell.” He looked at Vice again with a stern look. “I may be your commanding officer but usually I take my orders from General Rico aboard the flagship Halcyon. Since the storm has blocked out everything coming from the space command fleet, we’ll have to take orders from the blockheads at Southern Cross no matter how bad circumstances are…even you,” he said dangerously.
Vice did not argue for he knew the penalties of disobeying orders that came from his superiors. Though the commander was his superior, he was a friend and he could tolerate Vice’s complaints but if he tried that to the generals at Southern Cross, they might have Vice court-martialed for insubordination.
“I have a guide here who knows Jericho’s terrain well even when there’s an ion storm. She’ll lead the way as your co-pilot. Oh, she’s from the TSAB’s Jericho branch.”
He led Vice to the command room where all communications equipment were placed and in the middle of the room was a device that projected a holographic map of Jericho. What used to be the map of Jericho was now full of static and a red ‘error’ word blipped amidst the static. Standing in front of the map was a young lady with neat blonde hair trimmed according to new TSAB regulations.
“Miss Francisca, we’re going ahead with the relocation. You’ll be Vice’s guide to Southern Cross,” the commander said when she noticed their presence.
Francisca gave Vice a mysterious smile and nodded. “So you’re the transfer pilot from Mid-Childa. I hope you’ve been having a happy life there because what awaits you on Jericho is nothing but hell. Since you can’t fly an aircraft in this kind of storm, the only option is to use an APC. You concentrate on driving while I’ll be manning the sonar control. That should let us see the terrain ahead even in zero visibility.”
“W-wait, I’m not skilled at driving armored vehicles. I’m an aircraft pilot; not a vehicle driver,” Vice protested.
“You’re the only available pilot in this outpost so tell me one thing, Vice. What is more important, your own life or the lives of the people of Jericho? Isn’t the TSAB supposed to be a peacekeeping organization that also handles disaster response and taking care of the inhabitants of many different worlds we establish our presence on? Personal luxury and safety comes second, that’s what my father always told me,” Francisca said while pointing a finger at Vice.
Vice looked at the commander and at Francisca again. It did not seem like he had a choice so he sighed and rubbed the back of his head.
“Well, I’ll see what I can do with a vehicle. I can’t guarantee a smooth drive so don’t blame me if I hit a tree or fall into a pit.”
“I’ve seen worse. Commander, when can we leave?”
“You may leave now and I suggest you hurry because I have a feeling that the top brass at Southern Cross aren’t gonna be happy. We’ve already delayed for too long.”
“Besides, transfer mages from other worlds are coming and they need the space at Southern Cross,” Francisca added.
“Alright, alright, I get it!” Vice said loudly.
Francisca handed him the keys and led Vice to the vehicles garage. Only two vehicles were present in there. One was the APC and the other was an armored car and it was being repaired by two mechanics.
“The AG-667 APC is built to suit Jericho’s hostile environment. It can withstand up to four hits from lightning bolts and it is amphibious. Advanced suspension system ensures a smooth ride and state-of-the-art engines give it a top speed of seventy-two kilometers an hour. As according to TSAB rules, it is not armed but it has firing ports for mages to launch counterattacks when required. Fuel consumption is surprisingly low for a vehicle like this and it costs almost two million credits to manufacture this APC,” Francisca said enthusiastically while patting the vehicle.
“I didn’t know she was into vehicles,” Vice muttered to the commander.
“Me too,” the commander muttered back.
Vice shrugged and entered the vehicle. He adjusted the seat and inserted the key into the ignition key keyhole. This wasn’t a helicopter and the controls felt almost foreign to him. Francisca took her seat at the right side of the APC and pressed a few buttons that activated the sensor system aboard the APC.
“We’re good to go, Vice,” she said.
“I’m gonna regret this.”
The garage door opened and in an instant, strong wind blasted into the garage, messing up the place. One mechanic nearly fell off the armored car roof but hung onto the railing of the armored car. Vice hit the accelerator and the APC sped into the storm.
“Just another day at work. I’m glad I’m not a vehicle pilot,” the commander quipped.
Depends on the type of story. If it's straight forward (Hero A meets Baddie B, loses, training montage, defeats Baddie B, Meets Baddie C...lather, rinse, repeat), then on the fly works. But outlining is essential for multilayer plots. You have to remember where your threads are (especially if you find yourself picking up the story a couple months down the line), and outlining, notes, fingerpaintings, etc. are really the only way to do it. And research! You never know what kind of weird information you'll find out which will help in other stories as well as flesh out your characters.
So anyway, for a long time I've owed Raiser a Yuuno/Vivio fic request, and kind of struggled with the concept of it. I finally managed to get it pinned down and finished today, but I don't know how well the idea of it comes across, heh. I basically did the best I could with it, since it's outside my usual realm of comfort.
Set several months after "One Step Behind".
Spoiler for Paved Paradise:
*snip*
I continue to remain utterly in awe of your writing speed. I'm not sure that I can even get my fingers to move that fast, let alone think of actual words to put down. And hey, the song's apropos for the Sankt Kaiser, right?
Vita: Don't worry, Signum; you'll always be "boob monster" to me!
Signum: No, really, feel free to give Her Majesty her proper due.
Hayate: Pay attention, you two; we're talking about the other letter in "T&A"
Okay, natter about the author's note aside, I did enjoy the fic. I think what worked the best was the way it followed up on the "unfinished business" aspect of Yuuno walking away. Basically, Vivio hesitated and Yuuno gave up, which means that they never really resolved anything between them. Thus, Yuuno is left semi-pining for Vivio because he's got that whole "what if? what if?" scenario working through his brain. In essence, only when Vivio slams the door on that by getting involved with someone else does it enable him to recognize that the situation genuinely is over and that he can move on. I especially like the part at the end, where he confronts the fact that although he was in a relationship, he wasn't really doing anything about it; the line, "He was happy with her; as happy, he believed, as he could ever be with anybody" tells the story in one sentence--and I can see at the end that he's realizing that thought for the pure BS that it was.
(Overall, this story does a very effective job of communicating what characters' feelings are without actually having them stop and say so; instead of having them go, "I feel X" they communicate the feelings clearly through other lines and actions.)
Hayate was in a room with the four forwards. She was specially thankfull for Teana for saving both Vivio and Aina from the dorm collapse. They still didn't know what would come of the girl, without a proper examination in a eye clinic, but at least she said that it didn't hurt anymore. Shamal was with them, trying her best to do some late healing to, at least, ease their pain. Subaru was practically already completely healed, since her fast metabolism did a good part of the job. Erio was still limping a little, but that was all that he got from it, thankfully. Caro had her arm in a sling, just to be safe, since she didn't break any of her bones and the cuts she had were mostly supperficial. The General was resisting the urge to ask again Yuuno or Fate what was happening there. Her fate was riding on the shoulder of her best friend and saviour.
The people waiting in the corridor only heard the soft footsteps of the redeyed blonde woman pacing about. She wanted to be the one to relay the facts to her friend, since it seemed like she wasn't seeing her as an enemy like she saw Hayate, but her stepbrother and Yuuno convinced her to wait outside the briefing room. Or more likely, force her to wait. The silence that came from the room was eerie.
Yuuno was sitting in a chair near the door, one eye keeping tabs on it as the other watched as his childhood friend walked back and forth in front of him. They had faith in her friend. Even if it was something so ludicrous that could leave her scarred for the rest of her life, he believed that she would come to terms with it quickly enough. What he didn't know was what would be her reaction after that. They've being friends for more than half their lives, but her behaviour sometimes still eluded him.
Arf was sitting at his side, appearing bored out of her mind, but in fact she was just as nervous as the rest of them. Ever since Nanoha saved Fate from Precia all those years back, Arf always held Nanoha as her second master, even if it didn't mean much. She wasn't exactly extra loyal to her, compared to the others, but she would always do anything she could for the brunette. On the rare cases when there was some kind of research in the library issued by the Ace of Aces, she would do it relentlessly, without questioning anything. That type of dedication had impressed even Yuuno numerous times in the past.
Vita was leaned against the other side of the door, with her eyes closed, trying to focus all her attention to whatever sound came from inside the room. Her mind wondering about the day before and what happened with her friend during that mission. She wanted to know, more than anything, why she had such a change of heart so suddenly. She was torn. She wanted to be there for her friend, but at the moment, what she was really doing was keeping an eye on her. Signum was on the end of the corridor, with Zafira at her side, watching the events unfold in front of her. They wanted, above all else, to welcome back their friend with open arms.
Chrono was on the bridge of the ship, drumming his fingers on the panel in front of him. He wanted to be with the others in the briefing room, but he was needed in his captain chair at the moment. Even so, he couldn't calm himself down with what could be happening back there. He was watching the corridor in one of his screens, since the amount of protective spells and barriers that Yuuno, Arf and Shamal had set up in the room didn't allow him to watch was happening inside directly.
"Fate-mama..." The little girl appeared in the end of the corridor, unwittingly claiming the attention of everyone nearby. She walked to her blonde guardian and was met halfway.
"What is it?" Fate said, lifting her from the floor.
"Where's Nanoha-mama?" She asked while digging something from her pocket.
"She's in middle of a important meeting now." Fate said, after planting a kiss on the girls forehead and putting her down. "Can you wait a little?"
"Hmn." Vivio nodded.
"Okay, let's wait together then..." Fate said offering her hand to the small heterochromatic eyed girl.
When they turned to walk back to the others, an alarm set off in the ship. Fate took Vivio in her arms again and dashed to the door. When she got to the door she heared Nanoha yelling at Yuuno, but when she was about to enter the door, Vivio beat her to it, opened the door and entered before her.
The little girl saw her mother with the same scary face she remembered her being during the time Vivio was being controlled. "Mama..." She whined softly.
All at once, the brunette's outburst ceased, as she looked at her daughter's scared face. "Vivio..." She said softly, few moments before kneeling down and opening her arms to welcome the hug that was a few steps away. "Come here..."
"Mama. What's happening?" Vivio asked as soon as she was her mother's arms.
Nanoha embraced her daughter strongly, but learning from what happened earlier, she let the hug a little looser in her arms. She leaned down on her little shoulder and started to cry. "I'm sorry, Vivio. I'm sorry..."
Vivio felt her mother's tears starting to wet her neck. "Good girl. Good girl." She said, while patting the older woman's head.
Nanoha couldn't help but smile at her little girl, trying to comfort her, even though she didn't know what her mother was apologizing for. They stayed in that position for moments longer, until Yuuno and Fate got closer to them. Nanoha looked at both their faces, before getting up, taking Vivio in her arms in the process. "I'm sorry, Yuuno-kun. I almost took out on you."
"Don't worry." He smiled. "But..." He changed his expression again, serious. "There's more to that."
"Yuuno." Fate said. "Let's wait a little, okay?"
"What?" The brunette looked at him. "What else can there be?"
"There's more to that, aside from you possibly being Vivio's gestational mother."
"More? Wait, what do you mean gestational mother? What are you guys talking about?" The woman stood on her feet.
The blonde woman walked to Nanoha and took her hand. "Did you do what I asked you this morning? Did you think about what happened yesterday?"
The brunette looked in Fate's eyes, seeing the worry in them, she tried to laugh it off. "Nyahaha. Sorry, Fate-chan. I really didn't."
Fate took a deep breath to steady herself. "What do you think of Hayate? Why did you attacked her?"
"What do you mean?" Nanoha was taken aback by the question. "She's a criminal, right? She always wanted to kill me, right?" She felt her legs tremble, and took a step back, downcasting her head. "She needs to be locked up for life."
Fate took both shoulders of the girl, leaving the little blonde in between them with a surprised look on her little face. "Do you really think that's true?"
"Of course, Fate-chan..." Nanoha tried to take another step back, but Fate's grip didn't let her. "She's evil. A criminal. She's been trying to kill me ever since I, we destroyed the first Reinforce."
"Do you really believe that?" Fate lightly shook the girls shoulders, forcing her too look into her red eyes. "Do you really think Hayate is evil?"
"Do you really think that the kind girl who didn't want her knights to complete the Book of Darkness because it would cause problems to other people is evil?" Yuuno pressed on.
"Didn't the courts already pardoned her crimes?" Fate continued, voice rising a notch.
"Did she ever tried to kill you before?" The librarian echoed.
Nanoha was shocked at what her best friends were saying. "It's obvious..."
"What's obvious? Nanoha, what is it that you really feel about Hayate. Forget your mind, forget your memories, forget your orders. What is it that your heart says about the girl, Yagami Hayate, not the Commander, nor the mistress of the Book of Darkness, but the kind girl who only wanted to live her life with her knights. What is it that you feel about her?" Fate pressed further.
The brunette felt her arms get weaker while Vivio was in her arms, mismatched eyes darting from one face of her mothers to the other. "Mama, are you okay?"
The little question fell deaf on everyone's ears. Nanoha was blank in the face, but Yuuno continued to press on, while Fate took Vivio on her own arms. "Remember Hayate's face, her own self, not what your mind is telling you to think. Think with your heart." The librarian knew it was cruel to the brunette to force these emotions out of her moments after she just learned one truth, but it was best if she acknowlowdged everything at once, than dealing with several pieces of information at a time.
Nanoha slumped to the ground as soon as she didn't fell her daughter's weight on her arms anymore. Fate walked to the door and handed Vivio to Arf. "Be a good girl, now okay, Vivio? Nanoha-mama, Yuuno and Fate-mama need to talk now." Then turning to her familiar. "Arf, take her to the cafeteria to eat something."
The familiar nodded before turning to the girl. "Let's go get some candy, Vivio." And procceded to almost drag the girl, not waiting for a response.
Fate returned to her friend sitting on the floor. She was voicing softly, more to herself than for the others in the room. "Hayate-chan... Is evil..." She said. "Hayate-chan is a criminal..." She started to tremble. "Hayate...-chan is trying to kill me. I hate... Hayate-chan."
"Nanoha." Fate kneeled in front her, forcing her to meet her gaze again with the calling. "If you really hate Hayate, how can you call her name with so much caring in your voice." The brunette lifted her head, shocked. "What are you really feeling right now, Nanoha? Tell us."
"Fate-chan... I don't know..." Her eyes started to moist. "My mind is telling me one thing, but even if the words come from my own mouth, I can't believe them. Everytime I think of Hayate-chan, those words come together. I don't really hate her. I hate myself for thinking like this about her." A sob came on her throat. "I don't know what to do. I... I... I..."
"Shush... Okay, okay." Fate embraced the crying girl. "We know it's hard, but if you at least know that it isn't true, then the next step will be easier." She said, softly carressing the back of Nanoha's head. She turned to Yuuno, who was watching the whole thing, silently asking for him to continue.
"Nanoha..." He said softly. "Do you remember what happened on that island yesterday?" The crying girl turned to him, but the question didn't seem to register with her, so he waited there a few moments before asking again. "Can you tell us everything that happened yesterday? You don't need to tell the details, just the sequence of events, like you remember them."
The blue eyed girl leaned away from Fate's embrace, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. She took a few deep breaths to try and calm herself down. "Let's see..." She started to search her memory. "I woke up at the normal time, took a shower, got dressed, waited for Aina-san to get to room, then me and Fate-chan walked to the base." She took a deep breath. "Then Fate-chan kinda dragged me to Shamal..." She let out a small laugh. "Then I went to the training grounds, had lunch with Vivio and the forwards in the mess hall." Then she shook her head. "No. Not like this."
"Not like what?" Fate asked.
"Hayate-chan..." She said cringing her teeth. "...called me." She shook her head again. "Not like this."
"Calm down, okay?" Yuuno kneeled beside them and put a hand on her shoulder. "We understand. Move on. What's next?"
"Then Fate-chan called, we had a briefing on possible Scaglietti's failsafe attack, then we got separated, I got to an island..." She shook her head again. "...I called Long Arch..." She leaned down her head again. "The next thing I remember is flying back to the base feeling angry at Hayate-chan..."
"Hmm... I see." Yuuno got up from where he was sitting and ushered the other two to follow him. The three of them sat at a table in the corner of the room. "And after that?"
"I attacked Hayate-chan, saying all those things to her and her knights... Then..." Her chest tightened again, before she remembered that her daughter was okay. "Then I destroyed the dorms... After that everything is a blurr." She finished.
"I see..." Yuuno looked at her for a few more moments before getting up and walking to the door.
"Why, Fate-chan?" The girl continued. "Why am I feeling like this?" Fate said nothing, and just proceeded to stroke the girls head.
"Here." The bespectacled man came back with a bottle of water, offering a cup to the girl.
"Thanks." She took the cup and drank a few sips from it.
After she calmed down more, Yuuno continued. "Did you read in the the reports that during your rehab, they issued subliminal messages, so when you woke up, your mind would take it as everything that happened during your rehab was real, right?" The girl nodded. "I'll need to look into it, once I go back to the library, but I can tell you one thing. What you're going through right now isn't the reality. We believe that something must have happened with you on that island to make you think that Hayate was your enemy. I don't know if it was some kind of brainwash or if the subliminal messages have something to do with it, but..." He fished in his pocket. "You may not remember, but I believe she must have it recorded." He said while holding the small red orb in his hand. "Since long ago, I lost my admistrative powers over it, so can you ask her?"
Nanoha nodded. "Raising Heart."
"Yes, master." The orb blinked.
"Do you have the records of the events that happened yesterday when we got to the island?"
"Yes, master." A few windows popped in front of her. "Input password."
Nanoha looked puzzled. "Who put a password?"
"You did, Master. The events during this mission where all protected by the system."
"That's the problem. I can't override the protection, nor do I have the password. I'm hoping you could." Yuuno input.
Nanoha nodded. "Override password protection." The screen flashed a denied message. "Why?"
"The system was protected against override, Master." The device said, uncaring.
"Isn't there at least a password hint?" The librarian asked.
"Is there, Raising Heart?"
"Yes." In the window appeared a picture of Fate, Hayate, Suzuka, Arisa and Nanoha, in front of their middle school, in their graduation day.
Nanoha felt her blood boil when she looked at Hayate in the picture, but shook her head. "Friends." She tried, but the screen displayed the denied message again. "Graduation." Denied. "School." Denied. "Best friends." They continued to try every possible word that could go with that picture, from the name of the school to a combination of the names of each person in the picture. All were denied.
"Isn't there anything else?"
Nanoha scrambled her memory of that day, but nothing seemed to come to her memory until one fact seemed to spark her mind. "Friendship." She tried.
"Acess granted." The device said, as the image changed to showcase several files.
Fate chuckled at the choosing of password from her friend, a fact that didn't passed unnoticed by Nanoha that looked at her questingly. "Did you see?" Fate said. "Your friends are always in your heart." She smiled gently. "That's something even a brainwash can't take out of you."
Nanoha smiled nervously, then looked at the screen again, still feeling that unpleasant sensation in her mind everytime she saw Hayate in the picture.
Yuuno forciby cleared his throat to get the attention from the other two. "Is there a video or audio?"
Nanoha pressed the buttons to select the files, and an image appeared in the screen. Nanoha landed on the beach then walked to a type of rundown fort, then after jumping over the wall she received a call. Ralgo Kill. They watched as the Ace of Aces in the screen watched a sequence of character run in the holoscreen before started to shake her head violently.
"It's not like that. It's a lie." The image in the screen where the characters had appeared turned back to the General, but she continued to scream to it. "Why are you saying this. They didn't do anything like that. They're my friends and students. It's a lie. Who are you people to say that my friends did such a thing?"
"I see..." Ralgo said, appearing troubled. "But look at this..." Again his image disappeared and the sequence began again. The Nanoha on the image started to hold her head with both hands.
"No. She's not like that. She wouldn't do this. She wouldn't..." The girl's body trembled violently, to the point of almost falling to the ground, then she steadied herself.
"So, Captain Takamachi..." Ralgo one more time appeared in the screen, but Nanoha brushed him off and took flight.
The girl sitting between her friends sent a hand to her mouth that was agape. "Wha...What was that? I-I don't remember that." She looked increduously at herself talking with anger in her voice, before she waved her hand on the screen, stopping the video. "Raising Heart, make a copy of that file and send it to Yuuno-kun."
"Alright, my Master."
"I don't want to see that anymore." She felt the lump in her throat come back.
"Thanks." Yuuno said. He was going to ask for it, but if she sent herself to him then it was better. "I'll try to analyse what's here okay."
"Hmn." The brunette nodded.
"Let's see. What else can we do now." He started to muse then turned to the girl again. "Nanoha, we need you to do one more thing for us, okay?"
"What is it?" She wasn't sure anymore what else could there be.
He flicked his wrist and a screen appeared. "I'll show the photos of almost everyone you have more or less a close relation here on MidChilda, okay? Tell me if you feel anger towards any of them. I don't want you to think with you heart. Just blurt the first thing that comes to the the top of your head. Can you do it?"
"I... I think so." She said, uneasy.
"Don't worry, okay? Let's start with us two." He clicked a few times and a photo of himself appeared.
"Yuuno-kun. What are you thinking?" Nanoha asked, increduosly.
"Good." The librarian ignored the question. "Just continue like this. Say the first thing that came to you."
The next was a photo of Fate. She raised an eyebrow. "Fate-chan?" The librarian smiled. "Is this some sort of a game you're playing?"
"Yes. It's a type of game, but not for fun. You'll understand." He replied. While changing photos, he was, at the same time, rewatching the video Raising Heart had sent him.
Next was a Subaru. "Subaru. Good reflexes and fast learner." Next. "Teana. Sometimes short tempered, specially around Subaru, but great at scene assessment and to lead the forwards." Next. "Caro. Has good potential and is loyal to her precepts. Erio. Will be a great knight in the future if he continue to train." And like this the images continued to display, one after the other, Chrono, Amy, Lindy, Arf, Aina, Vivio, Vita, Signum, Shamal. Everyone with similar responses, be it about their personality or their training or combat ability. Then a photo of her other childhood friend. "Hayate-chan. Criminal. Evil. I hate her." She immediately shot a hand to her mouth. "No, not like that."
"Yes. We know." Fate, who was still next to her, was fast in reassuring the girl.
"I'll need to look into this more." The librarian continued. "From what I can tell, it wasn't exactly a brainwash. I think that they put some kind of strong suggestion in your head." He sighed. "But what troubles me is that this suggestion isn't exactly normal. Judging by this video, at least. I'll look more into it once I get back in the library."
"Are you sure they will not come after you?" The redeyed woman asked, concerned.
"I have my ways to deal with these things." He laughed it off. "Don't worry."
"Just... Take care, okay?" Nanoha said, as he walked to the door.
----
The darkness wasn't something completely unpleasant, the girl decided. The pain in her chest was still there, but remarkably less than she thought it would be. It had been turned into something like a stinging feeling when she moved her body in certain ways, but nothing more than that. Her eyes were more or less patched up. Shamal didn't know if she would be able to see again, since that wasn't one of the specialties the Lady of the Lakes picked up through the years. Teana would need to have a proper examination, since all that the emergency treatment that Shamal could do was remove the glasses from her eyes and apply small healing spells on them, to prevent the eye bleeding from it. Nevertheless, she would still need to keep her eyes closed the entire time.
When someone wants to focus her attention in one of her senses, generally the first thing they do is close their eyes. When you want to enjoy music better, smell the perfume of a flower, and so on, the first action is close the eyes. That's because the sight is the only one of the senses that can be 'turned off' without much trouble. Just close your eyes. Now that she was with her eyes forcibly closed, her other senses picked up things that she would normally miss if it wasn't for this. Certain things she could pick up, like knowing how close a person was from her by the sounds the person would make. It wasn't a sixth sense, like seeing with her minds eye, but she wasn't completely ignorant to her surroundings and knowing that soothed her a little.
Her teacher and squad leader had come to her earlier that day, to thank her for saving her daughter. And from what she heard from the Commander, she was doubly so, being the one who gave birth to the little girl. Not that it mattered much, since they both pretty much were mother and daughter all along, but it was nice to think that there was some type of greater power in this world moving the pieces so they could be together. She was thinking about these things when a voice took her out of her reverie.
"They already told her." The voice echoed in the room solemn, and almost uncaring. "But I think it's better if we leave her alone for now. Testarossa is with her, and from what Yuuno told us, they revealed everything to her at once."
The blind girl felt her friend breathe with a different rythm and a little heavier and understood that she had winced at the revelation. That was a revelation in itself for the girl. She could imagine her blue haired friend grimmacing without even looking. All the years they've been together must have helped her in that regard, because she could almost see the girl. "That's kinda cruel, don't you think?" She heard the girl saying.
"Maybe." She heard a male voice in the room, different from Erio's. Older and deeper. "But now we don't have time to ease things on her. She needs to aknowlowdge everything and move on, before we take our next step."
"What do you mean, Chrono-kun?" Her Commander asked.
"We need to start planning what to do, not only with the geezers, but with Scaglietti too. If one of his bases do activate, we'll have the JS Incident in our hands all over again." The Admiral answered as Teana felt the mood in the room get heavier. "For now, I'm changing the ship's route back to MidChilda. I think that there's no need for us to stay wandering in space any longer."
"But wouldn't we land in Mau Gram this morning?"
"We would. But I received orders to look for you guys on Alzus." He sighed. "That means some other ship will come to Mau Gram sooner or later. We need to change courses. To get to Alzus we'll need to pass near Mid again."
"Okay. Thank you, Chrono-kun."
----
Several hours had passed since the moment she received that load of information. At the moment she was sitting on the floor of the room Chrono had provided for Fate and her daughter. She still hadn't told anything to the little blonde, because she would probably not understand right away, but what was important was that she was her mother. In right and de facto. "Come here, sweetie." She called the little girl playing with a few cubes in front of her.
The blonde got up from the floor and bounced her way to her mother, receiving another hug when she was at arm's length. She was giggling happily at all the attention she was receiving at the moment.
"Just stay here a moment, okay?" She hugged the little girl. Thinking back on all that was said to her, only two things really made into her mind. Vivio was her daughter, and Hayate wasn't her enemy. Earlier, she had went to see Teana and thank the girl for being there for her daughter, but in the same room with the gunslinger was the Belkan mage. Nanoha would have jumped at her throat with her bare hands if she wasn't carrying Vivio in that moment, and a toughtfull hand wasn't on her shoulder. Fate's hand. It gave her time enough to realize what she was about to do, and she calmed down before she actually did something that would be motive for even more regrets later. After that she holed up in the room. She did receive a couple of visits from the other passengers of the ship, including a really pissed off Vita. The little Belkan knight was furious when she entered the room and lectured Nanoha to no end. By the time she had finished her little rampant of anger, all she could do was ask her if she was alright or if she needed anything else.
According to Fate, they were affraid to tell her the news at first because they still weren't completely sure that it was the truth. They were afraid of what reaction she would have upon hearing the news and wanted to first know the whole truth to be certain. If it wasn't really true, if Vivio wasn't her daughter, then some other girl was being raised somewhere without her. Nanoha knew in her gut that Vivio was the one but she didn't have any proof of that. In a certain way, Nanoha was feeling distressed over it. Why did they need to tell her now of all times?
Of course, she already knew that answer as well. They need to bring justice to those that died just so they could continue with their charade. They would need to pay, not only for taking her daughter away from her for all those years, but for destroying the lives of innocent families because of her. And there was still the deal with Scaglietti. She hugged her daughter tighter one more time. "Vivio. Mama needs to do something right now, okay? Be a good girl and wait here. I'll ask Arf or Zafira to come here and keep you company, okay?"
When her mother let go of her, she nodded with a hummed response and went back to her puzzles. Nanoha got up, got the clothes that Fate had prepared for her and entered the bathroom annex with the room. After a quick shower, she got out of the bathroom, gave a quick goodbye kiss on her daughter and left the room.
Spoiler for Author Notes:
I had another two scenes to put in this chapter but a dumb finger and a unsaved file later and I need to rewrite those. =\
Anyway, next chapter will probably be more action centered again, but I'm still not sure.
I'm no eye doctor, and know next to nothing in that area, but the little research I did on the subject matched with I had in mind for the fic, so at least there's no worries on that front. ^^
And again, thanks to 00-Raiser for proofreading.
And research! You never know what kind of weird information you'll find out which will help in other stories as well as flesh out your characters.
I remember when I was researching ages of consent for my ViCia series and turned up all the different ages for different areas. It was pretty interesting to learn about how much some places differed from each other and how much some of them were the same. Ultimately I settled on eighteen, but it was nice to learn some additional fun facts for it.
I remember when I was researching ages of consent for my ViCia series and turned up all the different ages for different areas. It was pretty interesting to learn about how much some places differed from each other and how much some of them were the same. Ultimately I settled on eighteen, but it was nice to learn some additional fun facts for it.
Considering how westernized Mid Childan society is, 18 was a good choice.
Considering how westernized Mid Childan society is, 18 was a good choice.
Plus, it gave me more time to develop the relationship before the inevitable moment when they slept together. Focus less on the sexual aspect on it and more on the growth and development aspect of it.
Location: Somewhere over the rainbow, in a house dropped on an ugly, old woman.
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
Plus, it gave me more time to develop the relationship before the inevitable moment when they slept together. Focus less on the sexual aspect on it and more on the growth and development aspect of it.
Vivio: *scratches head* "Um, Cia, did we sleep together?"
Lutecia: *thinks* "Not that I can recall.
Vivio: *sadly* "I don't remember, either. But she used the past tense 'slept'!"
Lutecia: "Well, we probably fell asleep next to each other a few times..."
Vivio: *cries*
Vivio: *scratches head* "Um, Cia, did we sleep together?"
Lutecia: *thinks* "Not that I can recall.
Vivio: *sadly* "I don't remember, either. But she used the past tense 'slept'!"
Lutecia: "Well, we probably fell asleep next to each other a few times..."
Vivio: *cries*
2010-03-26, 00:44
Author
I've tried to do it before, but whenever I do that it always ends up evolving on me and becoming something completely different from what I originally wanted it to be. Once the story settles on a certain direction or form then I can keep up with it, but bad things happen when I try to actually outline fics.
. I liked how Yuuno wanted that closure, yet he had still moved on. It's an interesting nebulous area that I think you caught quite well, and everyone handled it like adults (well, maybe Vivio's deliberate? ignoring of Yuuno might be a tad childish, but she's the youngest person involved here so she can be forgiven). Although it may seem selfish of Yuuno, since he was the one who let Vivio go and moved on first, his mild jealousy is still very sympathetic and understandable.
