“Aaahh, what a strange mission,” Nanoha Takamachi sighed as she wandered down a hall.
It had been almost a week since Hayate gave out the mission to observe Keroko and Noland,
and in that time they’ve barely learned a thing! Either they were unbelievably good at hiding
their relationship from everyone, or perhaps there really wasn’t anything going on. Sure,
she was curious, but this was getting nowhere fast.
Hmm? What’s this delicious smell?
The warm and sweet scent of freshly baked bread wafted through the air, inviting her to
walk further down the hall towards the source. As if in a daze, Nanoha followed her nose
all the way to Riot Force Six’s mess hall. The room was mostly empty, since it was only
just after lunch, but the kitchen bustled with activity. So this was the source?
Further investigation revealed that only two people were in the kitchen: a familiar tall
male and…
“Nanoha-mama!” a small bundle of energy glomped Nanoha around the waist, tossing up
a minor cloud of flour. Her cheeks were muddled with a bit of flour, but the sight of Vivio
dressed in a just-her-size chef’s double-breasted jacket, an indigo necktie, and an endearing
pink headwrap was absolutely adorable!
“I’m helping!”
“Ah. Lady Nanoha. Good day to you,” the other one turned around from his station, also
covered in bits of ingredients.
“Hello, Noland-san. Are you the ones making bread?”
“Indeed we are. I take it you were attracted by the scent?”
“Mmm,” she smiled and hugged the child closer. “It smells wonderful. Rosemary, thyme,
and oregano – You’re doing a great job.”
“Heeey~! I helped too!” Vivio puffed her cheeks in a pout.
A light chuckle escaped the knight’s lips as he nodded in agreement, “Yes, my lady did a
lot of work too. It was her idea, after all. Now that the bread’s all done, we’ll move on to
the cheesecake.”
“Waaai~! Cake~!” as if revitalized by those words, Vivio almost jumped from Nanoha’s
arms and back to work.
“Ah, Lady Nanoha. Would you kindly get me one-and-three-quarters cup of sugar?”
“Hmm? But it’s right next to your hand,” she looked at the bag in question.
“Ah, well, it’s a little difficult in my condition,” Noland gave a weak smile
At that moment, Nanoha remembered that her companion was blind; and a good thing too,
lest he see her blush as brightly red as a tomato.
“Ahh! I-I’m so sorry! I forgot and I—”
“No no, please don’t apologize,” Noland held a hand up to sooth the girl. “It’s something
I do not make readily apparent with my behavior and all.”
Still mortified, she quickly measured out the exact amount of sugar, carefully placing the
cup into Noland’s hands.
“Ah, good. Thank you.”
The sugar was dumped into a bowl, along with sour cream, egg yolks, whole eggs, flour,
cream cheese, a bit of salt, and vanilla extract. Stepping back to watch, Nanoha giggled
softly at the sight of Noland and Vivio working together in harmony as they moved about
the kitchen, the knight trading his larger bowl of creamy goodness for Vivio’s smaller bowl
of chocolate chips. As the child stirred to mix her bowl, Noland began melting the chocolate
in a double boiler. The bustle, combined with the sweet and savory scent of baking bread,
was both soothing and nostalgic to the young Ace as memories of her childhood resurfaced.
A quiet chuckle brought her back to the present.
“Hmm? Is there something wrong?” the girl asked, seeing Noland now wisking a bit of sour
cream into the melted chocolate.
“No, Lady Nanoha. I’m merely being nostalgic. I’ve many a good memory of working in
the kitchen with loved ones.”
“O-Oh?” Somehow, his words had her heart beating rapidly.
“Mmm,” he nodded, stirring the bowl of chocolate. “My parents were peasants in Belka,
working as innkeeps and cooks. As a child, I would help out in the kitchen and inn. Even
as I left to become a Knight, I would return now and then to visit and help out. They were
rather mortified at letting a Belkan Knight get his hands dirty with flour and suet.”
The mental image must have been quite humorous to Nanoha, as another soft giggle
escaped her lips.
“I feel the same,” she said, catching her companion’s attention. “On my home planet, my
parents and siblings run a café in the city we live in. Before I moved to Midchilda, I used
to help out at the Midoriyama all the time.”
“Indeed? Then I would be interested in visiting this café some day. Or perhaps, you can
join us in the kitchen next time and show us a few specialties?”
“
Un! Definitely,” Nanoha smiled brilliantly. Noland, as if sensing this, smiled back.
Vivio soon returned with her bowl, combining the vanilla with the chocolate into a
prepared springform pan. Given a spatula, the little girl was given the honor of swirling
and marbling the cheesecake. Finally, into the oven it went.
“Well done,” Noland nodded his approval. “Now, we allow it to bake, set, and then cool.
After dinner, we’ll have marbled cheesecake.”
“Yay~! Cheesecake! Cheesecake!” Vivio cheered and hugged the knight.
A happy smile blossomed upon Nanoha’s face, her adopted daughter’s exuberance highly
contagious. What a treat it will be for everyone, a delight made by their very own Vivio
(and knight). She found the entire scene heartwarming, seeing not a knight and his liege, but
her daughter with a warm father-like figure. Ahh, he would make a good father, wouldn’t
he? Devoted, faithful, loving, warm, but also stern and knowledgeable – not to mention, his
past granted him a strange level of wisdom with dealing with Vivio.
Maybe, of all people, he would be best to raise Vivio with her…
But what about Keroko? What about her sister? Weren’t these two together?
But what if they’re not? Rumors are just rumors. If you do not strike now, then the
opportunity may be lost forever.
Nanoha gazed at a clock. An hour to cook, an hour to cool, then it’s off to the refrigerator
to chill. A cheesecake took that long, but how much time did she have?
Isn’t that selfish, though? To take a man for Vivio’s sake – where was the love in that? Not
even he would agree to it.
Was it just for Vivio? You have a right to happiness too. Does he not stir your heart as well?
When you gaze upon his form, your heart quickens; when you hear his voice, shivers run
down your spine; his strength, his will, his very presence, they are all things you desire!
Seek him out and claim him as your own!
She made her decision.
“Noland-san…”
“Hmm? Yes?” he looked up
“Ah…”
Why was it suddenly so hard to say something?
“The… The Sankt Kaiser. Could you… could you tell me about Sankt Kaiser?”
Oh dear god why did you have to ask about that?!
That’s like the most sensitive topic for him!
For the longest time, Noland gave no response, only to face Nanoha with an unreadable
expression. Even though his eyes were hidden behind those white wraps, the ace felt his
gaze upon her. Even Vivio felt the atmosphere change suddenly, heterochromatic eyes
looking on worriedly at the two. Unable to handle the tension, Nanoha was just about to
give up and struggle for a new topic until at last, the knight spoke.
“What do you wish to know?”
Nanoha’s heart soared with relief. Suddenly, talking was so much easier now…
For Vivio, the two hours waiting were the longest two hours in her life, but for the other
two present, time just flew on by. Noland spoke of the late Kaiser of Belka with a
combination of reverence, melancholy, and undeniable love to a rapt audience of Nanoha,
who hung on to every word. He spoke, not of history or the Sankt Kaiser’s victories, but
of her personality, her emotions, her values and her love; the knight spoke of
who the
Kaiser was, not
what. With every word, Nanoha felt she understood Noland better, both
as a knight and as a man. His history was reflected in the Kaiser’s, his service in Belka a
mirror of his person. As the adults talked, Vivio napped in her mama’s lap, until she was
awoken by the kitchen timer’s ring.
Ahh. Finally, the cooling phase was done.
“Oh! It’s done!” the Takamachi girl smiled and rose from her seat. “I’ll get it!”
The cheesecake came out of the oven still jiggly and soft, but that would be addressed with
a good long chill in the refrigerator. Alas, the Ace of Aces did not see the splotch of egg
white that had fallen some time ago and remained slimy and slick, and as she stepped on it,
her balanced failed her. She pitched forward, cake flying from her hands.
With barely any time to react, Noland moved quickly.
Spoiler for Cakelove:
Leaping from his chair, the knight reached out with hands outstretched, catching the first
thing he could: a nine-inch circular object that weighed a few pounds.
He caught the cake? He caught the cake! While he did manage to save the cheesecake from
a messy death on the kitchen floor, Noland was unable to stop his flight.
And lo, did Noland introduce his head into a nearby stainless steel counter with sufficient
velocity to leave a three-inch deep dent in the metal then bounce off. Gravity then pulled
him down into painful slump, but at least the cheesecake was saved.
Despite her moment of clumsiness, Nanoha was still an experienced and powerful mage.
Barely two feet from the ground she managed to magically freeze her fall and float back up
to standing. It was then that she saw Noland in a very awkward position.
“Um… are you alright?”
No reply came from the supine man, other than the slow raise of the cheesecake for
someone to take, to which Nanoha quickly did so.
“Refrigerate that until dinner,” He finally spoke, oddly coherent and clear with his words..
“Now if you’ll excuse me, I think I’m going take a nap.”
Noland’s arms flopped over lifelessly, signaling his passing from stunned awareness into
blissful, dark unconsciousness.
“Auuu~” Vivio poked the body with a wooden spoon.
Spoiler for Recovery:
Leaping from his chair, the knight reached out with hands outstretched, catching the first
thing he could: a young woman still falling to the ground. Instinctively, he flipped the two
of them around so that his body would absorb landing impact.
“Are you alright, Lady Nanoha?”
“Ah, y-yes. Thank you,” she murmured her reply, slowly extricating himself from the
knight’s embrace and standing. Noland soon followed; they were unharmed for the most
part, other than being a little messier than before.
But Vivio, oh poor Vivio, she looked as if her very soul was crushed, her dearest dreams
and wishes dashed upon the rock of reality. The cheesecake, destroyed! Why was gravity
so cruel?!
“Aahh… what a mess,” he sighed dejectedly. “I’m so sorry, my lady. My clumsiness has
ruined all our work.”
Little Vivio sniffled, doing her best to hold back the tears of disappoint that threatened to
spill out like rivers.
“Well, there’s only one solution for this,” Noland knelt down to Vivio’s level, patting hear
head gently. “We’ll just have to make another one.”
“I’ll help too!” Nanoha chimed in her agreement with a nod.
“Hmm, we won’t have time for another cheesecake, so how about… strawberry shortcake?”
“That’s a great idea! I’ll get started on the strawberries,” Nanoha clapped her hands and
started for the refrigerator.
“Excellent. As for you, my lady, could you get the shortening?”
In the end, a cake was just a cake. The memories of making it together with loved ones,
however, would be irreplaceable.
Spoiler for Save the girl, save the world:
Leaping from his chair, the knight reached out with hands outstretched, catching the first
thing he could: a young woman and… the cake? In one hand he felt the cheesecake land
right into his palm, while his other arm wrapped protectively around the girl. In a flash,
Noland managed to flip the two of them around so that his body would shield the lady
when they landed.
Thump! The two of them slid a few inches before coming to a stop.
“Are you unharmed, lady Nanoha?” Noland asked, hoping that the cheesecake also had
survived the fall.
“Yeah. I’m okay,” she murmured back, though she made no effort to climb off of him.
“That’s good, then…” the knight tried to move.
“Wait. Could… could we stay… like this?” Nanoha whispered, amazed that she enjoyed
the feeling of her body against his. It was warm, and the feeling of his arm around her waist
filled her with both excitement and a feeling of protection.
“Wha—” had he still had his eyes, Noland would’ve had the most incredulous look.
“I just want to be like this… for a little longer. Please?” she nuzzled her head into his
chest, feeling her heart race as she did so. Or was that his, beating so strongly?
“…As you wish.”