Nanoha FanFiction Discussion

[Satashi]

Vampire!Fate, picks up after FF.N left off:

Spoiler for Vampire!Fate:

Fate

After church was over I stayed with Nanoha outside of the building as the youth group gathered. There was an overly large section of grass in the middle of the mass of buildings, much like a small park. It was a rather nice place and I didn't mind staying there. Erio and Caro were talking with a few of the younger children that they had met earlier in the day and Nanoha was currently gone to fetch a drink of water since she had been running around so much.

I felt the group approach me before they surrounded me and I smiled sweetly at the group of men that I had met earlier that morning. "Hello boys," I greeted.

Ryo, the man with long black hair, spoke first. "What is a vampire doing here?"

I clicked my tongue. They didn't really give off the impression of paladins. "What do you mean?"

"We can tell you are one," Rowen told me calmly. "We don't want you anywhere near Nanoha, she is a kind girl and doesn't need things like you around her."

"I don't know what you mean," I glared at him. "I met her at school and we became friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go talk to my friend." Moving past them, I made my way to Nanoha and smiled at her. She returned it and offered me a small paper cup filled with water, which I took. The men behind me were now throwing a football around to other members of the youth squad so I figured they were letting me off with a warning for now.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked me curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"No," I beamed at her to ease her worries. "Nothing at all."

~**~

I wasn't quite expecting Nanoha's parents to invite us over for lunch, but once the offer was made, I felt it would be rude to turn it down. I drove us all to her house and looked around in appreciation at the bakery on the bottom floor that we had to pass through.

The main shop seemed to be doing much better than Nanoha's branch, as it was easilly twice the size. All sorts of bread was laid out and I felt a twinge pass through me when I noticed a 'double cinnamon bun special' on sale. I had to turn away from it, and Nanoha clearly saw it and giggled.

"I'll make you some," she promsied up at me. With a nod at her and a smile, we went back behind the bakery and into the house itself. "Make yourself comfortable," Nanoha told me when we got to the couch. Sitting down, I crossed my legs politly and allowed Erio to plop uncomfortably next to me. Caro seemed right at home in the house and was already talking with Nanoha's mother about what they would be making for lunch.

Shiro sat in a chair across from us and I smiled at him. "So," he began conversation. "You and Nanoha are quite good friends, huh? She hasn't invited anyone to come to church with her in ages."

"Dad!" Nanoha scolded embarrassedly.

"Yes sir," I answered the question anyway. It was a good ice breaker, and I didn't want to pass up a chance to embarrasse my girlfriend. "We met about two months ago now. We hit it off really well and seemed to run into each other every day for a bit."

I could tell Nanoha bit back a remark about how I stalked her for about a week and isntead offered to fetch us something to drink. Shiro hummed at this and went on. "And you say that you are a writer?"

"Yes sir," I started with the same words as before and he seemed to really like my mannors. Oh, if he only knew... "I have a few books out, they are mainly about fiction. You know, dragons and knights and stuff. My newest one is about a samurai."

"Oh, I do love a good samurai book. Anyone specifically?"

"Musashi."

Shiro's eyes lit up. "My favorite!"

I actually knew musashi from the past. I had met him while he was still living at his father's place, before he ran away. I was certainly shocked to hear about his swordsmanship and it was one of the things that I regretted in life when I never got to clash blades with him... But that was neither here nor there. "You seem to have a pretty popular bakery, having branches and all."

"We are quite proud of it," he agreed while Nanoha offered him a glass. Erio, who was still silent, took a glass as well and I smiled at Nanoha when she gave me one. Taking the straw in my mouth, I sipped on the contents and had to bite back making a face... This girl drank unsweet tea. That was definetly not on my list of things I looked for in a significant other, but I had to deal with it. Shiro picked back up and I met his eye to show I was paying attention to him. "I hope Nanoha's bakery is doing alright as well? The girl never seems to talk to us about it."

"She sells out every day," I told them honestly. Actually, I bet Nanoha could make a lot more money if she put more on her shelves, but she already worked every waking moment when she wasn't at school, and studied as well, so she probably couldn't force herself to work any harder. "I help her out a little bit every now and then, she's teaching me how to bake."

"More like you're stealing cinnamon rolls when I'm not looking," Nanoha chose that moment to come back into the room and sit down on my other side. I instantly wanted to put my arm around her, but held back for her sake. "Daddy, don't grill her about me, it's rude." I chuckled at her words while Shiro laughed good naturedly. My girlfriend puffed out her cheeks and took an excessivly long drink from her glass.

~**~

I found that Momoko was a good cook, and I was really looking forward to the meal she put together. It was a classic Sunday lunch that was best suited for a picnic. Fried chicken, and all the sides were spread out around the table. Shiro asked us to hold hands while praying and I enjoyed the chance to openly flirt by rubbing Nanoha's palm while I had the chance. She was blushing, but I didn't care. It was always fun to mess with her.

After eating and talking for well over a full hour, we finally stated that we needed to get back home so Nanoha could at least make some evening sales. As we piled into my car, I waved at them and backed out to drive to Nanoha's place.

A good bit was spent setting out proofed dough and I assisted my girlfriend with baking and placing them on the shelves for the group of people who normally came by. Finally, after closing for the night and letting Caro and Erio watch TV together, I went back to Nanoha's bedroom to be alone with her.

"What an eventful day," she mused while drinking from a freshly filled glass. Walking to her vanity area, she opened her medicine cabinet and took two pills out to swallow them. "Ugh, this headache just won't go away."

"Headache?" I blinked. She shouldn't be in any pain what-so-ever, unless... Oh great. She was starting to go into withdrawel. "Is it bad?"

"Kind of," she admitted to me, voice sounding as if she didn't mind it at all. "No where near as bad as I get sometimes, but I'm really thirsty for some reason."

Come to think of it, wasn't that like her tenth glass today? "Nanoha, you shouldn't drink so much, you'll get sick."

"Yeah, but I'm dieing of thirst. I feel a little tingle in my throat like it's dry, but no matter how much I drink it won't go away."

I took a deep breath to steady myself for my next words. "Nanoha... Remember how I told you that you would eventually cycle my blood out your system?" She nodded, eyes curious. "Well, it's starting to happen." I kept on before she could get depressed on me and make me want to stop. "Your body is starting to wonder where my blood cells are, and it is trying to get you to get more, kind of like when you have a stomache ache, it tries to get all the food out of your tummy."

"Okay... but why am I thirsty?"

I smiled without humor. "Your body knows what it wants, and you're subconsciously connecting it with drinking blood because you know I'm a vampire. It's psycology, your body wants my blood and is telling you that in the only way it knows how, to drink."

Nanoha sat on the bed and sighed. "Great... just great..."

Spoiler for Next part:

~**~

Nanoha

I didn't really know what to think. I knew it would happen, but I didn't think it would be so soon. The past two days had been simply amazing for me. I got to run, to jump, and to just... live a normal life. I didn't have to worry about studying, I didn't have to worry about taking my medication, or giving myself shots... I just... lived.

“I'm sorry,” Fate spoke to me gently. She sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. “I know it is going to be really infuriating but please stay strong, okay?”

“Stay strong?” I blinked. “Fate-chan, I don't think that it will matter that much. I am thirsty, but I can deal with it. Knowing that I do not really need something to drink helps.”

“It's not just that,” she was almost whispering. Before I could ask, she smiled at me. “What classes do you have tomorrow?”

“Same ones as always, I just have to take my test, though. I'll be out a little after noon, why?”

“Let's go to a movie.”

I chuckled at her not so subtle change in topic. “I can't, I need to watch my store.”

“Caro can run it.”

“I hate pushing so much on her.”

“You did it by yourself, and she's more than capable. Besides, I'm sure Erio would love the chance to help out.”

I didn't know if it would be okay or not so I evaded the question for now. “I'll ask Caro what she thinks later tonight.”

“Okay.” Fate stood up and smiled at me. “I'll head off now, rest up okay?”

I seriously didn't want to rest when I knew that I would be weak again soon, but I was a little tired. “Okay, I will.”

I walked with Fate out of my room and into the guest room, where Caro and Erio were sitting on the bed together while playing a game on my rarely ever used system. The boy seemed reluctant to leave, and to my surprise, Caro seemed to be a little attached to her new friend as well.

After a long goodbye, and Fate sneaking a kiss to my cheek while Caro wasn't looking, I went back to my kitchen and raided my refrigerator. Fate had bought me these delicious little brownie bite things after telling me about them. I was shocked to find out they went in the 'fridge, but if she liked them so much, I wanted to see if I could make them for her.

Opening the bag, I took out a small brownie that was covered in a hard chocolate shell. A bite later and my mouth was filled with the taste of a gooey caramel, am mushy brownie flavor, and an overwhelming chocolate. The ingredients were easily identified and I was confident I could make these things for much cheaper than the store sold them... maybe I could even put them on sale and see if people liked them!

...Fate sure did have fool-proof way of making me spoil her without even thinking of it.

~**~

My alarm was sounding on my headboard, but for some reason I didn't want to move. Despite having gone to bed at my normal time, I was really tired. My eyes opened after I sat up and I was a little dizzy for a moment. 'Why am I so tired?' The headache from yesterday was still pounding in my skull, and when I stumbled to my medicine cabinet, I found my hands getting out my normal breakfast of differently shaped pills. 'Might as well... I don't have much of her blood left in me anyway...'

After waking up more, I hazily made my way downstairs to start my morning routine. Caro joined me half an hour later and started making us breakfast while I did the normal bread crafting. “Caro-chan, you are a life saver, you know that?”

“I try,” she replied happily. Truth be told, she seemed to be happier with me than at my uncle's place, and I really wished that she could stay longer than just the summer. At any rate, I had plenty of time to make my regulars as well as a gooey double cinnamon bomb for Fate. Although I didn't know if it would still be on the shelves when I got home, it was the thought that counted... That and I wanted to see Fate pout if they were all sold out.

I received permission from Caro to go on my date and felt my spirits lift when I realized that she was more on top of things than even me. By the time I left, she had already corrected my oven temperature as well as doubled up on the types of things we could sell after insisting that they would be bought.

My track to school was made lazily and I rubbed my eyes several times to clear them. I either needed glasses or my vision was just weak today. Come to think of it, my backpack felt exceedingly heavy, even though there was hardly anything in it. Normally I had all my books, but today I only brought my binder and several of my pens and notes.

When I collapsed into my chair in my classroom, the world was starting to fade on me. I took a small nap right then and there, being awoken by the boy sitting next to me when the test was starting. Despite studying, the questions seemed hazy. It was odd... I didn't feel sick, just...weak. I couldn't focus, and when the allotted time was over, I wasn't even sure if I did well or not.

The second test was much the same, even including my small nap. The break between my second and third class was made by nibbling on my usual Chinese meal. The slightly spicy flavor picked me up a bit, and I had a weird flashback to when I first met Fate. She had caught me after eating this very meal, and made me eat ice cream off her spoon in front of everyone just so I could cool my mouth down.

I smiled at the thought, thinking how much more simple my life was back then. I wasn't part of this war, and I didn't have to worry about the people known as paladins. Come to think of it, I didn't worry about vampires either.

Fate had changed my life, and it was for the better. Even if I did get caught up in all of this crazy stuff, she had been there for me. Reaching up, I touched my neck at where I knew her mark to be. Even though I couldn't see it, there was some type of design there. It was an invisible tattoo to humans, but stood out to the heightened senses of vampires. I had caught a few people looking at it before, but when I glanced at them, they turned away... Now, I felt rather proud of this.

My third test would start soon and I made it to the classroom with only a few minutes to spare. Subaru was already in her usual seat and she looked at me with a slightly worried expression. “You okay?” her words came before I even sat down.

“Yeah, just really weak.”

“Wearing off, huh?” She smiled to offer me some encouragement. “I don't know what it feels like for you, but I do know that the paladins made my glove specifically so it wouldn't affect me too much when I borrowed Tea's power.”

I nodded. “It keeps it in your arm, doesn't let it go into your body, right?”

“Yup. I injects really slow, giving me a dose to my veins every now and then. Makes sure I don't get weak, otherwise I might be a hindrance to my master, you know?”

I didn't really know, as I had always been a hindrance to Fate, but I nodded anyway. I wondered how she put up with me... I was weak, weird, and exactly the opposite of somebody that could support and stand by Fate... But she had chosen me anyway. I was going to be a blood bank for her at first, but she changed her mind somewhere along the way. Maybe she would tell me if I asked her? Would it offend her? Why me? Why someone who is dying? Why not a girl like Subaru who can fight and take care of herself?

“Nanoha-san?” Subaru waved her hand in front of my face, catching my attention. She held up a stack of papers and I realized I had completely spaced out. Taking one, I passed the others on down my row and took a deep breath to prepare myself.

~**~

By the time I made it to the Union at school, I felt drained of all life. My final test had taken me even longer than normal, and the professor liked me enough to let me stay half way into her next class to finish it properly. She went to my church, and knew of my illness... I wasn't sure if she bent the rules for me or not, but I still thanked her many times before I left her room.

Now I was standing in front of Fate, allowing her to take my backpack. She had driven her car this time, and I was glad. Holding onto her on her bike seemed a little more than I would be willing to do.

“Are you okay?” She asked me while opening the car door.

“Yeah, just... tired.” Fate nodded and even closed the door for me. As she walked around, I adjusted her radio station to one I liked and then the air vents so the cool breeze was flowing on my sweaty skin. “What movie did you want to watch?”

“You pick,” Fate looked over at me and felt my forehead.

“Of course I'm hot, it's blazing outside.” I scolded her and moved her hand away in favor of holding it. “I want to watch the new Twilight--”

“No.” The word was said flatly.

“But--”

“No. No sparklepires.” Fate clicked her tongue. “How can you watch that stupid stuff?”

“It's not stupid!” I countered instantly. “It makes perfect sense!”

“Sparkling.”

“There's more to it than--”

“Sparkling. They SPARKLE.”

I huffed at her. “There's a story too.”

Fate rolled her eyes. “I couldn't tell; I was blinded by the light radiating from male princess vampires who shine like diamonds in the sun.”

I didn't know if she was joking or not, but I really wasn't in the mood for my favorite series to be slammed. “Okay, fine. Be a bitch.” Fate seemed surprised from my words just as much as me. She looked over to meet my eyes and I gave her a small sigh. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“I understand.” Fate let go of my hand and felt of my forehead again. “Headache?”

“...Yes.”

“Feel weak?” I nodded. “Can you see fine?” This time I shook my head. “Maybe we should put this off?”

“No. No, I'm fine. Really.” Moving her hand, I held it in mine once more. “Let's just go.” She reluctantly agreed and moved my hand over so it could rest on hers while she shifted. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.

~**~

I groaned heavily when I woke up. My throat was dry and I was rather hungry. What surprised me the most, however, was the fact that I was in bed instead of Fate's car. “Fate-chan?” My voice was raspy and when I could focus again, I realized I was in my room, the only light coming from a small nightlight I had on my far wall.

“Hey there,” my friend spoke, making me turn to look at the side. My hand was let go of and I heard Fate walk across my room so she could turn on the light. I was blinded for a moment, but could soon see again. A chair was next to my bed and I was still in my dress clothes from earlier. “How do you feel?” She offered a glass of water, which I took.

“Confused.” I gulped down the liquid and panted. My headache was worse, and I couldn't seem to see very well. “Why am I in bed?”

“You didn't wake up when we got to the theater.” Fate told me softly. “I was going to take you to the hospital, but after thinking about it, I decided to take you home.” She pushed me back down onto the bed and I didn’t have the ability to stop her. “Your body is getting weak again, you just have to adjust.”

I groaned. “I feel weird…”

“You’re going through withdrawal. Like a drug, your body adapted to my blood and used it to survive… Now it’s not there anymore… I’m sorry.”

“Just… just give me some more.” I felt her hand stroke my cheek. “It wasn’t much, right? You don’t have to turn me, just give me a drink every few days?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?” I looked up at her.

“Because your body would grow more and more accustomed to my blood, and eventually you wouldn’t be able to live without it, but still unable to convert your own… and you would get worse. Your medicine wouldn’t work anymore, and your body would fight it off while making you drink more and more of my blood… I can’t do that, it would be the same as condemning you.”

“Just a little… just this once.” I sat up, much to her displeasure, and pulled her into a hug. “I feel so weak… Just give me enough to perk up… okay?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Just a little… Just a little!” I pulled back when she tried to hug me tighter. “Fate-chan!? People donate blood all the time! I donate mine to you, why can’t you do the same for me!?”

“I just told you--”

“No!” I shook my head. “You’re getting the wrong idea! I'm not asking to be turned, just for enough of your blood to make me feel better! It was only a small vile, right? right!?" I held onto her when she pulled away, and gripped her when she moved far back enough so we couldn't hug anymore. "Fate-chan!"

"Your body won't accept it like that..."

"It will!" I crawled to the side, holding onto her. "Just a little...I'll feel better..." Fate put her hands on my shoulders to push me down, but I moved to grip her tighter, almost falling out of the bed now.

"Nanoha..."

"You don't hurt like normal right? You'll heal right?" My clawing on her made us both collapse onto the floor. Looking down at her, I felt myself get desperate. I didn't want to be bed ridden again... I didn't want to be in the hospital indefinetly!

"Nanoha?" She looked up at me with a mix between sandess and worry.

Just a drink... I only needed a drink...to keep me going...to keep me out of the hospital... she will heal... she always heals... "a little," I pleaded with her, reaching to my nightstand to pick up a syringe. "It won't hurt." I moved it to stab into a vein but she grabbed my hand. " You'll heal!" I screamed loudly at her, struggling.

"I'm sorry," She whispered to me as I tried to force the needle closer to her neck. My wrist was screaming in pain from my frantic motions, but I didn't care if it broke, as long as I got a taste. "I'm so sorry, Nanoha." Fate told me again, just before I felt a small slap on the back of my neck. Everything went black and I fell forward.

no votes. Next part is done, but I'm leaving it here for now :3

[deathcurse]

Posted Chapter 2 of "A Familiar Life..." on Fanfiction.net. I made some edits, mostly adding in sentences here and there, after looking over all the commentary I got for it here. Now hopefully it will foreshadow my eventual Reveal in later chapters better!

Originally Posted by Satashi

Vampire!Fate, picks up after FF.N left off:

Spoiler for Vampire!Fate:

Fate

After church was over I stayed with Nanoha outside of the building as the youth group gathered. There was an overly large section of grass in the middle of the mass of buildings, much like a small park. It was a rather nice place and I didn't mind staying there. Erio and Caro were talking with a few of the younger children that they had met earlier in the day and Nanoha was currently gone to fetch a drink of water since she had been running around so much.

I felt the group approach me before they surrounded me and I smiled sweetly at the group of men that I had met earlier that morning. "Hello boys," I greeted.

Ryo, the man with long black hair, spoke first. "What is a vampire doing here?"

I clicked my tongue. They didn't really give off the impression of paladins. "What do you mean?"

"We can tell you are one," Rowen told me calmly. "We don't want you anywhere near Nanoha, she is a kind girl and doesn't need things like you around her."

"I don't know what you mean," I glared at him. "I met her at school and we became friends. Now, if you'll excuse me, I want to go talk to my friend." Moving past them, I made my way to Nanoha and smiled at her. She returned it and offered me a small paper cup filled with water, which I took. The men behind me were now throwing a football around to other members of the youth squad so I figured they were letting me off with a warning for now.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha asked me curiously. "Is something wrong?"

"No," I beamed at her to ease her worries. "Nothing at all."

~**~

I wasn't quite expecting Nanoha's parents to invite us over for lunch, but once the offer was made, I felt it would be rude to turn it down. I drove us all to her house and looked around in appreciation at the bakery on the bottom floor that we had to pass through.

The main shop seemed to be doing much better than Nanoha's branch, as it was easilly twice the size. All sorts of bread was laid out and I felt a twinge pass through me when I noticed a 'double cinnamon bun special' on sale. I had to turn away from it, and Nanoha clearly saw it and giggled.

"I'll make you some," she promsied up at me. With a nod at her and a smile, we went back behind the bakery and into the house itself. "Make yourself comfortable," Nanoha told me when we got to the couch. Sitting down, I crossed my legs politly and allowed Erio to plop uncomfortably next to me. Caro seemed right at home in the house and was already talking with Nanoha's mother about what they would be making for lunch.

Shiro sat in a chair across from us and I smiled at him. "So," he began conversation. "You and Nanoha are quite good friends, huh? She hasn't invited anyone to come to church with her in ages."

"Dad!" Nanoha scolded embarrassedly.

"Yes sir," I answered the question anyway. It was a good ice breaker, and I didn't want to pass up a chance to embarrasse my girlfriend. "We met about two months ago now. We hit it off really well and seemed to run into each other every day for a bit."

I could tell Nanoha bit back a remark about how I stalked her for about a week and isntead offered to fetch us something to drink. Shiro hummed at this and went on. "And you say that you are a writer?"

"Yes sir," I started with the same words as before and he seemed to really like my mannors. Oh, if he only knew... "I have a few books out, they are mainly about fiction. You know, dragons and knights and stuff. My newest one is about a samurai."

"Oh, I do love a good samurai book. Anyone specifically?"

"Musashi."

Shiro's eyes lit up. "My favorite!"

I actually knew musashi from the past. I had met him while he was still living at his father's place, before he ran away. I was certainly shocked to hear about his swordsmanship and it was one of the things that I regretted in life when I never got to clash blades with him... But that was neither here nor there. "You seem to have a pretty popular bakery, having branches and all."

"We are quite proud of it," he agreed while Nanoha offered him a glass. Erio, who was still silent, took a glass as well and I smiled at Nanoha when she gave me one. Taking the straw in my mouth, I sipped on the contents and had to bite back making a face... This girl drank unsweet tea. That was definetly not on my list of things I looked for in a significant other, but I had to deal with it. Shiro picked back up and I met his eye to show I was paying attention to him. "I hope Nanoha's bakery is doing alright as well? The girl never seems to talk to us about it."

"She sells out every day," I told them honestly. Actually, I bet Nanoha could make a lot more money if she put more on her shelves, but she already worked every waking moment when she wasn't at school, and studied as well, so she probably couldn't force herself to work any harder. "I help her out a little bit every now and then, she's teaching me how to bake."

"More like you're stealing cinnamon rolls when I'm not looking," Nanoha chose that moment to come back into the room and sit down on my other side. I instantly wanted to put my arm around her, but held back for her sake. "Daddy, don't grill her about me, it's rude." I chuckled at her words while Shiro laughed good naturedly. My girlfriend puffed out her cheeks and took an excessivly long drink from her glass.

~**~

I found that Momoko was a good cook, and I was really looking forward to the meal she put together. It was a classic Sunday lunch that was best suited for a picnic. Fried chicken, and all the sides were spread out around the table. Shiro asked us to hold hands while praying and I enjoyed the chance to openly flirt by rubbing Nanoha's palm while I had the chance. She was blushing, but I didn't care. It was always fun to mess with her.

After eating and talking for well over a full hour, we finally stated that we needed to get back home so Nanoha could at least make some evening sales. As we piled into my car, I waved at them and backed out to drive to Nanoha's place.

A good bit was spent setting out proofed dough and I assisted my girlfriend with baking and placing them on the shelves for the group of people who normally came by. Finally, after closing for the night and letting Caro and Erio watch TV together, I went back to Nanoha's bedroom to be alone with her.

"What an eventful day," she mused while drinking from a freshly filled glass. Walking to her vanity area, she opened her medicine cabinet and took two pills out to swallow them. "Ugh, this headache just won't go away."

"Headache?" I blinked. She shouldn't be in any pain what-so-ever, unless... Oh great. She was starting to go into withdrawel. "Is it bad?"

"Kind of," she admitted to me, voice sounding as if she didn't mind it at all. "No where near as bad as I get sometimes, but I'm really thirsty for some reason."

Come to think of it, wasn't that like her tenth glass today? "Nanoha, you shouldn't drink so much, you'll get sick."

"Yeah, but I'm dieing of thirst. I feel a little tingle in my throat like it's dry, but no matter how much I drink it won't go away."

I took a deep breath to steady myself for my next words. "Nanoha... Remember how I told you that you would eventually cycle my blood out your system?" She nodded, eyes curious. "Well, it's starting to happen." I kept on before she could get depressed on me and make me want to stop. "Your body is starting to wonder where my blood cells are, and it is trying to get you to get more, kind of like when you have a stomache ache, it tries to get all the food out of your tummy."

"Okay... but why am I thirsty?"

I smiled without humor. "Your body knows what it wants, and you're subconsciously connecting it with drinking blood because you know I'm a vampire. It's psycology, your body wants my blood and is telling you that in the only way it knows how, to drink."

Nanoha sat on the bed and sighed. "Great... just great..."

Spoiler for Next part:

~**~

Nanoha

I didn't really know what to think. I knew it would happen, but I didn't think it would be so soon. The past two days had been simply amazing for me. I got to run, to jump, and to just... live a normal life. I didn't have to worry about studying, I didn't have to worry about taking my medication, or giving myself shots... I just... lived.

“I'm sorry,” Fate spoke to me gently. She sat next to me and put her arm around my shoulders. “I know it is going to be really infuriating but please stay strong, okay?”

“Stay strong?” I blinked. “Fate-chan, I don't think that it will matter that much. I am thirsty, but I can deal with it. Knowing that I do not really need something to drink helps.”

“It's not just that,” she was almost whispering. Before I could ask, she smiled at me. “What classes do you have tomorrow?”

“Same ones as always, I just have to take my test, though. I'll be out a little after noon, why?”

“Let's go to a movie.”

I chuckled at her not so subtle change in topic. “I can't, I need to watch my store.”

“Caro can run it.”

“I hate pushing so much on her.”

“You did it by yourself, and she's more than capable. Besides, I'm sure Erio would love the chance to help out.”

I didn't know if it would be okay or not so I evaded the question for now. “I'll ask Caro what she thinks later tonight.”

“Okay.” Fate stood up and smiled at me. “I'll head off now, rest up okay?”

I seriously didn't want to rest when I knew that I would be weak again soon, but I was a little tired. “Okay, I will.”

I walked with Fate out of my room and into the guest room, where Caro and Erio were sitting on the bed together while playing a game on my rarely ever used system. The boy seemed reluctant to leave, and to my surprise, Caro seemed to be a little attached to her new friend as well.

After a long goodbye, and Fate sneaking a kiss to my cheek while Caro wasn't looking, I went back to my kitchen and raided my refrigerator. Fate had bought me these delicious little brownie bite things after telling me about them. I was shocked to find out they went in the 'fridge, but if she liked them so much, I wanted to see if I could make them for her.

Opening the bag, I took out a small brownie that was covered in a hard chocolate shell. A bite later and my mouth was filled with the taste of a gooey caramel, am mushy brownie flavor, and an overwhelming chocolate. The ingredients were easily identified and I was confident I could make these things for much cheaper than the store sold them... maybe I could even put them on sale and see if people liked them!

...Fate sure did have fool-proof way of making me spoil her without even thinking of it.

~**~

My alarm was sounding on my headboard, but for some reason I didn't want to move. Despite having gone to bed at my normal time, I was really tired. My eyes opened after I sat up and I was a little dizzy for a moment. 'Why am I so tired?' The headache from yesterday was still pounding in my skull, and when I stumbled to my medicine cabinet, I found my hands getting out my normal breakfast of differently shaped pills. 'Might as well... I don't have much of her blood left in me anyway...'

After waking up more, I hazily made my way downstairs to start my morning routine. Caro joined me half an hour later and started making us breakfast while I did the normal bread crafting. “Caro-chan, you are a life saver, you know that?”

“I try,” she replied happily. Truth be told, she seemed to be happier with me than at my uncle's place, and I really wished that she could stay longer than just the summer. At any rate, I had plenty of time to make my regulars as well as a gooey double cinnamon bomb for Fate. Although I didn't know if it would still be on the shelves when I got home, it was the thought that counted... That and I wanted to see Fate pout if they were all sold out.

I received permission from Caro to go on my date and felt my spirits lift when I realized that she was more on top of things than even me. By the time I left, she had already corrected my oven temperature as well as doubled up on the types of things we could sell after insisting that they would be bought.

My track to school was made lazily and I rubbed my eyes several times to clear them. I either needed glasses or my vision was just weak today. Come to think of it, my backpack felt exceedingly heavy, even though there was hardly anything in it. Normally I had all my books, but today I only brought my binder and several of my pens and notes.

When I collapsed into my chair in my classroom, the world was starting to fade on me. I took a small nap right then and there, being awoken by the boy sitting next to me when the test was starting. Despite studying, the questions seemed hazy. It was odd... I didn't feel sick, just...weak. I couldn't focus, and when the allotted time was over, I wasn't even sure if I did well or not.

The second test was much the same, even including my small nap. The break between my second and third class was made by nibbling on my usual Chinese meal. The slightly spicy flavor picked me up a bit, and I had a weird flashback to when I first met Fate. She had caught me after eating this very meal, and made me eat ice cream off her spoon in front of everyone just so I could cool my mouth down.

I smiled at the thought, thinking how much more simple my life was back then. I wasn't part of this war, and I didn't have to worry about the people known as paladins. Come to think of it, I didn't worry about vampires either.

Fate had changed my life, and it was for the better. Even if I did get caught up in all of this crazy stuff, she had been there for me. Reaching up, I touched my neck at where I knew her mark to be. Even though I couldn't see it, there was some type of design there. It was an invisible tattoo to humans, but stood out to the heightened senses of vampires. I had caught a few people looking at it before, but when I glanced at them, they turned away... Now, I felt rather proud of this.

My third test would start soon and I made it to the classroom with only a few minutes to spare. Subaru was already in her usual seat and she looked at me with a slightly worried expression. “You okay?” her words came before I even sat down.

“Yeah, just really weak.”

“Wearing off, huh?” She smiled to offer me some encouragement. “I don't know what it feels like for you, but I do know that the paladins made my glove specifically so it wouldn't affect me too much when I borrowed Tea's power.”

I nodded. “It keeps it in your arm, doesn't let it go into your body, right?”

“Yup. I injects really slow, giving me a dose to my veins every now and then. Makes sure I don't get weak, otherwise I might be a hindrance to my master, you know?”

I didn't really know, as I had always been a hindrance to Fate, but I nodded anyway. I wondered how she put up with me... I was weak, weird, and exactly the opposite of somebody that could support and stand by Fate... But she had chosen me anyway. I was going to be a blood bank for her at first, but she changed her mind somewhere along the way. Maybe she would tell me if I asked her? Would it offend her? Why me? Why someone who is dying? Why not a girl like Subaru who can fight and take care of herself?

“Nanoha-san?” Subaru waved her hand in front of my face, catching my attention. She held up a stack of papers and I realized I had completely spaced out. Taking one, I passed the others on down my row and took a deep breath to prepare myself.

~**~

By the time I made it to the Union at school, I felt drained of all life. My final test had taken me even longer than normal, and the professor liked me enough to let me stay half way into her next class to finish it properly. She went to my church, and knew of my illness... I wasn't sure if she bent the rules for me or not, but I still thanked her many times before I left her room.

Now I was standing in front of Fate, allowing her to take my backpack. She had driven her car this time, and I was glad. Holding onto her on her bike seemed a little more than I would be willing to do.

“Are you okay?” She asked me while opening the car door.

“Yeah, just... tired.” Fate nodded and even closed the door for me. As she walked around, I adjusted her radio station to one I liked and then the air vents so the cool breeze was flowing on my sweaty skin. “What movie did you want to watch?”

“You pick,” Fate looked over at me and felt my forehead.

“Of course I'm hot, it's blazing outside.” I scolded her and moved her hand away in favor of holding it. “I want to watch the new Twilight--”

“No.” The word was said flatly.

“But--”

“No. No sparklepires.” Fate clicked her tongue. “How can you watch that stupid stuff?”

“It's not stupid!” I countered instantly. “It makes perfect sense!”

“Sparkling.”

“There's more to it than--”

“Sparkling. They SPARKLE.”

I huffed at her. “There's a story too.”

Fate rolled her eyes. “I couldn't tell; I was blinded by the light radiating from male princess vampires who shine like diamonds in the sun.”

I didn't know if she was joking or not, but I really wasn't in the mood for my favorite series to be slammed. “Okay, fine. Be a bitch.” Fate seemed surprised from my words just as much as me. She looked over to meet my eyes and I gave her a small sigh. “Sorry, that was uncalled for.”

“I understand.” Fate let go of my hand and felt of my forehead again. “Headache?”

“...Yes.”

“Feel weak?” I nodded. “Can you see fine?” This time I shook my head. “Maybe we should put this off?”

“No. No, I'm fine. Really.” Moving her hand, I held it in mine once more. “Let's just go.” She reluctantly agreed and moved my hand over so it could rest on hers while she shifted. Closing my eyes, I took a deep breath.

~**~

I groaned heavily when I woke up. My throat was dry and I was rather hungry. What surprised me the most, however, was the fact that I was in bed instead of Fate's car. “Fate-chan?” My voice was raspy and when I could focus again, I realized I was in my room, the only light coming from a small nightlight I had on my far wall.

“Hey there,” my friend spoke, making me turn to look at the side. My hand was let go of and I heard Fate walk across my room so she could turn on the light. I was blinded for a moment, but could soon see again. A chair was next to my bed and I was still in my dress clothes from earlier. “How do you feel?” She offered a glass of water, which I took.

“Confused.” I gulped down the liquid and panted. My headache was worse, and I couldn't seem to see very well. “Why am I in bed?”

“You didn't wake up when we got to the theater.” Fate told me softly. “I was going to take you to the hospital, but after thinking about it, I decided to take you home.” She pushed me back down onto the bed and I didn’t have the ability to stop her. “Your body is getting weak again, you just have to adjust.”

I groaned. “I feel weird…”

“You’re going through withdrawal. Like a drug, your body adapted to my blood and used it to survive… Now it’s not there anymore… I’m sorry.”

“Just… just give me some more.” I felt her hand stroke my cheek. “It wasn’t much, right? You don’t have to turn me, just give me a drink every few days?”

“I can’t.”

“Why?” I looked up at her.

“Because your body would grow more and more accustomed to my blood, and eventually you wouldn’t be able to live without it, but still unable to convert your own… and you would get worse. Your medicine wouldn’t work anymore, and your body would fight it off while making you drink more and more of my blood… I can’t do that, it would be the same as condemning you.”

“Just a little… just this once.” I sat up, much to her displeasure, and pulled her into a hug. “I feel so weak… Just give me enough to perk up… okay?”

“I’m sorry…”

“Just a little… Just a little!” I pulled back when she tried to hug me tighter. “Fate-chan!? People donate blood all the time! I donate mine to you, why can’t you do the same for me!?”

“I just told you--”

“No!” I shook my head. “You’re getting the wrong idea! I'm not asking to be turned, just for enough of your blood to make me feel better! It was only a small vile, right? right!?" I held onto her when she pulled away, and gripped her when she moved far back enough so we couldn't hug anymore. "Fate-chan!"

"Your body won't accept it like that..."

"It will!" I crawled to the side, holding onto her. "Just a little...I'll feel better..." Fate put her hands on my shoulders to push me down, but I moved to grip her tighter, almost falling out of the bed now.

"Nanoha..."

"You don't hurt like normal right? You'll heal right?" My clawing on her made us both collapse onto the floor. Looking down at her, I felt myself get desperate. I didn't want to be bed ridden again... I didn't want to be in the hospital indefinetly!

"Nanoha?" She looked up at me with a mix between sandess and worry.

Just a drink... I only needed a drink...to keep me going...to keep me out of the hospital... she will heal... she always heals... "a little," I pleaded with her, reaching to my nightstand to pick up a syringe. "It won't hurt." I moved it to stab into a vein but she grabbed my hand. " You'll heal!" I screamed loudly at her, struggling.

"I'm sorry," She whispered to me as I tried to force the needle closer to her neck. My wrist was screaming in pain from my frantic motions, but I didn't care if it broke, as long as I got a taste. "I'm so sorry, Nanoha." Fate told me again, just before I felt a small slap on the back of my neck. Everything went black and I fell forward.

no votes. Next part is done, but I'm leaving it here for now :3

Hmm, interesting...I wonder what's going to happen to Nanoha after this set of withdrawal symptoms passes. Will she return to the way she was before, or did Fate's blood permanently change things?

[itanshi1]

Withdrawal? Gah I keep thinking she hopped up on peeps x_X haha

[shiroi mahotsukai]

I'm starting to feel afraid that this could end badly for Nanoha, my overactive imagination can be blamed for that but still...

[RadiantBeam]

I vote for a Kill 'Em All ending.

*shot repeatedly*

[Rising Dragon]

Wouldn't be the first time Satashi's offed Nanoha in a depressing manner...

[deathcurse]

Sleep? Why would I need that, when I can be writing Chapter 4 instead?

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 4:

A Familiar Life…
Chapter 4

“I want to see Fate.”

Yuuno jerked, spilling water from the flower vase onto the bedside table. Frantically the boy rescued all the get-well-soon cards from the growing puddle, passing them to Nanoha to hold while he opened the drawer. “There’s probably a towel here somewhere—”

“Yuuno-kun.”

He pulled out a towel and laid it on the water to soak. Finally realizing that he wasn’t going to succeed in diverting her attention from her demand, he cringed. “…Um, Nanoha—”

“Yes, I’m sure that I want to.” She needed to ask Fate…she needed to hear why, from Fate’s own mouth. Nanoha needed to see Fate. The longing distracted her from everything else, and even if the emotion was falsely induced Nanoha still wanted to see Fate anyways.

Nanoha tried to believe that she really did.

Thinking about Fate made her think about what Fate had done, which just made Nanoha upset all over again. And being upset made her want to see Fate more.

…She really needed to speak with Arf soon about this.

Yuuno looked about to give in when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Nanoha Takamachi?” A well-dressed man stood in the open doorway, his black suit and official demeanour making Nanoha tense. “Hello—I’m a prosecutor for—”

“Are you here about Fate?” Nanoha cut in.

“Ah, yes,” the prosecutor said, conceding to jump past the pleasantries. He walked over and sat in one of the plastic chairs next to Nanoha’s bed, putting his tablet on his knees and calling up a file with a flick of his stylus. “I’m here to collect evidence for Fate Testarossa’s court trial. The doctors have told me that you are well enough for questioning.”

Nanoha sat up fully from her reclined position, letting her pillow slide down to support her back. “What’s going to happen to her?”

The man looked pleased at her interest. “The charges for Artificial Mage creation could land her a life-sentence without parole in isolated prison, while the charge of forcing a magical contract on a sentient being is another life-sentence in itself. The necromancy charge isn’t as certain as the other two, the punishment being dependent on the method and what other illegal procedures were involved.”

“I see.” Nanoha nodded.

“Excellent.” The prosecutor smiled, calling up a list of questions on his screen. “Let’s make this as brief as possible, shall we? Takamachi-san, did Fate Testarossa bind you into the familiar contract against your will?” The man readied his stylus, expecting the answer already.

Nanoha didn’t hesitate.

“No.”

“Alri—what?” The prosecutor did a double-take, staring at her in surprise. Yuuno was doing the same, although he did a better job of hiding his astonishment. “Ah…Are you sure, Takamachi-san?”

Adamantly, Nanoha said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” repeated Nanoha.

Scrolling through his files, his face screwed up in confusion, the man said, “Um…our reports said that you seemed very distraught when you first—”

She interrupted him again. “That’s not true. Fate didn’t do anything against my will.” Impatiently, Nanoha swung her legs off the side of the bed and rose, walking over to the door with just a small limp in her steps. She glanced back at the prosecutor. “Is that all? I want to go see Fate now.”

He seemed to regain his footing, smiling at Nanoha with sympathy in his eyes. “Takamachi-san…you don’t need to lie for her.” His voice tried to be soothing, but Nanoha wasn’t moved at all. “Familiars are free beings by law—indeed, the law is on your side if abuse is suspected. You don’t have to be afraid to tell us the truth.”

“I’m not lying.” Nanoha punched the keypad roughly and the door slid open. “Fate didn’t force anything on me. We had talked about it before, and I had agreed in case something really did happen to me. That’s all.” It was odd, how such blatant lying to an official didn’t even faze her. Nanoha—the old Nanoha—would never have been able to do it. If she was going to disobey, she defied orders openly instead of lying.

For Fate, Nanoha would have done anything. Disobeying Lindy’s orders had felt right. But now, Nanoha didn’t feel anything about lying at all.

“So you knew that Fate Testarossa would perform illegal spells ahead of time?” The prosecutor started writing frantically on his screen. “You’re saying that her actions were pre-meditated?”

“Creating a familiar isn’t illegal,” Yuuno said sharply. Nanoha had almost forgotten that he was there—the man surely did, as he gave the blond boy a look of annoyance and surprise. “Even creating a human familiar, as there’s nothing in the TSAB Magical Arcana Laws that state that humans are exempt from the “animal” condition of the familiar spell. Even if it was planned ahead of time, there was nothing illegal in what Fate did.”

“The cloning spells that Testarossa used were derived from Precia Testarossa’s illegal work in Artificial Mage creation,” the prosecutor informed him. “From her own testimony, she used them with knowledge of the consequences.”

“We’re going to dispute that claim,” Yuuno countered, his green eyes flashing. “What Fate did was essentially no different than the organ cloning practice in medical—”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha interrupted their technical debate, clutching onto the door frame in a white-knuckled grip. “I want to see Fate-chan now. I’m leaving now, with or without you.” She left without another backwards glance—even though she actually didn’t know where to go exactly. Maybe her unique state of being would lead her automatically to her master?

Hopefully, she wasn’t walking the wrong way…

“Wait, Nanoha!”

She was already half-way down the hall before Yuuno finally caught up with her, grabbing her arm. “Nanoha, wait, please.”

“I’m not waiting.” Nanoha tried to shake him off. The turmoil inside her kept growing, making Nanoha want to scream or collapse and start crying. One of those two options. “I want to see Fate. I need to see her.”

“Nanoha, please,” begged Yuuno, coming around to meet her eyes imploringly. “I need to tell you something before you see Fate. It’s really important.”

Whew, at least it’s not because I was going the wrong direction. “What?”

He winced, looking around them down the hallway. “Not here—urk!”

She had yanked him into the nearby girl’s washroom, slamming the door shut and locking it impatiently. “Go on, Yuuno-kun.”

“H-here?” Yuuno stammered, looking about to faint from embarrassment.

Nanoha just glared at him, although she couldn’t help smiling a bit at how flustered he was. “Just say it already.”

Yuuno took a breath, his expression turning grave. “I promised Fate that I wouldn’t say a word, but…I have to tell you.”

Now Nanoha was keenly interested. “Tell me about what?”

Swallowing, Yuuno walked over to the sinks, bracing himself against the counter. He looked down, as if he couldn’t garner the courage to look Nanoha in the eyes as he confessed. “Nanoha…Fate told everyone that she was the only one who did it. That she made you…that she did the ritual all by herself.

“But I can’t lie to you, Nanoha.” Yuuno lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

“I was there too.”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha gasped, a mixture of shock and betrayal slipping into her voice.

He flinched at that, but continued. “I was there too. I helped her, she didn’t know what to do exactly, on her own…I helped her with all the ritual steps.”

“You helped Fate make me a familiar,” Nanoha paraphrased flatly. “Did you help clone my brain too?” Her tone grew sarcastic. “Patch up the bits of me that were dead?” She knew that she was being mean, but she couldn’t help it—suddenly all the pent-up anger and frustration that she had towards Fate found a new, present outlet, and Nanoha struggled to keep herself from letting loose on poor Yuuno.

Her friend shook his head.

“…So that was just Fate then.”

Yuuno shook his head again. “No, Nanoha. Fate didn’t clone anything of you. It was all a lie.”

“WHAT?” Nanoha yelled, feeling her control slip over her emotions. She grabbed onto Yuuno’s shoulders, spinning him around. “What do you mean? What…then how am I alive? How?!”

Yuuno looked back at her, his green eyes pained. “Fate made you her familiar. In the real way. A magical body created with the mana of the mage…into which the familiar’s soul is placed…”

“There’s no way Fate could have had enough magic to do…oh.” Nanoha dropped her grip on Yuuno. “You were the one who supported the barrier, wasn’t it?” That explained a lot—Yuuno’s skills in support magic were nearly unrivalled by anyone else Nanoha knew.

He nodded, confirming her guess.

Nanoha leaned her forehead against the washroom wall, fighting tears of frustration. Having her life flipped on its head after waking up from a fatal accident had already been horrible—having it happen twice? Now that was nearly too much.

So Fate and Yuuno had lied about Fate using cloning spells. That actually made things more logical to Nanoha, as she had been so baffled as to why Fate would have learned illegal cloning spells. Drastically out of character for her shy friend…not to mention that it made no sense that Fate could have done it in just a few minutes.

At the same time, Nanoha was more confused than ever.

“Yuuno-kun,” Nanoha said slowly. “If you guys didn’t use illegal spells…then why did Fate say that she did?”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Okay, I kind of cheated, and came up with this new development to explain away all the cloning issues without having to rewrite the previous chapters. But the last-minute plot did give me really neat ideas to explore now!

This chapter was incredibly hard to write, as I had to cobble two ideas together roughly since I had to quickly explain things . So the quality suffered there, I'm sorry about that!

Thanks goes to Kaijo and Alavon, who between the two of them helped inspire this new idea!

Now...time to go snooze.....

[00-Raiser]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sleep? Why would I need that, when I can be writing Chapter 4 instead?

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 4:

A Familiar Life…
Chapter 4

“I want to see Fate.”

Yuuno jerked, spilling water from the flower vase onto the bedside table. Frantically the boy rescued all the get-well-soon cards from the growing puddle, passing them to Nanoha to hold while he opened the drawer. “There’s probably a towel here somewhere—”

“Yuuno-kun.”

He pulled out a towel and laid it on the water to soak. Finally realizing that he wasn’t going to succeed in diverting her attention from her demand, he cringed. “…Um, Nanoha—”

“Yes, I’m sure that I want to.” She needed to ask Fate…she needed to hear why, from Fate’s own mouth. Nanoha needed to see Fate. The longing distracted her from everything else, and even if the emotion was falsely induced Nanoha still wanted to see Fate anyways.

Nanoha tried to believe that she really did.

Thinking about Fate made her think about what Fate had done, which just made Nanoha upset all over again. And being upset made her want to see Fate more.

…She really needed to speak with Arf soon about this.

Yuuno looked about to give in when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Nanoha Takamachi?” A well-dressed man stood in the open doorway, his black suit and official demeanour making Nanoha tense. “Hello—I’m a prosecutor for—”

“Are you here about Fate?” Nanoha cut in.

“Ah, yes,” the prosecutor said, conceding to jump past the pleasantries. He walked over and sat in one of the plastic chairs next to Nanoha’s bed, putting his tablet on his knees and calling up a file with a flick of his stylus. “I’m here to collect evidence for Fate Testarossa’s court trial. The doctors have told me that you are well enough for questioning.”

Nanoha sat up fully from her reclined position, letting her pillow slide down to support her back. “What’s going to happen to her?”

The man looked pleased at her interest. “The charges for Artificial Mage creation could land her a life-sentence without parole in isolated prison, while the charge of forcing a magical contract on a sentient being is another life-sentence in itself. The necromancy charge isn’t as certain as the other two, the punishment being dependent on the method and what other illegal procedures were involved.”

“I see.” Nanoha nodded.

“Excellent.” The prosecutor smiled, calling up a list of questions on his screen. “Let’s make this as brief as possible, shall we? Takamachi-san, did Fate Testarossa bind you into the familiar contract against your will?” The man readied his stylus, expecting the answer already.

Nanoha didn’t hesitate.

“No.”

“Alri—what?” The prosecutor did a double-take, staring at her in surprise. Yuuno was doing the same, although he did a better job of hiding his astonishment. “Ah…Are you sure, Takamachi-san?”

Adamantly, Nanoha said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” repeated Nanoha.

Scrolling through his files, his face screwed up in confusion, the man said, “Um…our reports said that you seemed very distraught when you first—”

She interrupted him again. “That’s not true. Fate didn’t do anything against my will.” Impatiently, Nanoha swung her legs off the side of the bed and rose, walking over to the door with just a small limp in her steps. She glanced back at the prosecutor. “Is that all? I want to go see Fate now.”

He seemed to regain his footing, smiling at Nanoha with sympathy in his eyes. “Takamachi-san…you don’t need to lie for her.” His voice tried to be soothing, but Nanoha wasn’t moved at all. “Familiars are free beings by law—indeed, the law is on your side if abuse is suspected. You don’t have to be afraid to tell us the truth.”

“I’m not lying.” Nanoha punched the keypad roughly and the door slid open. “Fate didn’t force anything on me. We had talked about it before, and I had agreed in case something really did happen to me. That’s all.” It was odd, how such blatant lying to an official didn’t even faze her. Nanoha—the old Nanoha—would never have been able to do it. If she was going to disobey, she defied orders openly instead of lying.

For Fate, Nanoha would have done anything. Disobeying Lindy’s orders had felt right. But now, Nanoha didn’t feel anything about lying at all.

“So you knew that Fate Testarossa would perform illegal spells ahead of time?” The prosecutor started writing frantically on his screen. “You’re saying that her actions were pre-meditated?”

“Creating a familiar isn’t illegal,” Yuuno said sharply. Nanoha had almost forgotten that he was there—the man surely did, as he gave the blond boy a look of annoyance and surprise. “Even creating a human familiar, as there’s nothing in the TSAB Magical Arcana Laws that state that humans are exempt from the “animal” condition of the familiar spell. Even if it was planned ahead of time, there was nothing illegal in what Fate did.”

“The cloning spells that Testarossa used were derived from Precia Testarossa’s illegal work in Artificial Mage creation,” the prosecutor informed him. “From her own testimony, she used them with knowledge of the consequences.”

“We’re going to dispute that claim,” Yuuno countered, his green eyes flashing. “What Fate did was essentially no different than the organ cloning practice in medical—”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha interrupted their technical debate, clutching onto the door frame in a white-knuckled grip. “I want to see Fate-chan now. I’m leaving now, with or without you.” She left without another backwards glance—even though she actually didn’t know where to go exactly. Maybe her unique state of being would lead her automatically to her master?

Hopefully, she wasn’t walking the wrong way…

“Wait, Nanoha!”

She was already half-way down the hall before Yuuno finally caught up with her, grabbing her arm. “Nanoha, wait, please.”

“I’m not waiting.” Nanoha tried to shake him off. The turmoil inside her kept growing, making Nanoha want to scream or collapse and start crying. One of those two options. “I want to see Fate. I need to see her.”

“Nanoha, please,” begged Yuuno, coming around to meet her eyes imploringly. “I need to tell you something before you see Fate. It’s really important.”

Whew, at least it’s not because I was going the wrong direction. “What?”

He winced, looking around them down the hallway. “Not here—urk!”

She had yanked him into the nearby girl’s washroom, slamming the door shut and locking it impatiently. “Go on, Yuuno-kun.”

“H-here?” Yuuno stammered, looking about to faint from embarrassment.

Nanoha just glared at him, although she couldn’t help smiling a bit at how flustered he was. “Just say it already.”

Yuuno took a breath, his expression turning grave. “I promised Fate that I wouldn’t say a word, but…I have to tell you.”

Now Nanoha was keenly interested. “Tell me about what?”

Swallowing, Yuuno walked over to the sinks, bracing himself against the counter. He looked down, as if he couldn’t garner the courage to look Nanoha in the eyes as he confessed. “Nanoha…Fate told everyone that she was the only one who did it. That she made you…that she did the ritual all by herself.

“But I can’t lie to you, Nanoha.” Yuuno lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

“I was there too.”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha gasped, a mixture of shock and betrayal slipping into her voice.

He flinched at that, but continued. “I was there too. I helped her, she didn’t know what to do exactly, on her own…I helped her with all the ritual steps.”

“You helped Fate make me a familiar,” Nanoha paraphrased flatly. “Did you help clone my brain too?” Her tone grew sarcastic. “Patch up the bits of me that were dead?” She knew that she was being mean, but she couldn’t help it—suddenly all the pent-up anger and frustration that she had towards Fate found a new, present outlet, and Nanoha struggled to keep herself from letting loose on poor Yuuno.

Her friend shook his head.

“…So that was just Fate then.”

Yuuno shook his head again. “No, Nanoha. Fate didn’t clone anything of you. It was all a lie.”

“WHAT?” Nanoha yelled, feeling her control slip over her emotions. She grabbed onto Yuuno’s shoulders, spinning him around. “What do you mean? What…then how am I alive? How?!”

Yuuno looked back at her, his green eyes pained. “Fate made you her familiar. In the real way. A magical body created with the mana of the mage…into which the familiar’s soul is placed…”

“There’s no way Fate could have had enough magic to do…oh.” Nanoha dropped her grip on Yuuno. “You were the one who supported the barrier, wasn’t it?” That explained a lot—Yuuno’s skills in support magic were nearly unrivalled by anyone else Nanoha knew.

He nodded, confirming her guess.

Nanoha leaned her forehead against the washroom wall, fighting tears of frustration. Having her life flipped on its head after waking up from a fatal accident had already been horrible—having it happen twice? Now that was nearly too much.

So Fate and Yuuno had lied about Fate using cloning spells. That actually made things more logical to Nanoha, as she had been so baffled as to why Fate would have learned illegal cloning spells. Drastically out of character for her shy friend…not to mention that it made no sense that Fate could have done it in just a few minutes.

At the same time, Nanoha was more confused than ever.

“Yuuno-kun,” Nanoha said slowly. “If you guys didn’t use illegal spells…then why did Fate say that she did?”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Okay, I kind of cheated, and came up with this new development to explain away all the cloning issues without having to rewrite the previous chapters. But the last-minute plot did give me really neat ideas to explore now!

This chapter was incredibly hard to write, as I had to cobble two ideas together roughly since I had to quickly explain things . So the quality suffered there, I'm sorry about that!

Thanks goes to Kaijo and Alavon, who between the two of them helped inspire this new idea!

Now...time to go snooze.....

Well that certainly works and it was a good twist. I wonder why they lied and made things more complicated. Maybe Fate was feeling so guilty and felt she needed some kind of punishment? I also wonder what further role Yuuno has in all this. It was great seeing him debate that prosecutor. Dragging him into the girls bathroom was also hilarious

I wonder about the whole 'willingness' thing. Actual medical law is that you need to ask the person for permission before you help them. However if that person is unconcious or otherwise unable to answer, it's considered as permission given. So if we apply that to this case, since Nanoha was in a coma/dead, then it should be covered.

[Alavon]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sleep? Why would I need that, when I can be writing Chapter 4 instead?

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 4:

A Familiar Life…
Chapter 4

“I want to see Fate.”

Yuuno jerked, spilling water from the flower vase onto the bedside table. Frantically the boy rescued all the get-well-soon cards from the growing puddle, passing them to Nanoha to hold while he opened the drawer. “There’s probably a towel here somewhere—”

“Yuuno-kun.”

He pulled out a towel and laid it on the water to soak. Finally realizing that he wasn’t going to succeed in diverting her attention from her demand, he cringed. “…Um, Nanoha—”

“Yes, I’m sure that I want to.” She needed to ask Fate…she needed to hear why, from Fate’s own mouth. Nanoha needed to see Fate. The longing distracted her from everything else, and even if the emotion was falsely induced Nanoha still wanted to see Fate anyways.

Nanoha tried to believe that she really did.

Thinking about Fate made her think about what Fate had done, which just made Nanoha upset all over again. And being upset made her want to see Fate more.

…She really needed to speak with Arf soon about this.

Yuuno looked about to give in when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Nanoha Takamachi?” A well-dressed man stood in the open doorway, his black suit and official demeanour making Nanoha tense. “Hello—I’m a prosecutor for—”

“Are you here about Fate?” Nanoha cut in.

“Ah, yes,” the prosecutor said, conceding to jump past the pleasantries. He walked over and sat in one of the plastic chairs next to Nanoha’s bed, putting his tablet on his knees and calling up a file with a flick of his stylus. “I’m here to collect evidence for Fate Testarossa’s court trial. The doctors have told me that you are well enough for questioning.”

Nanoha sat up fully from her reclined position, letting her pillow slide down to support her back. “What’s going to happen to her?”

The man looked pleased at her interest. “The charges for Artificial Mage creation could land her a life-sentence without parole in isolated prison, while the charge of forcing a magical contract on a sentient being is another life-sentence in itself. The necromancy charge isn’t as certain as the other two, the punishment being dependent on the method and what other illegal procedures were involved.”

“I see.” Nanoha nodded.

“Excellent.” The prosecutor smiled, calling up a list of questions on his screen. “Let’s make this as brief as possible, shall we? Takamachi-san, did Fate Testarossa bind you into the familiar contract against your will?” The man readied his stylus, expecting the answer already.

Nanoha didn’t hesitate.

“No.”

“Alri—what?” The prosecutor did a double-take, staring at her in surprise. Yuuno was doing the same, although he did a better job of hiding his astonishment. “Ah…Are you sure, Takamachi-san?”

Adamantly, Nanoha said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” repeated Nanoha.

Scrolling through his files, his face screwed up in confusion, the man said, “Um…our reports said that you seemed very distraught when you first—”

She interrupted him again. “That’s not true. Fate didn’t do anything against my will.” Impatiently, Nanoha swung her legs off the side of the bed and rose, walking over to the door with just a small limp in her steps. She glanced back at the prosecutor. “Is that all? I want to go see Fate now.”

He seemed to regain his footing, smiling at Nanoha with sympathy in his eyes. “Takamachi-san…you don’t need to lie for her.” His voice tried to be soothing, but Nanoha wasn’t moved at all. “Familiars are free beings by law—indeed, the law is on your side if abuse is suspected. You don’t have to be afraid to tell us the truth.”

“I’m not lying.” Nanoha punched the keypad roughly and the door slid open. “Fate didn’t force anything on me. We had talked about it before, and I had agreed in case something really did happen to me. That’s all.” It was odd, how such blatant lying to an official didn’t even faze her. Nanoha—the old Nanoha—would never have been able to do it. If she was going to disobey, she defied orders openly instead of lying.

For Fate, Nanoha would have done anything. Disobeying Lindy’s orders had felt right. But now, Nanoha didn’t feel anything about lying at all.

“So you knew that Fate Testarossa would perform illegal spells ahead of time?” The prosecutor started writing frantically on his screen. “You’re saying that her actions were pre-meditated?”

“Creating a familiar isn’t illegal,” Yuuno said sharply. Nanoha had almost forgotten that he was there—the man surely did, as he gave the blond boy a look of annoyance and surprise. “Even creating a human familiar, as there’s nothing in the TSAB Magical Arcana Laws that state that humans are exempt from the “animal” condition of the familiar spell. Even if it was planned ahead of time, there was nothing illegal in what Fate did.”

“The cloning spells that Testarossa used were derived from Precia Testarossa’s illegal work in Artificial Mage creation,” the prosecutor informed him. “From her own testimony, she used them with knowledge of the consequences.”

“We’re going to dispute that claim,” Yuuno countered, his green eyes flashing. “What Fate did was essentially no different than the organ cloning practice in medical—”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha interrupted their technical debate, clutching onto the door frame in a white-knuckled grip. “I want to see Fate-chan now. I’m leaving now, with or without you.” She left without another backwards glance—even though she actually didn’t know where to go exactly. Maybe her unique state of being would lead her automatically to her master?

Hopefully, she wasn’t walking the wrong way…

“Wait, Nanoha!”

She was already half-way down the hall before Yuuno finally caught up with her, grabbing her arm. “Nanoha, wait, please.”

“I’m not waiting.” Nanoha tried to shake him off. The turmoil inside her kept growing, making Nanoha want to scream or collapse and start crying. One of those two options. “I want to see Fate. I need to see her.”

“Nanoha, please,” begged Yuuno, coming around to meet her eyes imploringly. “I need to tell you something before you see Fate. It’s really important.”

Whew, at least it’s not because I was going the wrong direction. “What?”

He winced, looking around them down the hallway. “Not here—urk!”

She had yanked him into the nearby girl’s washroom, slamming the door shut and locking it impatiently. “Go on, Yuuno-kun.”

“H-here?” Yuuno stammered, looking about to faint from embarrassment.

Nanoha just glared at him, although she couldn’t help smiling a bit at how flustered he was. “Just say it already.”

Yuuno took a breath, his expression turning grave. “I promised Fate that I wouldn’t say a word, but…I have to tell you.”

Now Nanoha was keenly interested. “Tell me about what?”

Swallowing, Yuuno walked over to the sinks, bracing himself against the counter. He looked down, as if he couldn’t garner the courage to look Nanoha in the eyes as he confessed. “Nanoha…Fate told everyone that she was the only one who did it. That she made you…that she did the ritual all by herself.

“But I can’t lie to you, Nanoha.” Yuuno lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

“I was there too.”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha gasped, a mixture of shock and betrayal slipping into her voice.

He flinched at that, but continued. “I was there too. I helped her, she didn’t know what to do exactly, on her own…I helped her with all the ritual steps.”

“You helped Fate make me a familiar,” Nanoha paraphrased flatly. “Did you help clone my brain too?” Her tone grew sarcastic. “Patch up the bits of me that were dead?” She knew that she was being mean, but she couldn’t help it—suddenly all the pent-up anger and frustration that she had towards Fate found a new, present outlet, and Nanoha struggled to keep herself from letting loose on poor Yuuno.

Her friend shook his head.

“…So that was just Fate then.”

Yuuno shook his head again. “No, Nanoha. Fate didn’t clone anything of you. It was all a lie.”

“WHAT?” Nanoha yelled, feeling her control slip over her emotions. She grabbed onto Yuuno’s shoulders, spinning him around. “What do you mean? What…then how am I alive? How?!”

Yuuno looked back at her, his green eyes pained. “Fate made you her familiar. In the real way. A magical body created with the mana of the mage…into which the familiar’s soul is placed…”

“There’s no way Fate could have had enough magic to do…oh.” Nanoha dropped her grip on Yuuno. “You were the one who supported the barrier, wasn’t it?” That explained a lot—Yuuno’s skills in support magic were nearly unrivalled by anyone else Nanoha knew.

He nodded, confirming her guess.

Nanoha leaned her forehead against the washroom wall, fighting tears of frustration. Having her life flipped on its head after waking up from a fatal accident had already been horrible—having it happen twice? Now that was nearly too much.

So Fate and Yuuno had lied about Fate using cloning spells. That actually made things more logical to Nanoha, as she had been so baffled as to why Fate would have learned illegal cloning spells. Drastically out of character for her shy friend…not to mention that it made no sense that Fate could have done it in just a few minutes.

At the same time, Nanoha was more confused than ever.

“Yuuno-kun,” Nanoha said slowly. “If you guys didn’t use illegal spells…then why did Fate say that she did?”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Okay, I kind of cheated, and came up with this new development to explain away all the cloning issues without having to rewrite the previous chapters. But the last-minute plot did give me really neat ideas to explore now!

This chapter was incredibly hard to write, as I had to cobble two ideas together roughly since I had to quickly explain things . So the quality suffered there, I'm sorry about that!

Thanks goes to Kaijo and Alavon, who between the two of them helped inspire this new idea!

Now...time to go snooze.....

XD

YAY! An UPDATE!

Wow...now you added a new twist. Why did she lie?

[SilentOutlaw]

Maybe she just lied for the irony of having the same charges of her mom?

[RadiantBeam]

Originally Posted by deathcurse

Sleep? Why would I need that, when I can be writing Chapter 4 instead?

Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3

Spoiler for A Familiar Life... Chapter 4:

A Familiar Life…
Chapter 4

“I want to see Fate.”

Yuuno jerked, spilling water from the flower vase onto the bedside table. Frantically the boy rescued all the get-well-soon cards from the growing puddle, passing them to Nanoha to hold while he opened the drawer. “There’s probably a towel here somewhere—”

“Yuuno-kun.”

He pulled out a towel and laid it on the water to soak. Finally realizing that he wasn’t going to succeed in diverting her attention from her demand, he cringed. “…Um, Nanoha—”

“Yes, I’m sure that I want to.” She needed to ask Fate…she needed to hear why, from Fate’s own mouth. Nanoha needed to see Fate. The longing distracted her from everything else, and even if the emotion was falsely induced Nanoha still wanted to see Fate anyways.

Nanoha tried to believe that she really did.

Thinking about Fate made her think about what Fate had done, which just made Nanoha upset all over again. And being upset made her want to see Fate more.

…She really needed to speak with Arf soon about this.

Yuuno looked about to give in when a knock on the door interrupted them.

“Nanoha Takamachi?” A well-dressed man stood in the open doorway, his black suit and official demeanour making Nanoha tense. “Hello—I’m a prosecutor for—”

“Are you here about Fate?” Nanoha cut in.

“Ah, yes,” the prosecutor said, conceding to jump past the pleasantries. He walked over and sat in one of the plastic chairs next to Nanoha’s bed, putting his tablet on his knees and calling up a file with a flick of his stylus. “I’m here to collect evidence for Fate Testarossa’s court trial. The doctors have told me that you are well enough for questioning.”

Nanoha sat up fully from her reclined position, letting her pillow slide down to support her back. “What’s going to happen to her?”

The man looked pleased at her interest. “The charges for Artificial Mage creation could land her a life-sentence without parole in isolated prison, while the charge of forcing a magical contract on a sentient being is another life-sentence in itself. The necromancy charge isn’t as certain as the other two, the punishment being dependent on the method and what other illegal procedures were involved.”

“I see.” Nanoha nodded.

“Excellent.” The prosecutor smiled, calling up a list of questions on his screen. “Let’s make this as brief as possible, shall we? Takamachi-san, did Fate Testarossa bind you into the familiar contract against your will?” The man readied his stylus, expecting the answer already.

Nanoha didn’t hesitate.

“No.”

“Alri—what?” The prosecutor did a double-take, staring at her in surprise. Yuuno was doing the same, although he did a better job of hiding his astonishment. “Ah…Are you sure, Takamachi-san?”

Adamantly, Nanoha said, “Yes, I’m sure.”

“You’re sure?”

“Yes,” repeated Nanoha.

Scrolling through his files, his face screwed up in confusion, the man said, “Um…our reports said that you seemed very distraught when you first—”

She interrupted him again. “That’s not true. Fate didn’t do anything against my will.” Impatiently, Nanoha swung her legs off the side of the bed and rose, walking over to the door with just a small limp in her steps. She glanced back at the prosecutor. “Is that all? I want to go see Fate now.”

He seemed to regain his footing, smiling at Nanoha with sympathy in his eyes. “Takamachi-san…you don’t need to lie for her.” His voice tried to be soothing, but Nanoha wasn’t moved at all. “Familiars are free beings by law—indeed, the law is on your side if abuse is suspected. You don’t have to be afraid to tell us the truth.”

“I’m not lying.” Nanoha punched the keypad roughly and the door slid open. “Fate didn’t force anything on me. We had talked about it before, and I had agreed in case something really did happen to me. That’s all.” It was odd, how such blatant lying to an official didn’t even faze her. Nanoha—the old Nanoha—would never have been able to do it. If she was going to disobey, she defied orders openly instead of lying.

For Fate, Nanoha would have done anything. Disobeying Lindy’s orders had felt right. But now, Nanoha didn’t feel anything about lying at all.

“So you knew that Fate Testarossa would perform illegal spells ahead of time?” The prosecutor started writing frantically on his screen. “You’re saying that her actions were pre-meditated?”

“Creating a familiar isn’t illegal,” Yuuno said sharply. Nanoha had almost forgotten that he was there—the man surely did, as he gave the blond boy a look of annoyance and surprise. “Even creating a human familiar, as there’s nothing in the TSAB Magical Arcana Laws that state that humans are exempt from the “animal” condition of the familiar spell. Even if it was planned ahead of time, there was nothing illegal in what Fate did.”

“The cloning spells that Testarossa used were derived from Precia Testarossa’s illegal work in Artificial Mage creation,” the prosecutor informed him. “From her own testimony, she used them with knowledge of the consequences.”

“We’re going to dispute that claim,” Yuuno countered, his green eyes flashing. “What Fate did was essentially no different than the organ cloning practice in medical—”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha interrupted their technical debate, clutching onto the door frame in a white-knuckled grip. “I want to see Fate-chan now. I’m leaving now, with or without you.” She left without another backwards glance—even though she actually didn’t know where to go exactly. Maybe her unique state of being would lead her automatically to her master?

Hopefully, she wasn’t walking the wrong way…

“Wait, Nanoha!”

She was already half-way down the hall before Yuuno finally caught up with her, grabbing her arm. “Nanoha, wait, please.”

“I’m not waiting.” Nanoha tried to shake him off. The turmoil inside her kept growing, making Nanoha want to scream or collapse and start crying. One of those two options. “I want to see Fate. I need to see her.”

“Nanoha, please,” begged Yuuno, coming around to meet her eyes imploringly. “I need to tell you something before you see Fate. It’s really important.”

Whew, at least it’s not because I was going the wrong direction. “What?”

He winced, looking around them down the hallway. “Not here—urk!”

She had yanked him into the nearby girl’s washroom, slamming the door shut and locking it impatiently. “Go on, Yuuno-kun.”

“H-here?” Yuuno stammered, looking about to faint from embarrassment.

Nanoha just glared at him, although she couldn’t help smiling a bit at how flustered he was. “Just say it already.”

Yuuno took a breath, his expression turning grave. “I promised Fate that I wouldn’t say a word, but…I have to tell you.”

Now Nanoha was keenly interested. “Tell me about what?”

Swallowing, Yuuno walked over to the sinks, bracing himself against the counter. He looked down, as if he couldn’t garner the courage to look Nanoha in the eyes as he confessed. “Nanoha…Fate told everyone that she was the only one who did it. That she made you…that she did the ritual all by herself.

“But I can’t lie to you, Nanoha.” Yuuno lowered his head, his shoulders trembling.

“I was there too.”

“Yuuno-kun!” Nanoha gasped, a mixture of shock and betrayal slipping into her voice.

He flinched at that, but continued. “I was there too. I helped her, she didn’t know what to do exactly, on her own…I helped her with all the ritual steps.”

“You helped Fate make me a familiar,” Nanoha paraphrased flatly. “Did you help clone my brain too?” Her tone grew sarcastic. “Patch up the bits of me that were dead?” She knew that she was being mean, but she couldn’t help it—suddenly all the pent-up anger and frustration that she had towards Fate found a new, present outlet, and Nanoha struggled to keep herself from letting loose on poor Yuuno.

Her friend shook his head.

“…So that was just Fate then.”

Yuuno shook his head again. “No, Nanoha. Fate didn’t clone anything of you. It was all a lie.”

“WHAT?” Nanoha yelled, feeling her control slip over her emotions. She grabbed onto Yuuno’s shoulders, spinning him around. “What do you mean? What…then how am I alive? How?!”

Yuuno looked back at her, his green eyes pained. “Fate made you her familiar. In the real way. A magical body created with the mana of the mage…into which the familiar’s soul is placed…”

“There’s no way Fate could have had enough magic to do…oh.” Nanoha dropped her grip on Yuuno. “You were the one who supported the barrier, wasn’t it?” That explained a lot—Yuuno’s skills in support magic were nearly unrivalled by anyone else Nanoha knew.

He nodded, confirming her guess.

Nanoha leaned her forehead against the washroom wall, fighting tears of frustration. Having her life flipped on its head after waking up from a fatal accident had already been horrible—having it happen twice? Now that was nearly too much.

So Fate and Yuuno had lied about Fate using cloning spells. That actually made things more logical to Nanoha, as she had been so baffled as to why Fate would have learned illegal cloning spells. Drastically out of character for her shy friend…not to mention that it made no sense that Fate could have done it in just a few minutes.

At the same time, Nanoha was more confused than ever.

“Yuuno-kun,” Nanoha said slowly. “If you guys didn’t use illegal spells…then why did Fate say that she did?”

Spoiler for Author's Note:

Okay, I kind of cheated, and came up with this new development to explain away all the cloning issues without having to rewrite the previous chapters. But the last-minute plot did give me really neat ideas to explore now!

This chapter was incredibly hard to write, as I had to cobble two ideas together roughly since I had to quickly explain things . So the quality suffered there, I'm sorry about that!

Thanks goes to Kaijo and Alavon, who between the two of them helped inspire this new idea!

Now...time to go snooze.....

Nice to see Yuuno getting a larger role in this fic. I'm quite curious to see how his helping Fate will play out, since currently it seems Fate is the main target of the investigation. Knowing Yuuno, if push comes to shove, I'm sure he'll step up and help Fate out so at the very least if she falls, she doesn't fall alone. He's the kind of guy who would do something like that.

Though, interestingly, I'm noticing a little gap here. You have when Nanoha dies, when she's revived by Fate and Yuuno, and then when she wakes up from the coma or whatever. The gap is during the time that Nanoha was dead, and Fate and Yuuno revived her. Now, clearly, Nanoha doesn't know what happened; she was dead. So that means that the only two who really know what happened are Fate and Yuuno.

Which makes me wonder if perhaps a little bit more went into the reviving of Nanoha than either Fate or Yuuno are willing to admit... hm, now I'm thinking about it!

[Kaijo]

Hmm, I think this is the longest period of time I've gone before updating this fic, heh. Two weeks. =(

Future Tense

Chapter 17: Bereft

In which Nanoha makes a pair of confrontations, and learns some surprising things, while there are interesting shifts back at the Bureau...

Previous chapters can be found here.

Spoiler for Future Tense, Chapter 17: Bereft:

MGLN: Future Tense
Chapter 17: Bereft

Xx~~*~~xX

Cold ice ran through Nanoha's veins, leaving her numb, unable to reconcile the vibrant memories of the hesitant, yet courageous girl she had known, with the idea that her lifeless body rested below.

Caro...

She could only stare at the various bouquets of flowers in front of the grave, which meant at least one person had been visiting this site quite often. Breaking out of her stupor, Nanoha knelt down and felt the petals of one of the flowers, a purple one, noting it still felt soft, indicating it had been placed quite recently. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, remembering the unsure, nervous girl that she had met all those years ago, and her promise to her that day in the helicopter.

"Caro, it'll be okay," Nanoha told the younger girl, approaching her and taking Caro's head in her hands. "You don't need to get that nervous. Even if we're apart, we'll be connected by transmissions. You're not alone. We'll save each other when we're in trouble... and your magic can protect everyone. It's a kind and powerful magic. Okay?”

A tear traveled down Nanoha's cheek, which she quickly wiped. [I'm sorry, Caro, that I wasn't there for you, that I couldn't save you.] Somehow, of all the people that had passed away in the intervening years, Caro's passing hit her harder than any other. Or perhaps it was just the fact that it was yet another senseless death in a long line of them, that was slowly pushing her over the edge.

Her fist clenched as her eyes flew open again, and then she rose to her feet. [I'll make things up to you, somehow. But right now, there's someone I need to see.]

She took to the air, making the short hop back to the cabin, landing as “Edward” came out the front door. She studied him, now seeing the similarities in the height and hair color, although the dark red color had faded to the more rustic one he sported now. There was still a chance she could be wrong, though she doubted it.

He glanced at her once, then turned and headed to the coop to get some eggs. “Breakfast will be-”

“Your real name isn't Edward, is it?” she stated as gentle a manner as she could; if she was right, then she understood what he must be feeling.

He paused, somehow sensing things had changed, then echoed her question. “Your real name isn't Seikou, either, is it?”

She shook her head. “I deserve that. I'm Nanoha, or at least a clone of her; I have all her memories, so I feel like her. I'm sorry for lying to you. But I saw Caro's grave not far from here, at the site of the old nature preserve headquarters. I'm sorry... Erio.”

His shoulders very visibly drooped. “I didn't want you to see that. Erio died that day, too.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked, her voice softening.

“She died in the war, fighting against Hayate,” he replied simply. “That is all. And now I think it's time for you to leave. You should be good enough for travel.”

“Wait, if you two fought against Hayate, then I need your help,” Nanoha stated urgently. “Yuuno sent me here to look for Vivio. In less than two months, we're going to organize an assault against Clanagan, and I could use your hel-”

“No,” he told her, shaking his head, his back still to her. “The war is over. You can do what you like, but I just want to live out the rest of my days here, alone and in peace."

"The war was 20 years ago," Nanoha stated carefully. "Do you think Caro would want you to stay sad like this forever? You can still do so much good! The Erio I remember was one who would do anything to fight for those he cared about, and there is a lot of people you can still hel-"

"NO!" he shouted, spinning to glare at her. "I told you, the war is over! even after we lost her, I continued to fight, but Hayate still won! Nothing we can do now can change that. I just want to live out my life here, near Caro. I think I've done enough to earn that!”

Nanoha felt her heart drop, realizing that any argument she made now wouldn't reach him; and she found she couldn't blame him, either. “I suppose you have, I'm sorry.”

He shrugged, then turned around and resumed his trek to the chicken coop. “I'll give you some supplies for your trip, but that's all. And I'll warn you that it isn't too safe out there; ever since the preserve lost funding and the rangers left or died off, the animals have broken out of their areas and spread across the continent.”

“Thank you,” she told him, biting her lip. “Can you at least tell me where Vivio is? I was sent here to find her, but I wasn't told exactly where she is.”

“I don't know, sorry,” Erio replied, a tinge of regret in his voice.

Nanoha's head lowered. “I see, thanks anyway.”

She fell silent then, as Erio assembled a variety of fruits and dried meats in a leather pouch. What else could she say? His spirit had been broken. Still, she smiled and thanked him for taking care of her as he handed her the food-filled leather pouch and a canteen. He merely nodded slightly in response.

She watched him turn around and re-enter his home, then Nanoha took one last look at the humble cabin, smoke drifting out of the chimney, before turning around and leaving, a tear in her eye.

x~~*~~x

Givo sat against the wall with the rest of the prisoners, only taking notice of the hum and slight vibration of the ship while trying to ignore everyone else. He wasn't technically one of them, having just gotten caught up with the rebels when Nanoha/Seikou (he still wondered which to call her) went along with them, but it didn't change the fact of what had happened.

He did notice that the other dozen prisoners were sitting apart from Rubella, who had stayed in her corner ever since they were put in here. The most seriously injured had finally been healed enough to rejoin their brethren, the Saint Church nun had managed to buy them some more time to recover before transport, and now the rebel base operation was finally winding down and the prisoners were being transported to holding areas, their fates to be determined by the Bureau.

But none of the healing and care bought Rubella any sympathy once word had spread that she had betrayed them by leaking the location of the base, her personal motives for doing so notwithstanding. Despite the speech she had given him, Givo found himself agreeing more with the rebels; he had faced loss himself due to what he perceived as betrayal and the Bureau. While he didn't feel you could really fight the Bureau, he thought her desire to stop the fighting altogether until her precious saint returned, to pretty stupid.

[You can only rely on yourself.] The lesson had been hard drilled into him, and reinforced when he took a chance to help those he hated; it only served to get him buried, injured, and captured. His head was still bandaged, and his body reduced to sore muscles, but his greater injuries had been healed.

"So, I hear you're the kid that came in with Seikou?"

Givo looked over at the woman with short red hair that had suddenly slid next to him, realizing that she looked a bit younger than his mom. "I guess I am."

"Do you think she'll save us?" she asked, quite interested in his opinion. "There's a rumor going around that the Bureau killed her, but I'm not so sure. At least, that's what the guards told us, and that she wouldn't be coming to rescue us."

Memories flashed through Givo's mind, and despite his confused feelings about the woman, he did feel something slightly uncomfortably in his gut. "Maybe, but I doubt it. I think we're on our own, anyway."

The woman leaned her head back against the bulkhead and sighed. "And the guards said that the ship carrying Corona went down and exploded several days ago, with all hands lost, so that just leaves Rio, although the soldiers say she was caught in a large explosion to the north. Maybe you're right; maybe we are all that's left. Even if some escaped, the resistance is dead."

Givo had heard the same things from the Bureau personnel, but he also recognized that the soldiers could have been lying. Either way, it didn't make much difference to him.

"Some want to give up, but I'm not going to," she said firmly. "The shuttle escaped, and without proof, I'm going to believe Seikou, and our leaders got away, which means they'll come to rescue us. The oracle has never been wrong before, so I know she'll save us. After all, I heard she destroyed an entire Bureau regiment by herself! By the way, I'm Layla."

"Givo," the young teen responded, eyeing her strangely. "And it wasn't exactly a reg-"

"The Sarge told me she was really strong, too," Layla continued, almost oblivious. "Anyway, I talked with the others, and we plan to stick together and try to escape when we can. We're not gonna give up. And we'd like you to join us. We can get you back to your parents."

He turned away from her. "My parents are dead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she told him, alarmed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, I don't know who my parents are, either. Well, I was raised by Uncle Owen as a war orphan, like a lot of kids." She paused, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Still, we'll get out of this somehow, alright?"

"I suppose," he replied, then glanced over into the corner again. "What about her?"

"The sister?" Layla questioned, following his gaze, then bit her lip. "The others don't want to include her, for obvious reasons. I think you can understand."

He did, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He could only look at the older woman woman sitting in the corner, knees up to her chest, gaze staring straight ahead at nothing, and conclude that she looked much like he felt.

x~~*~~x

Nanoha followed a narrow trail, finding her heart heavy; she wasn't sure where it led, but she didn't know exactly where she should be heading, either. She couldn't help but feel Erio's pain; he had apparently been married to Caro, and so would have loved her very much. Thus it was easy to see how the loss of the summoner had made him retreat into himself, which explained why he was living like a hermit.

And she still didn't know where Vivio was. Yuuno had told Nanoha to find her daughter, but how was she supposed to do that? If Vivio was even on Supool, how was Nanoha to find her? And how long would the foodstuffs inside the large pouch last her? Where was the nearest town? She realized she hadn't asked him, which made her briefly debate going back, but in the end she decided against it.

Frustrated, Nanoha scanned the horizon, noticing for the first time she hadn't seen anyone else in the area, no signs of life other than animals, nor any drones. She wondered if perhaps no one lived in this area at all, due to the way the creatures from the preserve had overrun the continent. If that was the case, then she'd have to cross an ocean to find civilization in order to replenish food as well as gather information.

Then she paused as a thought struck her. “Raging Heart, do you know where Vivio is located?”

“I am sorry but that information is not in my databanks,” her device replied with a tinge of regret.

Nanoha sighed. “Yuuno was probably planning to teleport me straight to Vivio, so he wouldn't have needed to uploaded that information. Can you display a map of the planet? Is that in your databanks?”

“Yes, my master,” Raging Heart answered, opening up a holographic screen.

Nanoha studied the display as it zoomed in from the picture of the entire planet, to a map of just the continent she was on. She absently swatted a bug buzzing near her ear, trying to decide on a course of action. She recalled Erio mentioning once before that there was a harbor trading post for hunters a day's journey from his cabin, so she highlighted the stretches of coast on the east where it could be. She figured her best bet was to head straight east, then work her way south once she hit the beach; that way, she'd be sure to find it. After that, she could try to catch a ride across the ocean.

But what if Vivio was on this continent? If she took a boat, she might be heading the wrong way.

Nanoha sighed in frustration and swatted at the bug that had returned to her ear, deciding that at least she would need supplies and information, so either way, heading to the trading post would be the best thing she could do right now.

She close the map, then angrily swatted at the insect a third time, twirling and preparing a small spell to kill it, but froze as it floated there, almost unmoving. [Something about it... like I've seen pictures of it before....] “Raging Heart, is that...?”

“There is a 98.7% probability match with records on file,” her device informed her, reading her mind as the twin-legged gray bug floated up higher, then stopped again and did a series of figure-eights.

Nanoha bit her lip. “I'll take those odds, if this means what I think it means.”

“Axel Fin!” Raging Heart announced, helping to activate her flight spell.

Nanoha reached eye level with the bug again, and was rewarded when it moved farther away before pausing once more. She smiled, taking off after it, and as it flew away this time, it didn't stop but kept moving in a straight line, moving at a speed that the cloned mage could easily keep up with.

Nanoha felt her spirits began to lift, even moreso when a second identical bug joined it, and then a third after that. Soon, there was a swarm flying around her moving at the exact same speeds, and some even began to seemingly dance a bit as they flew. A part of Nanoha's mind told her that maybe she should be a bit more cautious, but strangely she wasn't. Instead, unable to help herself, she let loose a small laugh and did a few mid-air twirls, wind in her hair, the insects continuing their dance as they guided her along.

She wasn't sure how long they flew, although it seemed like at least thirty minutes before the bugs ceased their dance and slowed, angling back down into the forest below. She took note of where they were heading, a small open meadow that appeared to be a bit too unnaturally circular. She landed in the middle as the bugs lined up on either side, creating a path to the shade of the trees beyond. Nanoha took one step in that direction, before a figure emerged from the shadows and smiled at her.

The woman had certainly grown up over the years, but Nanoha had no doubt who it was.

“Lutecia!”

x~~*~~x

Fate tried her best to wipe the growl from her face as she approached the door, and almost succeeded; she didn't want to be here.

“I haven't had a report from you in a few days,” Hayate intoned from the screen. “Thus, I thought it might be a good idea to check up on you.”

“Everything is fine,” Fate replied, keeping her face carefully neutral. “I should have a full report for you soon.”

“I hear you managed to find Carim,” Hayate probed. “I know you will want to interrogate her, but I would like you to bring her, and your other prisoners, back to Mid-Childa, as I have more effective interrogation methods. And I'll want a personal report. I'll give you two more days, but that's it.”

Fate's jaw tightened, but she knew she couldn't disobey. “Yes, Hayate.”

Unfortunately, two more days hadn't been enough time to find out anything; Carim could only babble incoherently about darkness and a destroyer against the backdrop of thunder and lightning, whatever that meant. Even Yuuno and Shari seemed to be resisting, or crazy, as vague references to time travel were all they offered. Fate scoffed; it was a ridiculous concept, but even if they believed it, they may be trying to get the clone Nanoha to do something stupid.

As a clone herself, Fate wouldn't let that happen. [I'll protect you, Nanoha, even from yourself if I have to.]

Steeling herself, she entered Hayate's command room, finding it blissfully empty of any other individuals besides Hayate and the three technicians that manned the forward stations. “Fate Harleown, reporting as ordered.”

Hayate turned her chair, lips tugging upwards slightly, perhaps in amusement to the emphasis Fate put on the last word. “I know you wanted to continue your search, but you can resume it later. I've read your report, and your leads are at a dead end.”

“But Nanoha is most likely still on Supool!” Fate protested. “And given that's where I found Schach, Carim, Yuuno and Shari, I believe Vivio is there, too. I was hoping to head back and resume the search.”

Hayate steepled her fingers in front of her face as she leaned back, studying her Enforcer Commander. "I don't think you'll need to worry too much on that point. While it initially surprised me that Nanoha was suddenly on Supool, we found the busted teleportation device she must have used. That it took her to Yuuno, who disappeared even before the war, means that this is something that has been planned for a long time. And it means Yuuno is working with Jail, who still wants to defeat us. By your own report, Carim was also in contact with Yuuno, and now Nanoha is being told to find Vivio. Connect the dots, Fate-chan."

“Yuuno did mention that they planned to attack the Bureau again,” the Enforcer Commander thought aloud, mentioning the one item she had gotten off Yuuno so far that she had shared in her earlier report to Hayate. “But even with Nanoha, that would be impossible.”

“They must have a plan, and I need to find out what that is; that's why I wanted you to bring your prisoners back,” the Supreme Commander explained. “Once I have you take care of something for me, I'll put you back out as bait to catch Nanoha and Vivio, putting an end to this.”

Fate raised an eyebrow. “Bait?”

Hayate closed her eyes and paused to take a breath. “Ever since the Nakajima sisters' report, I've been thinking. If this is all a big plan as I suspect then there was a very deliberate reason to clone Nanoha, so she is the key."

Fate's thoughts drifted back to Yuuno's interrogation again. He had talked about time travel, about sending Nanoha back in time to undo all this; but these were things Fate hadn't yet shared with Hayate, mostly because she thought them fairly crazy at the time. Yuuno had offered it up rather easily, so it could have been to mislead her, although he had offered to say all he knew if Fate promised not to torture Shari. Although initial questioning of her ex-aide revealed Shari to share the same thoughts as Yuuno, Fate still found it rather crazy; time travel was impossible. And it reminded her of her mother; a good person gone bad trying to bring back a lost loved one.

But Fate picked up something else in Hayate's words. "So you're rescinding the order to have Nanoha killed then? I can take her alive?"

"From all I've learned, she has the original Nanoha's personality, so yes," Hayate continued, her eyes still closed while answering Fate's question. "I believe that if you put yourself out there, she'll eventually come to you, possibly hoping to win you over. And I think it's time we used this psychological warfare to our advantage; she's becoming known as Seikou, and there is a feeling spreading through the people that she is invincible and can defeat the Bureau easily. Already, I've had to divert some of Signum's troops to areas of Mid-Childa that are showing greater dissent. But if you can get her to stand with us....”

Fate was silent, not needing to answer that as Hayate trailed off; they had been friends for a long time, and Nanoha appeared honestly apologetic while Shari teleported her away. That meant it might not have been fully what she wanted, so Yuuno and Shari were to blame. Thus, Fate realized she still might be able to convince Nanoha to stop whatever crazy plan the others were forcing her through, and get her back on the right side.

So decided, her head came up, her course set. "Don't worry, I'll convince Nanoha to do the right thing, by force if I have to." [Just like she did for me,] Fate added silently.

Hayate smiled and nodded. "Good. She's my friend, too, so we both have to do what we can to save her." The smiled disappeared. "But keep your head. She's still a clone of Jail, and if you feel at any time that her personality is just a ruse and that she is Jail's creature, you have to be prepared to do what you must."

"I understand," Fate replied, having already considered that prospect; but deep down, she held no doubt as to which it was.

And she wouldn't let the one she cared for most in the world to continue to be a patsy for Jail.

x~~*~~x

“It's good to see you again, Nanoha,” Lutecia Alphine answered, smiling as the two women walked through the trees.

“How did you know who I was and where I was?” Nanoha asked, incredulous as the pair arrived at a small, white house hidden amongst the trees; it appeared far nicer than Erio's cabin.

The summoner held up a finger, letting one of the small gray bugs alight atop it. “I've actually been watching you for awhile through my insects. I keep an eye on that old gruff, and I was surprised to see he took you in last week. I didn't show myself because I don't intrude, and I wanted to see how he'd respond to you.”

“You just keep an eye on Erio, but don't actually talk to him?” Nanoha questioned as the two entered the front door.

Lutecia lead her to the kitchen, and gestured towards one of the chairs on the patio. “Have a seat outside in the sun, and I'll make some tea.” Nanoha head out through the kitchen's back door, and took a seat at the table outside as Lutecia continued to speak through the screened window separating them. “Anyway, you've seen how he is; gruff and antisocial. He's been in a bad way since we lost Caro, and I promised her I'd look out for him.”

Nanoha's mood lowered a bit at the mention of the girl's name. “I saw the tombstone. What happened?”

Her host was silent, until she came back out with a teapot tray and two cups, placing it on the table and filling them. “It was early in the war, back when the sides were more even, before Hayate's superior manufacturing capacity slowly overwhelmed us. Rio had come up with a plan to strike at Clanagan directly, a swift stroke to bring down the Bureau directly. It didn't go too well.”

“Thank you,” Nanoah replied, receiving her tea, letting it cool a bit as she held in her hands.

“We went all out, and at first we were succeeding,” Lutecia continued. “With Vivio's help, we were really pushing them back. Then Hayate unveiled the giants.”

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. “Giants?”

“A pair of huge, metal, humanoid machines that outputted some sort of horrendously strong AMF that practically nullified our magic,” she explained. “Even Vivio was almost powerless trying to fight them; they seemed to nullify everything for hundreds of meters around, while her army, which outnumbered us, switched to pure melee and mass-based weapons. That's when Caro summoned Voltaire and I brought out Hakutenou, figuring our best bet was to pit giant against giant for pure strength.

Her head lowered, a sad smile on her face. “But in the end, something distracted Voltaire and he was mortally wounded. Caro went into shock as our army went into full retreat, and I pulled back Hakutenou before the giants could double team him." Her head came up. "Do you know why a creature allows themselves to be bound to a summoner?”

Nanoha had some idea, but she never was quite sure, not being a summoner herself. “No. What does it mean? I had assumed it was like some form of familiar.”

“There are several different types of summoner contracts, of which a familiar is one,” Lutecia stated, looking up, her gaze far away. “With lower lifeforms and unintelligent creatures like my smaller grey bugs and the jiraiyo,they simply use my mana when I don't need it in order to help their colonies to thrive. In return, I can summon them for various tasks; overall, it's a form of symbiosis." She paused and shifted in her seat. "But for more intelligent creatures like Garyuu and Hakutenou, a different contract is used. In return for allowing us to summon them, we agree to let them draw on our mana so that they can essentially live forever. And if they are mortally wounded, the summoner's life is taken instead.”

“So Caro gave up her life to restore Voltaire's?” Nanoha deduced, feeling oddly chilled by the true burden of a summoner's life.

Lutecia nodded. “Voltaire had desummoned himself the moment the fatal blow was struck, but it was too late. By the time Erio reached us, Caro's body was dissolving, her magic and very life force being taken by Voltaire to heal himself. Erio was naturally extremely distraught, but later grew angry. He managed to track down Voltaire in his lair on Algus after the war, demanding Caro be returned, but the great dragon didn't even acknowledge his presence. The priest caretakers of Voltaire's shrine had warned us that not even the great dragon could return life to the dead, and that Caro knew this from the beginning."

Nanoha glanced down into her tea, barely able to determine how she felt about all of this. Caro had never said a word about the burden she carried all these years, and Nanoha herself didn't know how she'd feel about taking on such a summoner contract.

Her head came back up. "What about Friedrich?"

"He became unbound from his contract with Caro when she passed away," Lutecia answered. "Like Erio and I, he lives somewhere in the forest. I know he's nearby, as my bugs have spotted him flying around occasionally and it seems he keeps an eye on us both, Erio in particular. Despite not being in contract, the two were fairly close. And since Caro made me promise to look after Erio, I retired here to watch over him. He's probably aware I peek in from time-to-time with my insects, but he doesn't seem to care as long as I don't bother him."

"It still saddens me that he's let his grief over Caro consume him," Nanoha remarked aloud, then noticed Lutecia's facial features shift. "What?"

"It wasn't just Caro," the other woman stated slowly. "They had a daughter named Eris that we lost track of during the war. We don't think she was killed, as we never found her body, but she went missing just the same. We spent years searching, however the trail eventually ran cold, and Erio was finally forced to give up after several years.”

Nanoha was silent, taking an occasional sip of tea as she digested everything Lutecia had told her, but it still saddened that it was yet another sad loss that happened in years she had been gone. Unconsciously, her thoughts drifted back to Yuuno's time travel plan; If he was right, then she could undo all of this, and Erio and Caro could have another chance at living out their lives. The weight of that choice, that mission, was heavy on her shoulders.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then decided she needed to lighten the mood with a change in conversation topics.

"I'm sorry, I haven't even asked how you're doing," Nanoha stated, setting down her teacup, somewhat embarrassed. "How have you been holding up all these years? You aren't lonely at all?"

"Not at all," Lutecia replied with a genuinely warm smile. "I have my insects, and my mother lived with me up until she passed away ten years ago; don't worry, she died from natural causes and led a full life. I knew it was coming for awhile, so I had a chance to prepare. I miss her, but I know she wouldn't want me to give in to despair the way Erio has. And life has been peaceful since we retired here after the war."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. "Peaceful? Doesn't the Bureau come after you?"

The summoner grinned wryly after taking a sip her tea. "This continent is seen mostly as a no man's land, due to the wide variety of magical animals running loose around here." She gestured towards the forest with her arm, smiling mischievously. "Besides a few game hunters, no one else comes here due to the danger. There are still sentinel drones that make random flyovers, but my little insects take care of it, interfacing with the drone and feeding it false information until they get out of range. As far as the Bureau knows, there's nobody here."

Nanoha finally realized that, for the first time, she hadn't remembered seeing any drones since arriving at Erio's place; now she knew why. Since Lutecia's house wasn't that far from his cabin, odds are she was protecting him from discovery, too.

"I noticed you haven't asked about me," Nanoha noted, absently stirring her tea with the spoon. "I know we didn't have much contact before, so I'm partly surprised you recognized me at all. But aren't you curious how I am here now? And how could you know I wasn't part of the Bureau?"

Lutecia smiled as lowered her own cup. "It was a bit of a risk, I'll admit, but as I've been studying you for awhile, it didn't seem like you were. You would have turned in Erio the moment you figured out who he was. I also wanted to see if you'd have an effect on him; what happened was to be expected, though, I suppose. I'm still a bit disappointed in him. I'll also admit that I am curious about how you're alive, but I have a few guesses. I'm assuming you're a clone." Her smile turned into a bit of a smirk. "And Garyu has had you targeted ever since you arrived; he's a bit overprotective, but dependable."

Nanoha blinked and glanced around. "I don't see him..."

The summoner laughed. "You wouldn't. It's okay, Garyu, you can stop now. I think she's safe enough."

Out of the corner of her eye, Nanoha finally saw the humanoid bug fade into existence as he retracted the blade that he had pointed at her back. She was forced to admit that she hadn't felt his presence at all, so if Lutecia had wanted her dead, the summoner could have easily had it done. Garyu continued to watch her as he jumped to a perch on the roof, but he did nod in her direction. Nanoha nodded back, then returned to gaze to her host.

"Well, you're right, I am a clone, although I don't feel any different," Nanoha stated with a sigh. "Yuuno had Jail clone me, and I've been traveling all this time, trying to figure out the reason for that, and when I finally found Yuuno and he told me... what?"

Lutecia giggled. "I'm sorry, it's just your expression and attitude as you talked. As if it was a 'here we go again, having to explain all this yet again' thing. Although, I imagine it hasn't been easy on you, so perhaps I'm being a bit rude."

"No, truthfully I'm a bit numb to it all now," Nanoha opined, gazing into her teacup. "Or perhaps I've just accepted everything for what it is, and nothing surprises me much anymore, sad as it is. I've gotten a bit used to not knowing what's going on, or where I'm supposed to be going."

Lutecia nodded sympathetically, then smiled. "Well, since you have had contact with Yuuno, then it appears one of my guesses was correct and you are part of the plan."

That got Nanoha's attention. "You know about Yuuno and the plan?"

"I know about Yuuno and Carim, and that they were up to something, but no one knows all the details," she answered. "It's safer that way, in case one of us is caught. But I did receive the agreed-upon coded signal not too long ago that things were finally going to be set in motion; and then you appeared at Erio's place with Raging Heart."

"Do you know where Vivio is, then?" Nanoha asked eagerly, leaning forward.

The bug summoner grinned. "Sort of. I exchange letters with her occasionally by insect, but I don't know where she is. That information is solely contained within Asclepius here, and he has orders to delete it if it's ever in danger of being discovered." She raised her hand, showcasing the small bracelet on her wrist, from which a pair of purple jewels hung. "Asclepius, transfer protected data to Raging Heart, codeword: Dawn."

"Data transfer complete," the red jewel hanging from Nanoha's neck declared.

"It's up to you to safely protect that information," Lutecia instructed, her voice taking on a very serious tone. "No one else must learn of where Vivio is. I'm not sure why, only that it's important."

Nanoha nodded, taking her jewel in hand and commanding Raging Heart to install safeguards, as the reality hit her that she finally had the key to finding her daughter after all this time. "Thank you again, Lutecia. I owe you much; not just for this, but for looking out for Vivio."

The older woman smiled warmly. "It was my pleasure, really. Vivio, Caro, Erio, Rio and Corona and I were all pretty much inseparable after you passed away, due to our close age ranges. But as thanks, stay awhile, as I haven't had company in many years. It'll give me a chance to fix up a meal, and you can resume your journey tomorrow morning, alright?"

Nanoha readily agreed, accepting the other woman's hospitality. A warm bath in Lutecia's custom-made furo was also quite welcome after the cold water rinses in Erio's stream, and the summoner even fixed up some food in a medium-sized backpack for her to take. She explained that she'd love to teleport Nanoha straight there, but such a large spell would alert the drones, and she could only control a few in a certain radius. Still, she could give Nanoha a head start with a shorter-range teleport, along with some parting words.

"Say hello to Vivio for me," Lutecia told her as she warmed up her teleport spell. "I wish I could go with you, but I have to watch over Erio due to the promise I made to Caro. Still, I'll see about pounding some sense back into the old gruff's head, so we can help you out when the time comes. I'll be damned if I let him continue to sulk when we can make a difference."

Nanoha nodded, grateful, waving goodbye and promising to meet again as the spell was activated and she disappeared in a flash of purple light.

x~~*~~x

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shari asked from the next cell over, her arm reaching through the single barred window between them.

Yuuno squeezed her hand, adjusting his body a bit, his muscles feeling strained as if he had been running a marathon. "I'll live. The important thing is that you're unharmed."

"I really wish you'd stop trying to be the brave one," she admonished him, then sighed. "And now they know our portion of the plan. I could have taken anything Fate would have done to me; we both know she wouldn't have killed either of us."

"It was a calculated risk, and a logical one, as you know," he replied, sighing. "Besides, they still don't know everything, because we don't, and I doubt she believed what we told her, anyway. At least I fed her information that she expected to hear. And whatever happens, I think events are set, and none of us can change them now."

"Because of your Nanoha vision," she replied, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

Yuuno smiled softly. "It would validate one of your theories. I think-"

A pair of thuds sounded from outside the door to their cell room, cutting Yuuno off. Shari had heard it, too, and thus had mimicked him by going quiet as well. The door slid open and a mysterious figure backed into the brig room, dragging the non-moving pair of Enforcers that were standing guard outside. Once inside, the unknown individual shut the door, then turned to the two prisoners, face hidden due to the shadow cast by a hooded cloak.

"I'll have you two out in a second," she said, pulling out something that Yuuno thought looked like a handgun, pointing it at the lock to his cell. "I've messed with the sensors to this room to display a recorded feedback loop, but odds are they'll discover it shortly."

"Who are you?" Yuuno asked as the woman fired a surprisingly quiet shot that blasted his lock open, and then repeated it for his wife's cell.

"I recognize that device!" Shari declared, astonished as she came out of her prison. "I never forget a device I've built; Silver Dagger! Which means you're-"

The device technician trailed off as the woman pulled off her hood, baring a head of short, faded, light-brown hair, with red eyes. Yuuno didn't recognize her, but Shari obviously did. Before he could ask, though, their rescuer spoke.

"Runessa Magnus," she told them in a low even voice. "I'm here to rescue you two."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

"What the hell? Did Kaijo just put in someone who has actually managed to survive the passage of time, and isn't completed screwed up!?" Statistically speaking, it had to be possible. ;p Anyway, title is from a poem by Robert Frost, which I felt was fitting for various reasons you can probably guess:

"Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly striking at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret may be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God."

For those curious, I will be continuing Whipped; it's just that I am placing priority on this fic. Speaking of which, because I got over 100 reviews, you get an Omake!

Xx~~*~~xX

Hayate: "You've done well, Enforcer Harlaown. And now, I sense that you wish to continue your search for young Takamachi."

Fate: "Yes, my master."

Hayate: "Patience, my friend. In time, she will seek you out. "

Fate: "She will come to me?"

Hayate: "Her compassion for you will be her undoing. She will come to you, and then you will bring her before me. Only together, can we turn her to the Dark Side of the magic."

Fate: "As you wish."

(For the Star Wars nerds, yes, I did kinda smoosh two separate scenes together for this, heh)

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Hmm, I think this is the longest period of time I've gone before updating this fic, heh. Two weeks. =(

Future Tense

Chapter 17: Bereft

In which Nanoha makes a pair of confrontations, and learns some surprising things, while there are interesting shifts back at the Bureau...

Previous chapters can be found here.

Spoiler for Future Tense, Chapter 17: Bereft:

MGLN: Future Tense
Chapter 17: Bereft

Xx~~*~~xX

Cold ice ran through Nanoha's veins, leaving her numb, unable to reconcile the vibrant memories of the hesitant, yet courageous girl she had known, with the idea that her lifeless body rested below.

Caro...

She could only stare at the various bouquets of flowers in front of the grave, which meant at least one person had been visiting this site quite often. Breaking out of her stupor, Nanoha knelt down and felt the petals of one of the flowers, a purple one, noting it still felt soft, indicating it had been placed quite recently. She lowered her head and closed her eyes, remembering the unsure, nervous girl that she had met all those years ago, and her promise to her that day in the helicopter.

"Caro, it'll be okay," Nanoha told the younger girl, approaching her and taking Caro's head in her hands. "You don't need to get that nervous. Even if we're apart, we'll be connected by transmissions. You're not alone. We'll save each other when we're in trouble... and your magic can protect everyone. It's a kind and powerful magic. Okay?”

A tear traveled down Nanoha's cheek, which she quickly wiped. [I'm sorry, Caro, that I wasn't there for you, that I couldn't save you.] Somehow, of all the people that had passed away in the intervening years, Caro's passing hit her harder than any other. Or perhaps it was just the fact that it was yet another senseless death in a long line of them, that was slowly pushing her over the edge.

Her fist clenched as her eyes flew open again, and then she rose to her feet. [I'll make things up to you, somehow. But right now, there's someone I need to see.]

She took to the air, making the short hop back to the cabin, landing as “Edward” came out the front door. She studied him, now seeing the similarities in the height and hair color, although the dark red color had faded to the more rustic one he sported now. There was still a chance she could be wrong, though she doubted it.

He glanced at her once, then turned and headed to the coop to get some eggs. “Breakfast will be-”

“Your real name isn't Edward, is it?” she stated as gentle a manner as she could; if she was right, then she understood what he must be feeling.

He paused, somehow sensing things had changed, then echoed her question. “Your real name isn't Seikou, either, is it?”

She shook her head. “I deserve that. I'm Nanoha, or at least a clone of her; I have all her memories, so I feel like her. I'm sorry for lying to you. But I saw Caro's grave not far from here, at the site of the old nature preserve headquarters. I'm sorry... Erio.”

His shoulders very visibly drooped. “I didn't want you to see that. Erio died that day, too.”

“Can you tell me what happened?” she asked, her voice softening.

“She died in the war, fighting against Hayate,” he replied simply. “That is all. And now I think it's time for you to leave. You should be good enough for travel.”

“Wait, if you two fought against Hayate, then I need your help,” Nanoha stated urgently. “Yuuno sent me here to look for Vivio. In less than two months, we're going to organize an assault against Clanagan, and I could use your hel-”

“No,” he told her, shaking his head, his back still to her. “The war is over. You can do what you like, but I just want to live out the rest of my days here, alone and in peace."

"The war was 20 years ago," Nanoha stated carefully. "Do you think Caro would want you to stay sad like this forever? You can still do so much good! The Erio I remember was one who would do anything to fight for those he cared about, and there is a lot of people you can still hel-"

"NO!" he shouted, spinning to glare at her. "I told you, the war is over! even after we lost her, I continued to fight, but Hayate still won! Nothing we can do now can change that. I just want to live out my life here, near Caro. I think I've done enough to earn that!”

Nanoha felt her heart drop, realizing that any argument she made now wouldn't reach him; and she found she couldn't blame him, either. “I suppose you have, I'm sorry.”

He shrugged, then turned around and resumed his trek to the chicken coop. “I'll give you some supplies for your trip, but that's all. And I'll warn you that it isn't too safe out there; ever since the preserve lost funding and the rangers left or died off, the animals have broken out of their areas and spread across the continent.”

“Thank you,” she told him, biting her lip. “Can you at least tell me where Vivio is? I was sent here to find her, but I wasn't told exactly where she is.”

“I don't know, sorry,” Erio replied, a tinge of regret in his voice.

Nanoha's head lowered. “I see, thanks anyway.”

She fell silent then, as Erio assembled a variety of fruits and dried meats in a leather pouch. What else could she say? His spirit had been broken. Still, she smiled and thanked him for taking care of her as he handed her the food-filled leather pouch and a canteen. He merely nodded slightly in response.

She watched him turn around and re-enter his home, then Nanoha took one last look at the humble cabin, smoke drifting out of the chimney, before turning around and leaving, a tear in her eye.

x~~*~~x

Givo sat against the wall with the rest of the prisoners, only taking notice of the hum and slight vibration of the ship while trying to ignore everyone else. He wasn't technically one of them, having just gotten caught up with the rebels when Nanoha/Seikou (he still wondered which to call her) went along with them, but it didn't change the fact of what had happened.

He did notice that the other dozen prisoners were sitting apart from Rubella, who had stayed in her corner ever since they were put in here. The most seriously injured had finally been healed enough to rejoin their brethren, the Saint Church nun had managed to buy them some more time to recover before transport, and now the rebel base operation was finally winding down and the prisoners were being transported to holding areas, their fates to be determined by the Bureau.

But none of the healing and care bought Rubella any sympathy once word had spread that she had betrayed them by leaking the location of the base, her personal motives for doing so notwithstanding. Despite the speech she had given him, Givo found himself agreeing more with the rebels; he had faced loss himself due to what he perceived as betrayal and the Bureau. While he didn't feel you could really fight the Bureau, he thought her desire to stop the fighting altogether until her precious saint returned, to pretty stupid.

[You can only rely on yourself.] The lesson had been hard drilled into him, and reinforced when he took a chance to help those he hated; it only served to get him buried, injured, and captured. His head was still bandaged, and his body reduced to sore muscles, but his greater injuries had been healed.

"So, I hear you're the kid that came in with Seikou?"

Givo looked over at the woman with short red hair that had suddenly slid next to him, realizing that she looked a bit younger than his mom. "I guess I am."

"Do you think she'll save us?" she asked, quite interested in his opinion. "There's a rumor going around that the Bureau killed her, but I'm not so sure. At least, that's what the guards told us, and that she wouldn't be coming to rescue us."

Memories flashed through Givo's mind, and despite his confused feelings about the woman, he did feel something slightly uncomfortably in his gut. "Maybe, but I doubt it. I think we're on our own, anyway."

The woman leaned her head back against the bulkhead and sighed. "And the guards said that the ship carrying Corona went down and exploded several days ago, with all hands lost, so that just leaves Rio, although the soldiers say she was caught in a large explosion to the north. Maybe you're right; maybe we are all that's left. Even if some escaped, the resistance is dead."

Givo had heard the same things from the Bureau personnel, but he also recognized that the soldiers could have been lying. Either way, it didn't make much difference to him.

"Some want to give up, but I'm not going to," she said firmly. "The shuttle escaped, and without proof, I'm going to believe Seikou, and our leaders got away, which means they'll come to rescue us. The oracle has never been wrong before, so I know she'll save us. After all, I heard she destroyed an entire Bureau regiment by herself! By the way, I'm Layla."

"Givo," the young teen responded, eyeing her strangely. "And it wasn't exactly a reg-"

"The Sarge told me she was really strong, too," Layla continued, almost oblivious. "Anyway, I talked with the others, and we plan to stick together and try to escape when we can. We're not gonna give up. And we'd like you to join us. We can get you back to your parents."

He turned away from her. "My parents are dead."

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" she told him, alarmed, laying a hand on his shoulder. "If it makes you feel better, I don't know who my parents are, either. Well, I was raised by Uncle Owen as a war orphan, like a lot of kids." She paused, giving his shoulder a squeeze. "Still, we'll get out of this somehow, alright?"

"I suppose," he replied, then glanced over into the corner again. "What about her?"

"The sister?" Layla questioned, following his gaze, then bit her lip. "The others don't want to include her, for obvious reasons. I think you can understand."

He did, but he wasn't sure how he felt about it. He could only look at the older woman woman sitting in the corner, knees up to her chest, gaze staring straight ahead at nothing, and conclude that she looked much like he felt.

x~~*~~x

Nanoha followed a narrow trail, finding her heart heavy; she wasn't sure where it led, but she didn't know exactly where she should be heading, either. She couldn't help but feel Erio's pain; he had apparently been married to Caro, and so would have loved her very much. Thus it was easy to see how the loss of the summoner had made him retreat into himself, which explained why he was living like a hermit.

And she still didn't know where Vivio was. Yuuno had told Nanoha to find her daughter, but how was she supposed to do that? If Vivio was even on Supool, how was Nanoha to find her? And how long would the foodstuffs inside the large pouch last her? Where was the nearest town? She realized she hadn't asked him, which made her briefly debate going back, but in the end she decided against it.

Frustrated, Nanoha scanned the horizon, noticing for the first time she hadn't seen anyone else in the area, no signs of life other than animals, nor any drones. She wondered if perhaps no one lived in this area at all, due to the way the creatures from the preserve had overrun the continent. If that was the case, then she'd have to cross an ocean to find civilization in order to replenish food as well as gather information.

Then she paused as a thought struck her. “Raging Heart, do you know where Vivio is located?”

“I am sorry but that information is not in my databanks,” her device replied with a tinge of regret.

Nanoha sighed. “Yuuno was probably planning to teleport me straight to Vivio, so he wouldn't have needed to uploaded that information. Can you display a map of the planet? Is that in your databanks?”

“Yes, my master,” Raging Heart answered, opening up a holographic screen.

Nanoha studied the display as it zoomed in from the picture of the entire planet, to a map of just the continent she was on. She absently swatted a bug buzzing near her ear, trying to decide on a course of action. She recalled Erio mentioning once before that there was a harbor trading post for hunters a day's journey from his cabin, so she highlighted the stretches of coast on the east where it could be. She figured her best bet was to head straight east, then work her way south once she hit the beach; that way, she'd be sure to find it. After that, she could try to catch a ride across the ocean.

But what if Vivio was on this continent? If she took a boat, she might be heading the wrong way.

Nanoha sighed in frustration and swatted at the bug that had returned to her ear, deciding that at least she would need supplies and information, so either way, heading to the trading post would be the best thing she could do right now.

She close the map, then angrily swatted at the insect a third time, twirling and preparing a small spell to kill it, but froze as it floated there, almost unmoving. [Something about it... like I've seen pictures of it before....] “Raging Heart, is that...?”

“There is a 98.7% probability match with records on file,” her device informed her, reading her mind as the twin-legged gray bug floated up higher, then stopped again and did a series of figure-eights.

Nanoha bit her lip. “I'll take those odds, if this means what I think it means.”

“Axel Fin!” Raging Heart announced, helping to activate her flight spell.

Nanoha reached eye level with the bug again, and was rewarded when it moved farther away before pausing once more. She smiled, taking off after it, and as it flew away this time, it didn't stop but kept moving in a straight line, moving at a speed that the cloned mage could easily keep up with.

Nanoha felt her spirits began to lift, even moreso when a second identical bug joined it, and then a third after that. Soon, there was a swarm flying around her moving at the exact same speeds, and some even began to seemingly dance a bit as they flew. A part of Nanoha's mind told her that maybe she should be a bit more cautious, but strangely she wasn't. Instead, unable to help herself, she let loose a small laugh and did a few mid-air twirls, wind in her hair, the insects continuing their dance as they guided her along.

She wasn't sure how long they flew, although it seemed like at least thirty minutes before the bugs ceased their dance and slowed, angling back down into the forest below. She took note of where they were heading, a small open meadow that appeared to be a bit too unnaturally circular. She landed in the middle as the bugs lined up on either side, creating a path to the shade of the trees beyond. Nanoha took one step in that direction, before a figure emerged from the shadows and smiled at her.

The woman had certainly grown up over the years, but Nanoha had no doubt who it was.

“Lutecia!”

x~~*~~x

Fate tried her best to wipe the growl from her face as she approached the door, and almost succeeded; she didn't want to be here.

“I haven't had a report from you in a few days,” Hayate intoned from the screen. “Thus, I thought it might be a good idea to check up on you.”

“Everything is fine,” Fate replied, keeping her face carefully neutral. “I should have a full report for you soon.”

“I hear you managed to find Carim,” Hayate probed. “I know you will want to interrogate her, but I would like you to bring her, and your other prisoners, back to Mid-Childa, as I have more effective interrogation methods. And I'll want a personal report. I'll give you two more days, but that's it.”

Fate's jaw tightened, but she knew she couldn't disobey. “Yes, Hayate.”

Unfortunately, two more days hadn't been enough time to find out anything; Carim could only babble incoherently about darkness and a destroyer against the backdrop of thunder and lightning, whatever that meant. Even Yuuno and Shari seemed to be resisting, or crazy, as vague references to time travel were all they offered. Fate scoffed; it was a ridiculous concept, but even if they believed it, they may be trying to get the clone Nanoha to do something stupid.

As a clone herself, Fate wouldn't let that happen. [I'll protect you, Nanoha, even from yourself if I have to.]

Steeling herself, she entered Hayate's command room, finding it blissfully empty of any other individuals besides Hayate and the three technicians that manned the forward stations. “Fate Harleown, reporting as ordered.”

Hayate turned her chair, lips tugging upwards slightly, perhaps in amusement to the emphasis Fate put on the last word. “I know you wanted to continue your search, but you can resume it later. I've read your report, and your leads are at a dead end.”

“But Nanoha is most likely still on Supool!” Fate protested. “And given that's where I found Schach, Carim, Yuuno and Shari, I believe Vivio is there, too. I was hoping to head back and resume the search.”

Hayate steepled her fingers in front of her face as she leaned back, studying her Enforcer Commander. "I don't think you'll need to worry too much on that point. While it initially surprised me that Nanoha was suddenly on Supool, we found the busted teleportation device she must have used. That it took her to Yuuno, who disappeared even before the war, means that this is something that has been planned for a long time. And it means Yuuno is working with Jail, who still wants to defeat us. By your own report, Carim was also in contact with Yuuno, and now Nanoha is being told to find Vivio. Connect the dots, Fate-chan."

“Yuuno did mention that they planned to attack the Bureau again,” the Enforcer Commander thought aloud, mentioning the one item she had gotten off Yuuno so far that she had shared in her earlier report to Hayate. “But even with Nanoha, that would be impossible.”

“They must have a plan, and I need to find out what that is; that's why I wanted you to bring your prisoners back,” the Supreme Commander explained. “Once I have you take care of something for me, I'll put you back out as bait to catch Nanoha and Vivio, putting an end to this.”

Fate raised an eyebrow. “Bait?”

Hayate closed her eyes and paused to take a breath. “Ever since the Nakajima sisters' report, I've been thinking. If this is all a big plan as I suspect then there was a very deliberate reason to clone Nanoha, so she is the key."

Fate's thoughts drifted back to Yuuno's interrogation again. He had talked about time travel, about sending Nanoha back in time to undo all this; but these were things Fate hadn't yet shared with Hayate, mostly because she thought them fairly crazy at the time. Yuuno had offered it up rather easily, so it could have been to mislead her, although he had offered to say all he knew if Fate promised not to torture Shari. Although initial questioning of her ex-aide revealed Shari to share the same thoughts as Yuuno, Fate still found it rather crazy; time travel was impossible. And it reminded her of her mother; a good person gone bad trying to bring back a lost loved one.

But Fate picked up something else in Hayate's words. "So you're rescinding the order to have Nanoha killed then? I can take her alive?"

"From all I've learned, she has the original Nanoha's personality, so yes," Hayate continued, her eyes still closed while answering Fate's question. "I believe that if you put yourself out there, she'll eventually come to you, possibly hoping to win you over. And I think it's time we used this psychological warfare to our advantage; she's becoming known as Seikou, and there is a feeling spreading through the people that she is invincible and can defeat the Bureau easily. Already, I've had to divert some of Signum's troops to areas of Mid-Childa that are showing greater dissent. But if you can get her to stand with us....”

Fate was silent, not needing to answer that as Hayate trailed off; they had been friends for a long time, and Nanoha appeared honestly apologetic while Shari teleported her away. That meant it might not have been fully what she wanted, so Yuuno and Shari were to blame. Thus, Fate realized she still might be able to convince Nanoha to stop whatever crazy plan the others were forcing her through, and get her back on the right side.

So decided, her head came up, her course set. "Don't worry, I'll convince Nanoha to do the right thing, by force if I have to." [Just like she did for me,] Fate added silently.

Hayate smiled and nodded. "Good. She's my friend, too, so we both have to do what we can to save her." The smiled disappeared. "But keep your head. She's still a clone of Jail, and if you feel at any time that her personality is just a ruse and that she is Jail's creature, you have to be prepared to do what you must."

"I understand," Fate replied, having already considered that prospect; but deep down, she held no doubt as to which it was.

And she wouldn't let the one she cared for most in the world to continue to be a patsy for Jail.

x~~*~~x

“It's good to see you again, Nanoha,” Lutecia Alphine answered, smiling as the two women walked through the trees.

“How did you know who I was and where I was?” Nanoha asked, incredulous as the pair arrived at a small, white house hidden amongst the trees; it appeared far nicer than Erio's cabin.

The summoner held up a finger, letting one of the small gray bugs alight atop it. “I've actually been watching you for awhile through my insects. I keep an eye on that old gruff, and I was surprised to see he took you in last week. I didn't show myself because I don't intrude, and I wanted to see how he'd respond to you.”

“You just keep an eye on Erio, but don't actually talk to him?” Nanoha questioned as the two entered the front door.

Lutecia lead her to the kitchen, and gestured towards one of the chairs on the patio. “Have a seat outside in the sun, and I'll make some tea.” Nanoha head out through the kitchen's back door, and took a seat at the table outside as Lutecia continued to speak through the screened window separating them. “Anyway, you've seen how he is; gruff and antisocial. He's been in a bad way since we lost Caro, and I promised her I'd look out for him.”

Nanoha's mood lowered a bit at the mention of the girl's name. “I saw the tombstone. What happened?”

Her host was silent, until she came back out with a teapot tray and two cups, placing it on the table and filling them. “It was early in the war, back when the sides were more even, before Hayate's superior manufacturing capacity slowly overwhelmed us. Rio had come up with a plan to strike at Clanagan directly, a swift stroke to bring down the Bureau directly. It didn't go too well.”

“Thank you,” Nanoah replied, receiving her tea, letting it cool a bit as she held in her hands.

“We went all out, and at first we were succeeding,” Lutecia continued. “With Vivio's help, we were really pushing them back. Then Hayate unveiled the giants.”

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. “Giants?”

“A pair of huge, metal, humanoid machines that outputted some sort of horrendously strong AMF that practically nullified our magic,” she explained. “Even Vivio was almost powerless trying to fight them; they seemed to nullify everything for hundreds of meters around, while her army, which outnumbered us, switched to pure melee and mass-based weapons. That's when Caro summoned Voltaire and I brought out Hakutenou, figuring our best bet was to pit giant against giant for pure strength.

Her head lowered, a sad smile on her face. “But in the end, something distracted Voltaire and he was mortally wounded. Caro went into shock as our army went into full retreat, and I pulled back Hakutenou before the giants could double team him." Her head came up. "Do you know why a creature allows themselves to be bound to a summoner?”

Nanoha had some idea, but she never was quite sure, not being a summoner herself. “No. What does it mean? I had assumed it was like some form of familiar.”

“There are several different types of summoner contracts, of which a familiar is one,” Lutecia stated, looking up, her gaze far away. “With lower lifeforms and unintelligent creatures like my smaller grey bugs and the jiraiyo,they simply use my mana when I don't need it in order to help their colonies to thrive. In return, I can summon them for various tasks; overall, it's a form of symbiosis." She paused and shifted in her seat. "But for more intelligent creatures like Garyuu and Hakutenou, a different contract is used. In return for allowing us to summon them, we agree to let them draw on our mana so that they can essentially live forever. And if they are mortally wounded, the summoner's life is taken instead.”

“So Caro gave up her life to restore Voltaire's?” Nanoha deduced, feeling oddly chilled by the true burden of a summoner's life.

Lutecia nodded. “Voltaire had desummoned himself the moment the fatal blow was struck, but it was too late. By the time Erio reached us, Caro's body was dissolving, her magic and very life force being taken by Voltaire to heal himself. Erio was naturally extremely distraught, but later grew angry. He managed to track down Voltaire in his lair on Algus after the war, demanding Caro be returned, but the great dragon didn't even acknowledge his presence. The priest caretakers of Voltaire's shrine had warned us that not even the great dragon could return life to the dead, and that Caro knew this from the beginning."

Nanoha glanced down into her tea, barely able to determine how she felt about all of this. Caro had never said a word about the burden she carried all these years, and Nanoha herself didn't know how she'd feel about taking on such a summoner contract.

Her head came back up. "What about Friedrich?"

"He became unbound from his contract with Caro when she passed away," Lutecia answered. "Like Erio and I, he lives somewhere in the forest. I know he's nearby, as my bugs have spotted him flying around occasionally and it seems he keeps an eye on us both, Erio in particular. Despite not being in contract, the two were fairly close. And since Caro made me promise to look after Erio, I retired here to watch over him. He's probably aware I peek in from time-to-time with my insects, but he doesn't seem to care as long as I don't bother him."

"It still saddens me that he's let his grief over Caro consume him," Nanoha remarked aloud, then noticed Lutecia's facial features shift. "What?"

"It wasn't just Caro," the other woman stated slowly. "They had a daughter named Eris that we lost track of during the war. We don't think she was killed, as we never found her body, but she went missing just the same. We spent years searching, however the trail eventually ran cold, and Erio was finally forced to give up after several years.”

Nanoha was silent, taking an occasional sip of tea as she digested everything Lutecia had told her, but it still saddened that it was yet another sad loss that happened in years she had been gone. Unconsciously, her thoughts drifted back to Yuuno's time travel plan; If he was right, then she could undo all of this, and Erio and Caro could have another chance at living out their lives. The weight of that choice, that mission, was heavy on her shoulders.

She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and then decided she needed to lighten the mood with a change in conversation topics.

"I'm sorry, I haven't even asked how you're doing," Nanoha stated, setting down her teacup, somewhat embarrassed. "How have you been holding up all these years? You aren't lonely at all?"

"Not at all," Lutecia replied with a genuinely warm smile. "I have my insects, and my mother lived with me up until she passed away ten years ago; don't worry, she died from natural causes and led a full life. I knew it was coming for awhile, so I had a chance to prepare. I miss her, but I know she wouldn't want me to give in to despair the way Erio has. And life has been peaceful since we retired here after the war."

Nanoha raised an eyebrow. "Peaceful? Doesn't the Bureau come after you?"

The summoner grinned wryly after taking a sip her tea. "This continent is seen mostly as a no man's land, due to the wide variety of magical animals running loose around here." She gestured towards the forest with her arm, smiling mischievously. "Besides a few game hunters, no one else comes here due to the danger. There are still sentinel drones that make random flyovers, but my little insects take care of it, interfacing with the drone and feeding it false information until they get out of range. As far as the Bureau knows, there's nobody here."

Nanoha finally realized that, for the first time, she hadn't remembered seeing any drones since arriving at Erio's place; now she knew why. Since Lutecia's house wasn't that far from his cabin, odds are she was protecting him from discovery, too.

"I noticed you haven't asked about me," Nanoha noted, absently stirring her tea with the spoon. "I know we didn't have much contact before, so I'm partly surprised you recognized me at all. But aren't you curious how I am here now? And how could you know I wasn't part of the Bureau?"

Lutecia smiled as lowered her own cup. "It was a bit of a risk, I'll admit, but as I've been studying you for awhile, it didn't seem like you were. You would have turned in Erio the moment you figured out who he was. I also wanted to see if you'd have an effect on him; what happened was to be expected, though, I suppose. I'm still a bit disappointed in him. I'll also admit that I am curious about how you're alive, but I have a few guesses. I'm assuming you're a clone." Her smile turned into a bit of a smirk. "And Garyu has had you targeted ever since you arrived; he's a bit overprotective, but dependable."

Nanoha blinked and glanced around. "I don't see him..."

The summoner laughed. "You wouldn't. It's okay, Garyu, you can stop now. I think she's safe enough."

Out of the corner of her eye, Nanoha finally saw the humanoid bug fade into existence as he retracted the blade that he had pointed at her back. She was forced to admit that she hadn't felt his presence at all, so if Lutecia had wanted her dead, the summoner could have easily had it done. Garyu continued to watch her as he jumped to a perch on the roof, but he did nod in her direction. Nanoha nodded back, then returned to gaze to her host.

"Well, you're right, I am a clone, although I don't feel any different," Nanoha stated with a sigh. "Yuuno had Jail clone me, and I've been traveling all this time, trying to figure out the reason for that, and when I finally found Yuuno and he told me... what?"

Lutecia giggled. "I'm sorry, it's just your expression and attitude as you talked. As if it was a 'here we go again, having to explain all this yet again' thing. Although, I imagine it hasn't been easy on you, so perhaps I'm being a bit rude."

"No, truthfully I'm a bit numb to it all now," Nanoha opined, gazing into her teacup. "Or perhaps I've just accepted everything for what it is, and nothing surprises me much anymore, sad as it is. I've gotten a bit used to not knowing what's going on, or where I'm supposed to be going."

Lutecia nodded sympathetically, then smiled. "Well, since you have had contact with Yuuno, then it appears one of my guesses was correct and you are part of the plan."

That got Nanoha's attention. "You know about Yuuno and the plan?"

"I know about Yuuno and Carim, and that they were up to something, but no one knows all the details," she answered. "It's safer that way, in case one of us is caught. But I did receive the agreed-upon coded signal not too long ago that things were finally going to be set in motion; and then you appeared at Erio's place with Raging Heart."

"Do you know where Vivio is, then?" Nanoha asked eagerly, leaning forward.

The bug summoner grinned. "Sort of. I exchange letters with her occasionally by insect, but I don't know where she is. That information is solely contained within Asclepius here, and he has orders to delete it if it's ever in danger of being discovered." She raised her hand, showcasing the small bracelet on her wrist, from which a pair of purple jewels hung. "Asclepius, transfer protected data to Raging Heart, codeword: Dawn."

"Data transfer complete," the red jewel hanging from Nanoha's neck declared.

"It's up to you to safely protect that information," Lutecia instructed, her voice taking on a very serious tone. "No one else must learn of where Vivio is. I'm not sure why, only that it's important."

Nanoha nodded, taking her jewel in hand and commanding Raging Heart to install safeguards, as the reality hit her that she finally had the key to finding her daughter after all this time. "Thank you again, Lutecia. I owe you much; not just for this, but for looking out for Vivio."

The older woman smiled warmly. "It was my pleasure, really. Vivio, Caro, Erio, Rio and Corona and I were all pretty much inseparable after you passed away, due to our close age ranges. But as thanks, stay awhile, as I haven't had company in many years. It'll give me a chance to fix up a meal, and you can resume your journey tomorrow morning, alright?"

Nanoha readily agreed, accepting the other woman's hospitality. A warm bath in Lutecia's custom-made furo was also quite welcome after the cold water rinses in Erio's stream, and the summoner even fixed up some food in a medium-sized backpack for her to take. She explained that she'd love to teleport Nanoha straight there, but such a large spell would alert the drones, and she could only control a few in a certain radius. Still, she could give Nanoha a head start with a shorter-range teleport, along with some parting words.

"Say hello to Vivio for me," Lutecia told her as she warmed up her teleport spell. "I wish I could go with you, but I have to watch over Erio due to the promise I made to Caro. Still, I'll see about pounding some sense back into the old gruff's head, so we can help you out when the time comes. I'll be damned if I let him continue to sulk when we can make a difference."

Nanoha nodded, grateful, waving goodbye and promising to meet again as the spell was activated and she disappeared in a flash of purple light.

x~~*~~x

"Are you sure you're okay?" Shari asked from the next cell over, her arm reaching through the single barred window between them.

Yuuno squeezed her hand, adjusting his body a bit, his muscles feeling strained as if he had been running a marathon. "I'll live. The important thing is that you're unharmed."

"I really wish you'd stop trying to be the brave one," she admonished him, then sighed. "And now they know our portion of the plan. I could have taken anything Fate would have done to me; we both know she wouldn't have killed either of us."

"It was a calculated risk, and a logical one, as you know," he replied, sighing. "Besides, they still don't know everything, because we don't, and I doubt she believed what we told her, anyway. At least I fed her information that she expected to hear. And whatever happens, I think events are set, and none of us can change them now."

"Because of your Nanoha vision," she replied, stroking the back of his hand with her thumb.

Yuuno smiled softly. "It would validate one of your theories. I think-"

A pair of thuds sounded from outside the door to their cell room, cutting Yuuno off. Shari had heard it, too, and thus had mimicked him by going quiet as well. The door slid open and a mysterious figure backed into the brig room, dragging the non-moving pair of Enforcers that were standing guard outside. Once inside, the unknown individual shut the door, then turned to the two prisoners, face hidden due to the shadow cast by a hooded cloak.

"I'll have you two out in a second," she said, pulling out something that Yuuno thought looked like a handgun, pointing it at the lock to his cell. "I've messed with the sensors to this room to display a recorded feedback loop, but odds are they'll discover it shortly."

"Who are you?" Yuuno asked as the woman fired a surprisingly quiet shot that blasted his lock open, and then repeated it for his wife's cell.

"I recognize that device!" Shari declared, astonished as she came out of her prison. "I never forget a device I've built; Silver Dagger! Which means you're-"

The device technician trailed off as the woman pulled off her hood, baring a head of short, faded, light-brown hair, with red eyes. Yuuno didn't recognize her, but Shari obviously did. Before he could ask, though, their rescuer spoke.

"Runessa Magnus," she told them in a low even voice. "I'm here to rescue you two."

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

"What the hell? Did Kaijo just put in someone who has actually managed to survive the passage of time, and isn't completed screwed up!?" Statistically speaking, it had to be possible. ;p Anyway, title is from a poem by Robert Frost, which I felt was fitting for various reasons you can probably guess:

"Where had I heard this wind before
Change like this to a deeper roar?
What would it take my standing there for,
Holding open a restive door,
Looking down hill to a frothy shore?
Summer was past and the day was past.
Sombre clouds in the west were massed.
Out on the porch's sagging floor,
Leaves got up in a coil and hissed,
Blindly striking at my knee and missed.
Something sinister in the tone
Told me my secret may be known:
Word I was in the house alone
Somehow must have gotten abroad,
Word I was in my life alone,
Word I had no one left but God."

For those curious, I will be continuing Whipped; it's just that I am placing priority on this fic. Speaking of which, because I got over 100 reviews, you get an Omake!

Xx~~*~~xX

Hayate: "You've done well, Enforcer Harlaown. And now, I sense that you wish to continue your search for young Takamachi."

Fate: "Yes, my master."

Hayate: "Patience, my friend. In time, she will seek you out. "

Fate: "She will come to me?"

Hayate: "Her compassion for you will be her undoing. She will come to you, and then you will bring her before me. Only together, can we turn her to the Dark Side of the magic."

Fate: "As you wish."

(For the Star Wars nerds, yes, I did kinda smoosh two separate scenes together for this, heh)

Cue excited squee from RB in 3... 2... 1...

[Nanya01]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Hmm, I think this is the longest period of time I've gone before updating this fic, heh. Two weeks. =(

Future Tense

Chapter 17: Bereft

In which Nanoha makes a pair of confrontations, and learns some surprising things, while there are interesting shifts back at the Bureau...

Previous chapters can be found here.

Spoiler for Future Tense, Chapter 17: Bereft:

-snip-

okay, I'm going to say it now for everyone to see.

Just so I can refer back to it if I'm right.

Quattro's the real reason everything went to hell.

No, seriously, she is.

The time Travel, the bomb that killed the original Nanoha, the war, the clone of Nanoha... ALL her fault.

Why?

She engineered the WHOLE THING!

She creates the bomb in the "bad future" and sends it back into the past, with instructions to her younger self, which is picked up via "wi fi" that only Quattro can use, that explains everything to her and how things are going to go down.

So, when it comes to a head, Quattro will be standing there, with the bomb that killed off the original Nanoha and gloat to the clone how she did everything just right, just as predicted, just as planned. Time Travel is possible and the fact that it happened is the reason that the current state of affairs is happening.

Quattro plays EVERYONE for a fool before sending the bomb back in time and laughing as the loop begins again.

At least...

That's my take on it.

[Yasanagi]

Spoiler for FT Response:

Wow, even Magnus goes over a new leaf? I'm interested in hearing her story now.

Has Ix been mentioned yet? I figure that's a wild card right there.

[Rising Dragon]

Originally Posted by Yasanagi

Spoiler for FT Response:

Wow, even Magnus goes over a new leaf? I'm interested in hearing her story now.

Has Ix been mentioned yet? I figure that's a wild card right there.

Spoiler for Response:

Assuming Hayate didn't have her murdered in her sleep to make sure she and the Mariage couldn't pose a threat later...

[Yasanagi]

Originally Posted by Rising Dragon

Spoiler for Response:

Assuming Hayate didn't have her murdered in her sleep to make sure she and the Mariage couldn't pose a threat later...

Spoiler for FT Response:

Since Ix is still in the care of the Saint Church, I figure Carim would have been able to smuggle her out safely away from the clutches of the Bureau before things got really nasty. At least, I hope Ix is safe...

[Kaijo]

@Rising Dragon: I don't think RB follows this story. Believe she said once before it wasn't her type of fic, heh.

Originally Posted by Nanya01

okay, I'm going to say it now for everyone to see.

Just so I can refer back to it if I'm right.

Quattro's the real reason everything went to hell.

No, seriously, she is.

The time Travel, the bomb that killed the original Nanoha, the war, the clone of Nanoha... ALL her fault.

Why?

She engineered the WHOLE THING!

She creates the bomb in the "bad future" and sends it back into the past, with instructions to her younger self, which is picked up via "wi fi" that only Quattro can use, that explains everything to her and how things are going to go down.

So, when it comes to a head, Quattro will be standing there, with the bomb that killed off the original Nanoha and gloat to the clone how she did everything just right, just as predicted, just as planned. Time Travel is possible and the fact that it happened is the reason that the current state of affairs is happening.

Quattro plays EVERYONE for a fool before sending the bomb back in time and laughing as the loop begins again.

At least...

That's my take on it.

You gave me this theory on AIM, and it's quite an inventive and interesting one. I did like that particular Gargoyles Storyline, heh. It was quite clever.

Spoiler for FT reply, possibly minor spoilish:

I did mention Runessa's name once before in this fic. ^_~ Also, since it's apparent that SSX happened, and I aim to mention everyone at one time or another, it's quite likely Ix's name will pop up. =)

[SilentOutlaw]

Originally Posted by Kaijo

Hmm, I think this is the longest period of time I've gone before updating this fic, heh. Two weeks. =(

Future Tense

Chapter 17: Bereft

In which Nanoha makes a pair of confrontations, and learns some surprising things, while there are interesting shifts back at the Bureau...

Previous chapters can be found here.

Spoiler for Future Tense, Chapter 17: Bereft:

MGLN: Future Tense
Chapter 17: Bereft

Sweet, I'm so excited that she's basically going to meet up with Vivio next chapter or the one after that. Well, soon. Hopefully.

Nice to see that at least one person seems normal and that one died of natural causes.

[deathcurse]

Originally Posted by 00-Raiser

Well that certainly works and it was a good twist. I wonder why they lied and made things more complicated. Maybe Fate was feeling so guilty and felt she needed some kind of punishment? I also wonder what further role Yuuno has in all this. It was great seeing him debate that prosecutor. Dragging him into the girls bathroom was also hilarious

I wonder about the whole 'willingness' thing. Actual medical law is that you need to ask the person for permission before you help them. However if that person is unconcious or otherwise unable to answer, it's considered as permission given. So if we apply that to this case, since Nanoha was in a coma/dead, then it should be covered.

Haha, yeah, I didn't think about where to have Nanoha and Yuuno have their serious talk, and they were already in the hallway when I thought that it would be funny to have them conduct this serious, event-changing conversation inside a bathroom .

Hm, you have a good point there...in this case though, they're talking about Fate "forcing" Nanoha into a familiar contract, rather than the fact that she did something to Nanoha's body--but still, it's an interesting thought; maybe an argument is that the moment Fate created that magical contract, Nanoha was already "dead", and so since she was dead she wouldn't really count as a sentient being? I'll have to give it some thought .

Originally Posted by Alavon

XD

YAY! An UPDATE!

Wow...now you added a new twist. Why did she lie?

Yes, update, since you asked ^^, and also since I was trying to explain the cloning stuff to Dezo without spoiling Chapter 4, and it kind of happened that gritting my teeth and writing Chp. 4 was easier!

I dunno, why did she? Guess you'll have to wait to find out!

Originally Posted by SilentOutlaw

Maybe she just lied for the irony of having the same charges of her mom?

Awww, I wish Fate was the sarcastic type--then I'd totally steal that line for her to use as an answer when someone asks her that question!

Originally Posted by RadiantBeam

Nice to see Yuuno getting a larger role in this fic. I'm quite curious to see how his helping Fate will play out, since currently it seems Fate is the main target of the investigation. Knowing Yuuno, if push comes to shove, I'm sure he'll step up and help Fate out so at the very least if she falls, she doesn't fall alone. He's the kind of guy who would do something like that.

Though, interestingly, I'm noticing a little gap here. You have when Nanoha dies, when she's revived by Fate and Yuuno, and then when she wakes up from the coma or whatever. The gap is during the time that Nanoha was dead, and Fate and Yuuno revived her. Now, clearly, Nanoha doesn't know what happened; she was dead. So that means that the only two who really know what happened are Fate and Yuuno.

Which makes me wonder if perhaps a little bit more went into the reviving of Nanoha than either Fate or Yuuno are willing to admit... hm, now I'm thinking about it!

I'm glad I'm causing you to think ! I might have to branch out and write chapters from Fate's POV soon, since it's hard to lay out all the facts from only Nanoha's side of things (like you said, only Fate and Yuuno know what really happened ).

It's a bit of a struggle to write enough scenes that explain the background of what happened, but at the same time I want to push a plot along in the present day...ah, decisions, decisions!