Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by Shigan
Oooh, that's a good one. We need more Lindy. This woman completely eludes my write for some reason.
You know, when I think of it, where would Lindy be rank wise compared to Hayate? Would she actually be able to flex her military rank at all since Hayate's the CDC? Because by the time of StrikerS, Lindy is more or less an admiral without a ship, which says a lot really.
Hm, I should probably pen Lindy in more . I'll wait to see what RB decides to do though, so I don't overlap by accident!
Wouldn't they be in different military branches anyway? But I wouldn't think that being the CDC Commander is the highest rank one can get in the Ground Forces, while Admiral seems to be the highest rank for the Navy? =O
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Of course, it probably doesn't help that my muse is running around like a hyper-active genki-girl, yours is Tsundere and gloomy, so, what's about RB's?
Quote:
Originally Posted by shiroi mahotsukai
Sitting in a corner muttering to itself, rising up once every few months or so before sinking back into blissful reverie?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Kuroi Hadou
Short version: Kuudere.
We have a whole sit-com of muse-characters now!
Quote:
Originally Posted by RadiantBeam
Currently the only problem with that is I don't know how to play it for humor when Nanoha sees it, even if Vivio is totally okay with what's going on.
Depending on how you play it, yeah, I can see some issues...if Nanoha hasn't warmed up much to Lutecia at this point, I can't think of how this would help Nanoha's opinion of her ...if Nanoha and Lutecia are getting along better, then Nanoha wouldn't really have a strong reaction that could be funny.
At the risk of making Nanoha seem too much of the "straight man", maybe you could have Fate play off of Nanoha's reaction to get humour at the end if you're stuck? Or maybe the fact that Nanoha doesn't have a strong reaction could be part of the humour?
Nanya-muse: But, deaaaatthhhhy-chaaaaan! This painting you painted is so dark and gloomy! It must be the reason you don't wanna come out and play.
Deathcurse-muse: *Hits Nanya-muse with a book.* Why don't you go and read the sparkles and leave my paintings alone?
Nanya-muse: But I don't like sparkles. Unless it's on Major Armstrong. *Sighs*
RadiantBeam-muse: ...If you two don't calm down, we're going to have the whole neighborhood after us.
Deathcurse-muse: *Throws a potato chip at RB-muse*
Nanya-muse: *Glomps DC-muse* But I wanted a potato chip! *looks at DC-muse's hands and eats the one there.*
RadiantBeam-muse: You took a potato chip... And ate it.
Deathcurse-muse: *Blushing* Darn it! Both of you, stop it! You're too friendly! *Pushes off Nanya-muse* And you! Stop watching my collection of Death Note already!
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
Depending on how you play it, yeah, I can see some issues...if Nanoha hasn't warmed up much to Lutecia at this point, I can't think of how this would help Nanoha's opinion of her ...if Nanoha and Lutecia are getting along better, then Nanoha wouldn't really have a strong reaction that could be funny.
At the risk of making Nanoha seem too much of the "straight man", maybe you could have Fate play off of Nanoha's reaction to get humour at the end if you're stuck? Or maybe the fact that Nanoha doesn't have a strong reaction could be part of the humour?
I was planning to make Fate the straight man, honestly, since for some reason she seems like she'd be the calmer of the two when it comes to this kind of thing. I guess maybe if I try and play it from the angle of Nanoha trusting her daughter's word, it would be believable that she wouldn't get too worked up about it (though I could still see her saying to Vivio "Doesn't this bother you at all?" and Vivio being all "Meh, she's not even trying."). I mean, I don't see Lutecia and Nanoha having a horrible relationship, they'll just never see completely eye to eye on things.
Nanya-muse: But, deaaaatthhhhy-chaaaaan! This painting you painted is so dark and gloomy! It must be the reason you don't wanna come out and play.
Deathcurse-muse: *Hits Nanya-muse with a book.* Why don't you go and read the sparkles and leave my paintings alone?
Nanya-muse: But I don't like sparkles. Unless it's on Major Armstrong. *Sighs*
RadiantBeam-muse: ...If you two don't calm down, we're going to have the whole neighborhood after us.
Deathcurse-muse: *Throws a potato chip at RB-muse*
Nanya-muse: *Glomps DC-muse* But I wanted a potato chip! *looks at DC-muse's hands and eats the one there.*
RadiantBeam-muse: You took a potato chip... And ate it.
Deathcurse-muse: *Blushing* Darn it! Both of you, stop it! You're too friendly! *Pushes off Nanya-muse* And you! Stop watching my collection of Death Note already!
God, the inspiration for this came for beings whose sole prupose is to inspire the writers who inspired their creation to be inspired to write fics... my head hurts.
__________________
"The eyes are the windows that let us gaze upon the soul"
"When desperate there are two choices: Lock shields for the last stand or draw your sword for the final charge"
"There are no winners or losers, there are only the living and the dead."
I was planning to make Fate the straight man, honestly, since for some reason she seems like she'd be the calmer of the two when it comes to this kind of thing. I guess maybe if I try and play it from the angle of Nanoha trusting her daughter's word, it would be believable that she wouldn't get too worked up about it (though I could still see her saying to Vivio "Doesn't this bother you at all?" and Vivio being all "Meh, she's not even trying."). I mean, I don't see Lutecia and Nanoha having a horrible relationship, they'll just never see completely eye to eye on things.
You could have Fate actually be initially surprised, then adapt, and then start to compliment Lutecia's skills while observing the events. I mean, being an investigator and all she could probably use the study.
Nanoha I have no idea xD.
__________________
Never stop being a kid. Never stop feeling and seeing and being excited with great things like air and engines and sounds of sunlight within you. Wear your little mask if you must to protect you from the world but if you let that kid disappear you are grown up and you are dead.
— Richard Bach
Nanya-muse: But, deaaaatthhhhy-chaaaaan! This painting you painted is so dark and gloomy! It must be the reason you don't wanna come out and play.
Deathcurse-muse: *Hits Nanya-muse with a book.* Why don't you go and read the sparkles and leave my paintings alone?
Nanya-muse: But I don't like sparkles. Unless it's on Major Armstrong. *Sighs*
RadiantBeam-muse: ...If you two don't calm down, we're going to have the whole neighborhood after us.
Deathcurse-muse: *Throws a potato chip at RB-muse*
Nanya-muse: *Glomps DC-muse* But I wanted a potato chip! *looks at DC-muse's hands and eats the one there.*
RadiantBeam-muse: You took a potato chip... And ate it.
Deathcurse-muse: *Blushing* Darn it! Both of you, stop it! You're too friendly! *Pushes off Nanya-muse* And you! Stop watching my collection of Death Note already!
Oh wow, imagining actually made me cringe, in a good way. Death from too much cuteness! xD
Quote:
Originally Posted by deathcurse
Hm, I should probably pen Lindy in more . I'll wait to see what RB decides to do though, so I don't overlap by accident!
I did want to write on her in my story, but for some reason her major (kinda) role in one scene somehow faded after I decided to cut off certain parts... A slippery character to write.
I see that once again my post goes unacknowledged.
So it's time to open the doors:
Door #3 got the most so that's what I did.
This fic takes place between season 1 and A's, and focuses on Fate adjusting to, and her doubts about, her new situation. It's also about how her and Yuuno became friends. I had actually posted the first bit of it ages ago but no one read it then.
Was gonna go into Fate's trial but it ended up being longer than expected and I didn't start that part before the week started. I'll just do it as a chapter 2.
Spoiler for My Second Friend:
“Ah, that was a great workout!” Arf said before taking a content swig of her soda. “Nothing like spending the day working up a sweat, eh Fate?”
“Yeah.” Fate nodded, letting her own cold beverage flow down her throat. The morning training session with Arf had worked up quite the thirst which she was currently quenching. Other than train, Fate didn’t exactly have much else to do on the Athra besides sitting around, awaiting the trail that would determine her future.
She had been told things would work out just fine, but she wasn’t so sure about that. She had willingly followed her mother as the woman did unspeakable things, and would probably still be doing similar things if her mother had accepted her. Would the jury really take sympathy on such a person?
Perhaps the biggest worry on her mind was if things would be different from before. By all rights they should be, seeing as how Fate was now surrounded by people who expressed care for her well being and didn’t brandish a whip whenever she did something wrong.
But would it really last? Fate recalled a similar period in her life where she had some one to care for her. Linith had always been kind to her, teaching her gently and reassuring her that she was loved, but that time had been fleeting. Linith eventually vanished and Fate was left at the mercy of her deranged mother. Would history repeat itself?
The present situation had Fate thinking it already had. Arf was the only one by her side, but the loyal familiar was always there. It was the others that had been scarce lately.
At first Chrono used to train with her all the time. She was never a match from him, and he’d defeat her soundly, rubbing salt on her with a cool quip he had prepared. The boy always seemed to keep his distance from her, though. He was rather blunt and, frankly, very cold. While he wasn’t as cold as Precia had been, it still had Fate thinking that perhaps he didn’t like her very much. This was only reinforced by the fact she hadn’t seen him lately. Was he just avoiding her or was his work keeping him too busy?
Fate hadn’t been in contact with Lindy much either. The older woman had expressed kindness before, but every time Fate would called her, asking if perhaps they could eat together, the captain would smile apologetically and say she had far too much work piled up on her desk to make time. Eventually Fate stopped asking, not wanting to bother Lindy if she was truly that busy.
It really did feel like they were going disappear from her life like Linith had. But while Linith disappeared because her time was up, what if the Harlaowns were going because they didn’t want to be around her anymore? What if they had simply pitied her at first, but quickly got sick of her? If that were true, it would only be her and Arf again, but even then if the trial didn’t go well, Fate could be separated from the familiar as well.
But there was still Nanoha, the Earth girl who had saved her and called her ‘friend.’ Fate always had the video mails the other girl would send her, and they never failed to make her happy. However, there was still that doubt that gnawed at her. What if Nanoha got sick of her as well? It was usually several weeks between letters, and during that time Fate would always dread that another letter would never come.
“Fate, what’s the matter?” Arf prodded worriedly, noticing her master’s eyes watering.
“Uh? Oh.” Fate rubbed her eyes, having not realized that she was on the verge of crying. “It’s nothing; I guess I’m just a little more tired than I thought.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Arf asked sceptically. She could tell her creator was dealing with some painful emotions, but the humanoid canine was unable to do anything unless the girl was willing to talk about it.
“Yes Arf, I’m sure.” She gave a soft smile and patted the familiar’s hair, but Arf wasn’t convinced. Fate squirmed a bit under her inquisitive gaze and she tried to think of a way to alleviate her companion’s suspicions.
“There you are!” A new voice called and Fate turned to see a blond haired, green eyed boy about her age approaching them. She recognised him immediately as the one that had always been with Nanoha. She had first seen him as a ferret, but this was his true form. Fate recalled his name was…
“Yuuno!” Arf said first, going over to the boy and severely ruffling his hair. “It’s been a while! Didn’t you stay back on Earth? What are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too, Arf.” Yuuno chuckled softly, putting his hair back in order. “You as well, Fate.”
“Uh, you too.” Fate said dumbly. She had never talked with him before, so she had no idea what approach she should take in dealing with him. Most of their encounters had been as enemies on the battlefield, but if he was a friend of Nanoha’s, then he couldn’t be a bad person.
“To answer your question…” Yuuno turned back to Arf. “Chrono called me back so I could be on hand for whenever they need me to speak at the trial.”
At the mention of the trial, Fate cast her gaze downwards enough for Yuuno to notice it.
“Ah, it’ll be in your defence, of course!” He quickly said. “All I have to do is tell the truth and you’ll be just fine, I’m sure!”
“Well, thank you…” Fate said. The three of them stood in silence a moment, none of them sure where to go from there.
“Um… Have you two had lunch yet?” Yuuno finally asked and the females shook their heads in response. They were quite hungry after their workout. “Then let’s all go eat together!”
“Are you sure that’s ok?” Fate asked. “Don’t you have lots of work to do as well?”
“Me? Oh, no!” Yuuno waved his hands in front of him. “I really don’t have anything to do aside from testifying, so I was thinking I could hang out with you two… if that’s ok…”
“Of course it’s ok!” Arf cheered, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “The more the merrier, right Fate?”
“Uh, yeah.” Fate smiled softly. “That would be great.”
“Ok then.” Yuuno smiled back. “Then once we’re done eating, we can watch this.” He pulled out a DVD from his pocket and offered it to Fate. “Nanoha told me to deliver this to you.”
Fate’s heart fluttered as she took the disk, grateful it meant she would still be receiving them. “Thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome.”
X-X-X
After having their meal in the Athra’s cafeteria, the three made their way to Fate’s room. While by every right she should have been thrown in the brig, Fate was glad she got to sleep in a bed. She popped the disk into the player and Nanoha’s face appeared in the air.
“Heya, Fate-chan!” She said cheerfully. “I’m sure this letter finds you well! I know the big day of your trial is come up soon, and I hope you’re not too nervous! Both Chrono-kun and Lindy-san have assured me that everything will go well, so have faith! And now that Yuuno-kun is there will you, I’m extra sure that it will be just fine! He’s a really nice and capable person, so you can be sure to depend on him! I know you two will get along great!”
Fate cast a glance at the boy, who blushed and scratched his cheek at the praise.
“I can’t wait until I get to see you all again! I’m getting along just fine on my end. Just the other day Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan…”
X-X-X
After viewing the rest of the video and sending out the reply, once again the trio found themselves wondering what to do next.
“Did you two have anything planned?” Yuuno asked.
“We were probably just going to train some more,” Arf said. “But I think Fate’s too tired…”
“I’m fine now after taking a break,” Fate said with a slight smile. “So I could go for more training. It’s not like there’s much else to do…”
“I guess that’s true,” Arf said. “But…”
“Well then, if you’ll excuse us…” Fate said with a small bow to Yuuno.
“Ah, if it’s okay, could I join you?” He asked.
“Huh?” Fate blinked. From what she knew the boy wasn’t particularly combat orientated.
“I could use the work out and I was just thinking maybe it would be good to practise with some one new,” he said. “I’m definitely not as capable as you are, but I might be able to help you out some. That is, if you don’t mind of course…”
“I… I guess I’m okay with it,” Fate said. “But I’m sure there are other things you’d rather do, so…”
“Not really,” Yuuno said with a smile. “I want to spend more time with the two of you.”
“Are you sure…?”
“Er, well, if you don’t want to…”
“That’s not it…”
“Okay, that’s enough of that!” Arf threw her arms over the shoulders of the two smaller ones. “It would be great if you joined us, Yuuno. Let’s all three of us work hard together, okay?”
“O-Okay,” the other two said.
They all filed into the ship’s practise area and set up their barrier jackets.
“Since I’ve gone up against Yuuno before,” Arf said. “Fate, I think you should have a one on one with him.”
“Fine with me,” Yuuno said. “I’ll be in your care, Fate.”
“Likewise…” If Fate recalled, his expertise was bind and barrier magic but she didn’t think she’d have problems breaking those. Since he had no offensive spells she wondered how it would be much of a match…
“All righty then!” Arf moved to the side lines and pumped a fist into the air. “If you’re both ready… GO!”
Fate started things off by expanding the distance with a jump and quickly fired her Photon Lancers at Yuuno. Yuuno’s hand quickly formed some hand seals and the lancers bounced harmlessly off his barrier.
‘His casting speed is incredible… and he doesn’t even have a device!’ Fate’s surprised blinded her to the glowing chain that appeared to her left. She noticed in time to avoid most of the snare, but it wrapped around her wrist.
Bardiche snapped into scythe mode and she slashed through the chains, enabling her to fly up and avoid the other binds that shot out at her.
“I thought this while watching your fights with Nanoha, but you really are super fast, aren’t you Fate?” Yuuno said with a note of admiration. “Then there’s your lighting affinity too… You’re amazing.”
“T-Thank you,” she said. “I am also impressed with how you can cast spells so quickly without the aid of a device.”
“Come on you two, you’re supposed to be practising!” Arf said.
“Right, let’s resume.” Fate considered her opponent and what her next move should be. If she had any hope to getting through that barrier, she’d need to hit it with the strongest attack at her disposal.
She nimbly avoided some more bind attempts and positioned herself high in the air. She raised Bardiche and many yellow orbs appeared around her.
“Wah, Fate, you’re really going to use that already?” Arf said with a gasp.
“Photon Lancer,” Fate said. “Phalanx Shift!”
“Oh boy…” Yuuno put out his arms and raised his defences. The hail of lighting descended upon him and hid him in a large blast cloud. The pelting stopped and Fate raised her hand to gather energy into a long spear.
“Spark…” Fate hurled the spear into the middle of the cloud, making a huge explosion that would have rocked the ship had it not been for the room’s safety features. “End.”
“I hope Yuuno survived that…” Arf gulped as she scanned the field.
“That should have been enough to break his shield and take him out of the battle…” Fate said as she took some heavy breaths. Her eyes widened when she saw Yuuno stumbled out of the dust, coughing repeatedly.
“That was some attack,” He said. “I barely blocked it all.”
“H-How did that not work?” Fate asked dumbly. Not even Nanoha just shrugged it off like that. With Chrono he usually defeated her before she could pull out more powerful spells and as frustrating as that was, it felt worse having all her power rendered ineffective like that.
Rather than float there gawking, Fate decided to resume her offensive straight away. If power didn’t work she’d rely on her speed.
“Thunder Smasher!” Fate shot out a blast and, as expected, Yuuno put up a shield to block it. Before the attack dissipated Fate was already on the move, flying around the boy to his unprotected side. Yuuno barely had time to shift his body before Bardiche was swung. “Scythe Slash!”
The blow connected and Yuuno was sent flying across the room with a scream before crashing into the artificial terrain. Fate felt glad about her victory until a few moments passed where Yuuno did not get up.
‘Oh no!’ She thought as she ran to him. ‘His barriers might be tough but he isn’t! Stupid! Stupid! He’s not like Chrono! I shouldn’t have been so focused on winning and held back… I messed up! He’s going to be mad at me, isn’t he? He’ll start hating me and go away and maybe the others will go with him and…”
“Owie…” Yuuno finally sat up with a groan. “That was really something…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Fate kneeled down next to him and closed her eyes to brace herself for the punishment that was coming. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Fate.” Yuuno held out his hands and patted the air in front of him. “I’m fine, no harm done. There’s no reason to cry.”
Fate wiped at the eyes she didn’t realise had been watery.
“You’re… You’re not mad?”
“Of course not.” He smiled. “Rather than scold you I want to praise you for an excellent manoeuvre. It was my fault for not being skilled enough to react quicker.”
“But…”
“Wow Yuuno, you’re made of sterner stuff than I thought,” Arf said with a wry smile. “But maybe we should take you to the infirmary and get you checked out just in case?”
“No, I’m fine, really.” Though he said that, Yuuno’s smile was clearly pained. “It’s something I can just walk off.”
Arf wondered if she should press the issue or not. On the one hand he was obviously injured, but on the other hand it was clear he was trying to act like it was nothing to spare Fate’s feelings.
“Please don’t push yourself…” Fate dispelled her barrier jacket and slung one of Yuuno’s arms over her shoulders to support him. “You should let them have a look at you…”
“Well… Okay…” Yuuno sighed as they slowly walked out of the room.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Fate kept muttering that under her breath. ‘He might be acting like this but he’ll probably never want to spend time with me again…’
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be better in no time, so let’s train together again tomorrow!”
“Eh?” Fate stared dumbly at him. “But I…”
“It’s not your fault, Fate,” he said. “Stuff like this happens in training all the time. We just have to be more careful next time, okay?”
“O-Okay…” For some reason Fate felt incredibly relieved to hear him say that.
X-X-X
By the next day Yuuno had recovered and did indeed join the girls for another round of training. However instead of taking part in more mock battles he opted to stand back and help the other two refine their skills.
Several days of this passed but while Fate enjoyed the additional company she still kept her distance. Part of her said that those around her could disappear or turn on her at any moment and that it would only hurt more if she opened up to them.
“Okay, I’m sure you already know this,” Yuuno said as Arf and Fate squared off. “But barriers spread magic omnidirectionally and protect you from all angles. The trade off is that since the magic is spread out it’s not as strong. Shields, on the other hand, only protect you from one direction but are stronger because the magic is more concentrated. It’s important to pick the best defence for different kinds of attacks. There’s a trick I learned to help make defence spells even stronger. It requires some luck but I bet experienced fighters like you two can master it in no time.”
“What is it?” Arf asked.
“Predict where your opponent will strike and focus your magic on that point,” he said. “Give it a try, Fate.”
Fate nodded and put up a shield. She nodded again to Arf who dashed forward and threw a punch. Fate watched the fist carefully and calculated its likely trajectory before pumping more magic into that spot. Arf’s punch connected right on target and after a moment of struggle Arf was repelled back.
“That was perfect!” Yuuno said. “Great job, Fate.”
“T-Thank you.”
Yuuno turned to Arf and something seemed to pass between them.
“Okay, let’s do it one more time,” he said.
They repeated the process however this time before it connected Arf pulled her fist back and shot out with the other one, catching the edge of the shield. To Fate’s surprise that part of the shield shattered, but Arf didn’t follow through on it.
“Just keep in mind that if you guess wrong, you could be in big trouble,” Yuuno said.
“I understand,” Fate said. “Thank you for the lesson. I can see how Nanoha became so good with a teacher like you.”
“Ah, well…” Yuuno flushed. “I only showed her the basics so I can’t really take credit… Her skill comes from her natural talent and her hard work. I had little to do with it.”
“Basics are important,” Fate said with a shake of her head. “That’s what my teacher taught me…”
“Who was your teacher?” Yuuno asked.
Fate said nothing.
“Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…” Yuuno lowered his head.
Silence permeated until a low grumble slice through.
“Ahaha, sorry, that was my stomach!” Arf said with a big grin. “Why don’t we take a break?”
“Sure, let’s do that,” Yuuno said. “You coming, Fate?”
“Ah, yeah, you two go ahead,” she said. “I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
“Okay, if you say so…”
X-X-X
“Ah, Admiral Lindy! Chrono!” Fate ran up to the mother-son pair. “It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”
“Huh?” Chrono said as he turned around. “Oh, it’s you. You’re still around?”
“…Eh?” Fate took a step back.
“I thought we ditched her already…” Lindy frowned. “Listen, brat, you’re too much of a hassle to bother with. I don’t know why we tried in the first place.”
“B-But…” Fate’s eyes became moist.
“Can’t you take a hint?” Chrono shoved her back and she fell on her rear. “No one wants you.” The two turned away and disappeared into the darkness.
“Wait! Come back!”
“Fate-chan!” Nanoha’s face popped up on a screen out of nowhere.
“Nanoha! It’s awful, something…”
“I just wanted to tell you that this is my last message to you. I realised I don’t want to be friends with you anymore so this is goodbye. I’d wish you luck but frankly I don’t care what happens to you.”
“Nan… oha…” Tears streamed down Fate’s face now as the other girl’s image disappeared.
“Don’t worry Fate!” Arf appeared beside her. “We’ll be with you!”
“That’s right, Fate. Please don’t cry.” Linith kneeled down and wiped away a tear. “Everything will be fine.”
“Arf… Linith… Thank…”
“Oops, time’s up.” Linith snapped upright and looked at her watch. “That’s all you get from us. Well, goodbye.”
“Stop!” Fate reached out to the dissipating familiars. “Please don’t go!”
Soon they were gone and Fate was left crying in utter darkness.
“What a foolish girl.”
Fate’s head snapped up and she looked into the cold, condescending eyes of her mother.
“Did you really think you’d be allowed to be happy?” Precia sneered. “Your own mother didn’t love you, so how can you expect anyone else to? You’re only damaged goods, remember that!”
“No… That can’t be… I…”
“Everyone will turn on you! Everyone will leave you! Any happiness you obtain will be stripped away!”
“… Why?” Fate sobbed. “Why does it have to be this way?”
As she felt like she was being swallowed by the shadows a sudden warmth enveloped her. It was a familiar sensation for her. It wasn’t Nanoha, but she remembered feeling it during the darkest moment of her life. That second person that was by her side, supporting her…
Light flooded into her world as her eyes fluttered open. She realised she was on a bench in the Athra where she had sat to rest a moment and apparently had fallen asleep.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Fate turned to the voice and her face almost bumped into his. She realised it was Yuuno and he had his arms lightly around her. She just stared at them dumbly.
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Yuuno quickly let go and scooted away. “You were taking too long so I came to find you. It looked like you were having a nightmare, so…”
“… You don’t have to bother with me…” Fate said under her breath. “I’m not worth it…”
“What are you saying, Fate? Of course you are!”
“… You might say that now, but eventually you’ll get sick of me and leave me… Just like mother and Linith…”
“That’s not true!” Yuuno put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.
“It already happened to Admiral Lindy and Chrono…”
“What?”
“I haven’t seen either of them in days and whenever I ask them to do something with me they say no… I was foolish to think they cared about me…”
“You’re wrong, Fate,” Yuuno said firmly. “They have been really busy lately but that’s exactly because they care about you!”
“… What do you mean?”
“Right now they’re busy getting ready for your trial. They’re putting their all into it so you won’t be harshly punished. I assure you they can’t wait for the trial to be over so they can be with you again.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Yuuno nodded. “Though Chrono would never say it outright that he misses you.”
“I… I don’t understand why they’re doing this for me…”
“Because they care about you. That’s all the reason they need.”
“And Nanoha? Won’t she get tired of sending me messages? I don’t want her to stop…”
“That definitely won’t happen,” Yuuno said with a smile. “She’s constantly thinking about you and is really looking forward to hearing from you again.”
“… What about you? I’m sure you’d rather be with Nanoha and yet… You should go back to her.”
“No,” Yuuno said resolutely. “I’m not going back without you. When I see Nanoha again you’ll be there too.”
“…Why do you bother with me?”
“That’s an easy one.” Yuuno’s smile grew. “Because we’re friends.”
“… We are?” Fate blinked.
“O-Oh, am I being too presumptuous?” Yuuno’s face fell. “If you don’t want to be friends, then…”
“No, that’s not it,” Fate said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m still not used to this making friends thing…” The words of her first friend replayed themselves in her mind. In order to be friends with some one…
“That’s okay, just take things slowly.” Yuuno smiled again. “We have plenty of time. I just want you to know that Nanoha, myself, and all the others won’t ever hate you, and we won’t disappear on you either. I promise.”
Fate felt her eyes tearing up again, but realised they were tears of sadness. She let them fall and managed a big smile.
“Thank you, Yuuno.”
So then, Yasanagi, you get to pick what I do for next week. You can request a new fic if you'd like, or I could tell you some of the plot bunnies I have. MnJ and RotDK aren't eligable since I updated them recently.
Location: Place of rocks and trees, and trees and rocks...and water.
Age: 33
Quote:
Originally Posted by Nanya01
Nanya-muse: But, deaaaatthhhhy-chaaaaan! This painting you painted is so dark and gloomy! It must be the reason you don't wanna come out and play.
Deathcurse-muse: *Hits Nanya-muse with a book.* Why don't you go and read the sparkles and leave my paintings alone?
Nanya-muse: But I don't like sparkles. Unless it's on Major Armstrong. *Sighs*
RadiantBeam-muse: ...If you two don't calm down, we're going to have the whole neighborhood after us.
Deathcurse-muse: *Throws a potato chip at RB-muse*
Nanya-muse: *Glomps DC-muse* But I wanted a potato chip! *looks at DC-muse's hands and eats the one there.*
RadiantBeam-muse: You took a potato chip... And ate it.
Deathcurse-muse: *Blushing* Darn it! Both of you, stop it! You're too friendly! *Pushes off Nanya-muse* And you! Stop watching my collection of Death Note already!
I was planning to make Fate the straight man, honestly, since for some reason she seems like she'd be the calmer of the two when it comes to this kind of thing. I guess maybe if I try and play it from the angle of Nanoha trusting her daughter's word, it would be believable that she wouldn't get too worked up about it (though I could still see her saying to Vivio "Doesn't this bother you at all?" and Vivio being all "Meh, she's not even trying."). I mean, I don't see Lutecia and Nanoha having a horrible relationship, they'll just never see completely eye to eye on things.
It probably depends on where in the scale of "Serious" to "Crack" you decide to make the short . If you do the "Crack" side, you've got more options. The "Serious" side limits what you could plausibly do...
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craxuan
I did want to write on her in my story, but for some reason her major (kinda) role in one scene somehow faded after I decided to cut off certain parts... A slippery character to write.
I tend to only write Lindy in association with her children , since she's a tough character to work with on her own, since we don't know that much about her personality.
Location: Fighting against those who oppress the system
Quote:
Originally Posted by 00-Raiser
I see that once again my post goes unacknowledged.
So it's time to open the doors:
Door #3 got the most so that's what I did.
This fic takes place between season 1 and A's, and focuses on Fate adjusting to, and her doubts about, her new situation. It's also about how her and Yuuno became friends. I had actually posted the first bit of it ages ago but no one read it then.
Was gonna go into Fate's trial but it ended up being longer than expected and I didn't start that part before the week started. I'll just do it as a chapter 2.
Spoiler for My Second Friend:
“Ah, that was a great workout!” Arf said before taking a content swig of her soda. “Nothing like spending the day working up a sweat, eh Fate?”
“Yeah.” Fate nodded, letting her own cold beverage flow down her throat. The morning training session with Arf had worked up quite the thirst which she was currently quenching. Other than train, Fate didn’t exactly have much else to do on the Athra besides sitting around, awaiting the trail that would determine her future.
She had been told things would work out just fine, but she wasn’t so sure about that. She had willingly followed her mother as the woman did unspeakable things, and would probably still be doing similar things if her mother had accepted her. Would the jury really take sympathy on such a person?
Perhaps the biggest worry on her mind was if things would be different from before. By all rights they should be, seeing as how Fate was now surrounded by people who expressed care for her well being and didn’t brandish a whip whenever she did something wrong.
But would it really last? Fate recalled a similar period in her life where she had some one to care for her. Linith had always been kind to her, teaching her gently and reassuring her that she was loved, but that time had been fleeting. Linith eventually vanished and Fate was left at the mercy of her deranged mother. Would history repeat itself?
The present situation had Fate thinking it already had. Arf was the only one by her side, but the loyal familiar was always there. It was the others that had been scarce lately.
At first Chrono used to train with her all the time. She was never a match from him, and he’d defeat her soundly, rubbing salt on her with a cool quip he had prepared. The boy always seemed to keep his distance from her, though. He was rather blunt and, frankly, very cold. While he wasn’t as cold as Precia had been, it still had Fate thinking that perhaps he didn’t like her very much. This was only reinforced by the fact she hadn’t seen him lately. Was he just avoiding her or was his work keeping him too busy?
Fate hadn’t been in contact with Lindy much either. The older woman had expressed kindness before, but every time Fate would called her, asking if perhaps they could eat together, the captain would smile apologetically and say she had far too much work piled up on her desk to make time. Eventually Fate stopped asking, not wanting to bother Lindy if she was truly that busy.
It really did feel like they were going disappear from her life like Linith had. But while Linith disappeared because her time was up, what if the Harlaowns were going because they didn’t want to be around her anymore? What if they had simply pitied her at first, but quickly got sick of her? If that were true, it would only be her and Arf again, but even then if the trial didn’t go well, Fate could be separated from the familiar as well.
But there was still Nanoha, the Earth girl who had saved her and called her ‘friend.’ Fate always had the video mails the other girl would send her, and they never failed to make her happy. However, there was still that doubt that gnawed at her. What if Nanoha got sick of her as well? It was usually several weeks between letters, and during that time Fate would always dread that another letter would never come.
“Fate, what’s the matter?” Arf prodded worriedly, noticing her master’s eyes watering.
“Uh? Oh.” Fate rubbed her eyes, having not realized that she was on the verge of crying. “It’s nothing; I guess I’m just a little more tired than I thought.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Arf asked sceptically. She could tell her creator was dealing with some painful emotions, but the humanoid canine was unable to do anything unless the girl was willing to talk about it.
“Yes Arf, I’m sure.” She gave a soft smile and patted the familiar’s hair, but Arf wasn’t convinced. Fate squirmed a bit under her inquisitive gaze and she tried to think of a way to alleviate her companion’s suspicions.
“There you are!” A new voice called and Fate turned to see a blond haired, green eyed boy about her age approaching them. She recognised him immediately as the one that had always been with Nanoha. She had first seen him as a ferret, but this was his true form. Fate recalled his name was…
“Yuuno!” Arf said first, going over to the boy and severely ruffling his hair. “It’s been a while! Didn’t you stay back on Earth? What are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too, Arf.” Yuuno chuckled softly, putting his hair back in order. “You as well, Fate.”
“Uh, you too.” Fate said dumbly. She had never talked with him before, so she had no idea what approach she should take in dealing with him. Most of their encounters had been as enemies on the battlefield, but if he was a friend of Nanoha’s, then he couldn’t be a bad person.
“To answer your question…” Yuuno turned back to Arf. “Chrono called me back so I could be on hand for whenever they need me to speak at the trial.”
At the mention of the trial, Fate cast her gaze downwards enough for Yuuno to notice it.
“Ah, it’ll be in your defence, of course!” He quickly said. “All I have to do is tell the truth and you’ll be just fine, I’m sure!”
“Well, thank you…” Fate said. The three of them stood in silence a moment, none of them sure where to go from there.
“Um… Have you two had lunch yet?” Yuuno finally asked and the females shook their heads in response. They were quite hungry after their workout. “Then let’s all go eat together!”
“Are you sure that’s ok?” Fate asked. “Don’t you have lots of work to do as well?”
“Me? Oh, no!” Yuuno waved his hands in front of him. “I really don’t have anything to do aside from testifying, so I was thinking I could hang out with you two… if that’s ok…”
“Of course it’s ok!” Arf cheered, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “The more the merrier, right Fate?”
“Uh, yeah.” Fate smiled softly. “That would be great.”
“Ok then.” Yuuno smiled back. “Then once we’re done eating, we can watch this.” He pulled out a DVD from his pocket and offered it to Fate. “Nanoha told me to deliver this to you.”
Fate’s heart fluttered as she took the disk, grateful it meant she would still be receiving them. “Thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome.”
X-X-X
After having their meal in the Athra’s cafeteria, the three made their way to Fate’s room. While by every right she should have been thrown in the brig, Fate was glad she got to sleep in a bed. She popped the disk into the player and Nanoha’s face appeared in the air.
“Heya, Fate-chan!” She said cheerfully. “I’m sure this letter finds you well! I know the big day of your trial is come up soon, and I hope you’re not too nervous! Both Chrono-kun and Lindy-san have assured me that everything will go well, so have faith! And now that Yuuno-kun is there will you, I’m extra sure that it will be just fine! He’s a really nice and capable person, so you can be sure to depend on him! I know you two will get along great!”
Fate cast a glance at the boy, who blushed and scratched his cheek at the praise.
“I can’t wait until I get to see you all again! I’m getting along just fine on my end. Just the other day Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan…”
X-X-X
After viewing the rest of the video and sending out the reply, once again the trio found themselves wondering what to do next.
“Did you two have anything planned?” Yuuno asked.
“We were probably just going to train some more,” Arf said. “But I think Fate’s too tired…”
“I’m fine now after taking a break,” Fate said with a slight smile. “So I could go for more training. It’s not like there’s much else to do…”
“I guess that’s true,” Arf said. “But…”
“Well then, if you’ll excuse us…” Fate said with a small bow to Yuuno.
“Ah, if it’s okay, could I join you?” He asked.
“Huh?” Fate blinked. From what she knew the boy wasn’t particularly combat orientated.
“I could use the work out and I was just thinking maybe it would be good to practise with some one new,” he said. “I’m definitely not as capable as you are, but I might be able to help you out some. That is, if you don’t mind of course…”
“I… I guess I’m okay with it,” Fate said. “But I’m sure there are other things you’d rather do, so…”
“Not really,” Yuuno said with a smile. “I want to spend more time with the two of you.”
“Are you sure…?”
“Er, well, if you don’t want to…”
“That’s not it…”
“Okay, that’s enough of that!” Arf threw her arms over the shoulders of the two smaller ones. “It would be great if you joined us, Yuuno. Let’s all three of us work hard together, okay?”
“O-Okay,” the other two said.
They all filed into the ship’s practise area and set up their barrier jackets.
“Since I’ve gone up against Yuuno before,” Arf said. “Fate, I think you should have a one on one with him.”
“Fine with me,” Yuuno said. “I’ll be in your care, Fate.”
“Likewise…” If Fate recalled, his expertise was bind and barrier magic but she didn’t think she’d have problems breaking those. Since he had no offensive spells she wondered how it would be much of a match…
“All righty then!” Arf moved to the side lines and pumped a fist into the air. “If you’re both ready… GO!”
Fate started things off by expanding the distance with a jump and quickly fired her Photon Lancers at Yuuno. Yuuno’s hand quickly formed some hand seals and the lancers bounced harmlessly off his barrier.
‘His casting speed is incredible… and he doesn’t even have a device!’ Fate’s surprised blinded her to the glowing chain that appeared to her left. She noticed in time to avoid most of the snare, but it wrapped around her wrist.
Bardiche snapped into scythe mode and she slashed through the chains, enabling her to fly up and avoid the other binds that shot out at her.
“I thought this while watching your fights with Nanoha, but you really are super fast, aren’t you Fate?” Yuuno said with a note of admiration. “Then there’s your lighting affinity too… You’re amazing.”
“T-Thank you,” she said. “I am also impressed with how you can cast spells so quickly without the aid of a device.”
“Come on you two, you’re supposed to be practising!” Arf said.
“Right, let’s resume.” Fate considered her opponent and what her next move should be. If she had any hope to getting through that barrier, she’d need to hit it with the strongest attack at her disposal.
She nimbly avoided some more bind attempts and positioned herself high in the air. She raised Bardiche and many yellow orbs appeared around her.
“Wah, Fate, you’re really going to use that already?” Arf said with a gasp.
“Photon Lancer,” Fate said. “Phalanx Shift!”
“Oh boy…” Yuuno put out his arms and raised his defences. The hail of lighting descended upon him and hid him in a large blast cloud. The pelting stopped and Fate raised her hand to gather energy into a long spear.
“Spark…” Fate hurled the spear into the middle of the cloud, making a huge explosion that would have rocked the ship had it not been for the room’s safety features. “End.”
“I hope Yuuno survived that…” Arf gulped as she scanned the field.
“That should have been enough to break his shield and take him out of the battle…” Fate said as she took some heavy breaths. Her eyes widened when she saw Yuuno stumbled out of the dust, coughing repeatedly.
“That was some attack,” He said. “I barely blocked it all.”
“H-How did that not work?” Fate asked dumbly. Not even Nanoha just shrugged it off like that. With Chrono he usually defeated her before she could pull out more powerful spells and as frustrating as that was, it felt worse having all her power rendered ineffective like that.
Rather than float there gawking, Fate decided to resume her offensive straight away. If power didn’t work she’d rely on her speed.
“Thunder Smasher!” Fate shot out a blast and, as expected, Yuuno put up a shield to block it. Before the attack dissipated Fate was already on the move, flying around the boy to his unprotected side. Yuuno barely had time to shift his body before Bardiche was swung. “Scythe Slash!”
The blow connected and Yuuno was sent flying across the room with a scream before crashing into the artificial terrain. Fate felt glad about her victory until a few moments passed where Yuuno did not get up.
‘Oh no!’ She thought as she ran to him. ‘His barriers might be tough but he isn’t! Stupid! Stupid! He’s not like Chrono! I shouldn’t have been so focused on winning and held back… I messed up! He’s going to be mad at me, isn’t he? He’ll start hating me and go away and maybe the others will go with him and…”
“Owie…” Yuuno finally sat up with a groan. “That was really something…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Fate kneeled down next to him and closed her eyes to brace herself for the punishment that was coming. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Fate.” Yuuno held out his hands and patted the air in front of him. “I’m fine, no harm done. There’s no reason to cry.”
Fate wiped at the eyes she didn’t realise had been watery.
“You’re… You’re not mad?”
“Of course not.” He smiled. “Rather than scold you I want to praise you for an excellent manoeuvre. It was my fault for not being skilled enough to react quicker.”
“But…”
“Wow Yuuno, you’re made of sterner stuff than I thought,” Arf said with a wry smile. “But maybe we should take you to the infirmary and get you checked out just in case?”
“No, I’m fine, really.” Though he said that, Yuuno’s smile was clearly pained. “It’s something I can just walk off.”
Arf wondered if she should press the issue or not. On the one hand he was obviously injured, but on the other hand it was clear he was trying to act like it was nothing to spare Fate’s feelings.
“Please don’t push yourself…” Fate dispelled her barrier jacket and slung one of Yuuno’s arms over her shoulders to support him. “You should let them have a look at you…”
“Well… Okay…” Yuuno sighed as they slowly walked out of the room.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Fate kept muttering that under her breath. ‘He might be acting like this but he’ll probably never want to spend time with me again…’
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be better in no time, so let’s train together again tomorrow!”
“Eh?” Fate stared dumbly at him. “But I…”
“It’s not your fault, Fate,” he said. “Stuff like this happens in training all the time. We just have to be more careful next time, okay?”
“O-Okay…” For some reason Fate felt incredibly relieved to hear him say that.
X-X-X
By the next day Yuuno had recovered and did indeed join the girls for another round of training. However instead of taking part in more mock battles he opted to stand back and help the other two refine their skills.
Several days of this passed but while Fate enjoyed the additional company she still kept her distance. Part of her said that those around her could disappear or turn on her at any moment and that it would only hurt more if she opened up to them.
“Okay, I’m sure you already know this,” Yuuno said as Arf and Fate squared off. “But barriers spread magic omnidirectionally and protect you from all angles. The trade off is that since the magic is spread out it’s not as strong. Shields, on the other hand, only protect you from one direction but are stronger because the magic is more concentrated. It’s important to pick the best defence for different kinds of attacks. There’s a trick I learned to help make defence spells even stronger. It requires some luck but I bet experienced fighters like you two can master it in no time.”
“What is it?” Arf asked.
“Predict where your opponent will strike and focus your magic on that point,” he said. “Give it a try, Fate.”
Fate nodded and put up a shield. She nodded again to Arf who dashed forward and threw a punch. Fate watched the fist carefully and calculated its likely trajectory before pumping more magic into that spot. Arf’s punch connected right on target and after a moment of struggle Arf was repelled back.
“That was perfect!” Yuuno said. “Great job, Fate.”
“T-Thank you.”
Yuuno turned to Arf and something seemed to pass between them.
“Okay, let’s do it one more time,” he said.
They repeated the process however this time before it connected Arf pulled her fist back and shot out with the other one, catching the edge of the shield. To Fate’s surprise that part of the shield shattered, but Arf didn’t follow through on it.
“Just keep in mind that if you guess wrong, you could be in big trouble,” Yuuno said.
“I understand,” Fate said. “Thank you for the lesson. I can see how Nanoha became so good with a teacher like you.”
“Ah, well…” Yuuno flushed. “I only showed her the basics so I can’t really take credit… Her skill comes from her natural talent and her hard work. I had little to do with it.”
“Basics are important,” Fate said with a shake of her head. “That’s what my teacher taught me…”
“Who was your teacher?” Yuuno asked.
Fate said nothing.
“Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…” Yuuno lowered his head.
Silence permeated until a low grumble slice through.
“Ahaha, sorry, that was my stomach!” Arf said with a big grin. “Why don’t we take a break?”
“Sure, let’s do that,” Yuuno said. “You coming, Fate?”
“Ah, yeah, you two go ahead,” she said. “I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
“Okay, if you say so…”
X-X-X
“Ah, Admiral Lindy! Chrono!” Fate ran up to the mother-son pair. “It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”
“Huh?” Chrono said as he turned around. “Oh, it’s you. You’re still around?”
“…Eh?” Fate took a step back.
“I thought we ditched her already…” Lindy frowned. “Listen, brat, you’re too much of a hassle to bother with. I don’t know why we tried in the first place.”
“B-But…” Fate’s eyes became moist.
“Can’t you take a hint?” Chrono shoved her back and she fell on her rear. “No one wants you.” The two turned away and disappeared into the darkness.
“Wait! Come back!”
“Fate-chan!” Nanoha’s face popped up on a screen out of nowhere.
“Nanoha! It’s awful, something…”
“I just wanted to tell you that this is my last message to you. I realised I don’t want to be friends with you anymore so this is goodbye. I’d wish you luck but frankly I don’t care what happens to you.”
“Nan… oha…” Tears streamed down Fate’s face now as the other girl’s image disappeared.
“Don’t worry Fate!” Arf appeared beside her. “We’ll be with you!”
“That’s right, Fate. Please don’t cry.” Linith kneeled down and wiped away a tear. “Everything will be fine.”
“Arf… Linith… Thank…”
“Oops, time’s up.” Linith snapped upright and looked at her watch. “That’s all you get from us. Well, goodbye.”
“Stop!” Fate reached out to the dissipating familiars. “Please don’t go!”
Soon they were gone and Fate was left crying in utter darkness.
“What a foolish girl.”
Fate’s head snapped up and she looked into the cold, condescending eyes of her mother.
“Did you really think you’d be allowed to be happy?” Precia sneered. “Your own mother didn’t love you, so how can you expect anyone else to? You’re only damaged goods, remember that!”
“No… That can’t be… I…”
“Everyone will turn on you! Everyone will leave you! Any happiness you obtain will be stripped away!”
“… Why?” Fate sobbed. “Why does it have to be this way?”
As she felt like she was being swallowed by the shadows a sudden warmth enveloped her. It was a familiar sensation for her. It wasn’t Nanoha, but she remembered feeling it during the darkest moment of her life. That second person that was by her side, supporting her…
Light flooded into her world as her eyes fluttered open. She realised she was on a bench in the Athra where she had sat to rest a moment and apparently had fallen asleep.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Fate turned to the voice and her face almost bumped into his. She realised it was Yuuno and he had his arms lightly around her. She just stared at them dumbly.
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Yuuno quickly let go and scooted away. “You were taking too long so I came to find you. It looked like you were having a nightmare, so…”
“… You don’t have to bother with me…” Fate said under her breath. “I’m not worth it…”
“What are you saying, Fate? Of course you are!”
“… You might say that now, but eventually you’ll get sick of me and leave me… Just like mother and Linith…”
“That’s not true!” Yuuno put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.
“It already happened to Admiral Lindy and Chrono…”
“What?”
“I haven’t seen either of them in days and whenever I ask them to do something with me they say no… I was foolish to think they cared about me…”
“You’re wrong, Fate,” Yuuno said firmly. “They have been really busy lately but that’s exactly because they care about you!”
“… What do you mean?”
“Right now they’re busy getting ready for your trial. They’re putting their all into it so you won’t be harshly punished. I assure you they can’t wait for the trial to be over so they can be with you again.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Yuuno nodded. “Though Chrono would never say it outright that he misses you.”
“I… I don’t understand why they’re doing this for me…”
“Because they care about you. That’s all the reason they need.”
“And Nanoha? Won’t she get tired of sending me messages? I don’t want her to stop…”
“That definitely won’t happen,” Yuuno said with a smile. “She’s constantly thinking about you and is really looking forward to hearing from you again.”
“… What about you? I’m sure you’d rather be with Nanoha and yet… You should go back to her.”
“No,” Yuuno said resolutely. “I’m not going back without you. When I see Nanoha again you’ll be there too.”
“…Why do you bother with me?”
“That’s an easy one.” Yuuno’s smile grew. “Because we’re friends.”
“… We are?” Fate blinked.
“O-Oh, am I being too presumptuous?” Yuuno’s face fell. “If you don’t want to be friends, then…”
“No, that’s not it,” Fate said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m still not used to this making friends thing…” The words of her first friend replayed themselves in her mind. In order to be friends with some one…
“That’s okay, just take things slowly.” Yuuno smiled again. “We have plenty of time. I just want you to know that Nanoha, myself, and all the others won’t ever hate you, and we won’t disappear on you either. I promise.”
Fate felt her eyes tearing up again, but realised they were tears of sadness. She let them fall and managed a big smile.
“Thank you, Yuuno.”
So then, Yasanagi, you get to pick what I do for next week. You can request a new fic if you'd like, or I could tell you some of the plot bunnies I have. MnJ and RotDK aren't eligable since I updated them recently.
By the time they are in StrikerS, they'll be a good husband and wife.
Yuuno: Hey, I think Vivio has your eyes
Fate: Really? I thought she has yours'
Both: She even has our blonde hair....
(seconds past)
Hmm, I guess I'll vote for Three's Company.
Oh, one more thing, please finish the good ending for "Steps", because it's just too tragic at just providing a bad end without a good end (and somehow it feels a bit incomplete without it). xD
Damn, I totally forgot about that Vivio/Yuuno series! Can I switch my vote? It doesn't matter to me either way but I'm interested in seeing some sort of positive closure for that fic since it feels closer to completion than Three's Company.
__________________
Thanks to 00-Raiser for hooking me up with the sig!
The control room shook lightly from the shockwave that resulted from the impact of the last spell used by the Kaiser hitting against Nanoha’s shields.
“Mr. Scrya, are you alright?” asked Carim. Considering that they indeed felt a little something thanks to the fight in the simulator, it meant that his barriers had weakened a bit. Then again, he had been maintaining them for two straight brawls between powered mages.
“Y-yeah… just gotta maintain my concentration,” muttered the Librarian. He had hoped that none of his barriers were compromised during the last exchange of blows although he wasn’t totally sure since his mind had been rather drained running the numbers to keep the barriers up and running.
“Wait… where did Mom Junior go?”
“Mom Junior?” Subaru thought about that for a moment before she figured out what he meant. ‘Ah, Touma meant Vivio… wait a minute!’
A quick scan of the room did indeed prove that the girl was no longer among them which got Hayate sweating. “Vivio?! Where did you go?!”
“I believe Her Majesty went into the battlefield. As you can see, the chamber door seal had been damaged, most likely as a result from Mr. Scrya’s inability to maintain the barrier during the last clash,” noted Otto. “It’s likely that she slipped through to reach her mother.”
“Let’s just go get her back before she gets hurt in the crossfire! Get in touch with the combatants and get them to pause their match!”
**********
‘I’m… still conscious?’ Nanoha had been expecting that last attack from the Kaiser to knock her out since it didn’t have any problem smashing through the Multiple Defenser but perhaps her opponent pulled her blow at the last moment. For what reason, she couldn’t tell but since she had a chance now, she might as well do a quick situation assessment.
Low on magical energy? Check.
Bind spell still in effect? Nope. At least she could fly again but with the above fact in place, that could be an issue.
Barrier jacket damage? Fairly extensive with her eyes spotting several rips and tears on the magical cloth.
“Raising… Heart?”
“I can still fight, my Master.”
That’s good. The question was whether her body would be prepared to head back into battle. Although she had come a long way in her recovery from the JS Incident, she wasn’t able to go at maximum power as frequently as she used to. Perhaps she should take some time off to rest her wings but that will have to wait. The more immediate concern was the approaching Olivie who took her time while walking towards her.
“Nanoha, can you hear me?! Nanoha!” She could hear Hayate’s voice in her mind and she sounded really panicked.
“What is it?”
“You have to stop your match right now! Vivio’s gotten into the combat simulator!”
Hayate’s warning came a little bit late as Nanoha’s ears picked up the sound of tiny footsteps approaching rapidly. “DON’T BULLY MY MAMA!!!”
“Vivio?!” Nanoha realized with horror that her child had somehow gotten into the arena and placed herself in danger. “No, get out of here!”
But the little girl didn’t listen. As soon as she reached the red clad armoured woman, she started kicking at the legs since that was as high as she could reach with her own. “Take this! And this!”
For a few moments, the only sound that was in the arena came from a foot making contact with magical armour repeatedly. Olivie’s expression remained unchanged so that meant nobody could tell what she was thinking. Not Carim… not Hayate… not even her son.
Finally, after a few seconds of staring at the little girl kick her, Olivie finally spoke. “You’re doing it wrong.”
That caused Vivio to stop. “… … eh?”
“Get into your stance and have your dominant leg behind your other leg.” Olivie moved so that she would be able to help Vivio fix her stance. “The dominant leg's toe should be pointed to its side while your secondary leg is in front, its toe pointed straight forward. You want your torso to generally face the direction of your dominant leg. Your hands can be in a guard position or relaxed.”
“… …” Who is this lady… and why did she look so much like…?
“Are you listening, young lady?”
“Uh, yes!” The smaller girl snapped to attention and moved her right leg back as instructed.
“If you want to go for speed, you will use your front foot. If you want a more powerful kick, use your back leg.” After letting this fact settle in with the child, Olivie continued. “Raise your kicking-leg's knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground, about hip to waist level. This is called chambering. Breathe in as you do this.”
‘So I want to raise… which leg?’ She was trying to remember what that lady was saying but she was going so fast.
“Kick your leg, snapping it forward quickly. With a front kick you can use the ball of your foot or your instep as a striking surface. As you kick, rapidly release the air in your lungs. Remember, breath in when you contract, breath out when you expand. This also will relax your body, allowing for proper technique, because holding air in means your muscles are too tense, and you are trying to control your kick too much, which weakens the kick, slows it down and tires you out faster.”
‘So much to remember…!’ This was making her head spin.
“Now give it a shot,” instructed the older woman while bending down to closely observe the younger girl’s progress.
Vivio complied, using her back leg as the kicking leg. It shot forward, grazing the older woman in the face.
“ARAA…!” And there goes Olivie, fainting backwards dramatically while her armour and gauntlets vanished, leaving her in that fancy dress again while everyone stared, rather stunned at how all this turned out.
“Mom, what just happened?!”
She looked up and smiled at Touma. “Well, my son… I do believe that I was just defeated by a seven year old.”
“I’m eight!” protested Vivio.
“I stand corrected.” Olivie’s playfulness dimmed down a bit as she carefully looked at the child. “So… you must be Vivio? Wow… I never knew I looked so adorable when I was a child.”
It slowly came to the smaller girl. This was the person from the distant past. The person she had been copied from. “You’re…?”
“Olivie Segbrecht. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I guess since we share the same blood that would make us…” She paused for a moment. “… sisters? Or biological mother and daughter? Oh, I don’t know!”
That was the last thing on Vivio’s mind at the moment. “My wish… it came true!” She quickly closed her eyes and clapped her hands loudly. “I wish I had a big large bag of never ending candy that only I can see so that Nanoha-mama won’t take it away from me!”
“Um, Vivio… I’m right here,” said Nanoha in a flat tone.
“Geh…!” That response proved beyond a doubt that she really was her adopted mother’s daughter.
__________________
Thanks to 00-Raiser for hooking me up with the sig!
Damn, I totally forgot about that Vivio/Yuuno series! Can I switch my vote? It doesn't matter to me either way but I'm interested in seeing some sort of positive closure for that fic since it feels closer to completion than Three's Company.
Sure, you can switch it. And yeah, there would only be 1 more chapter in that and it's done (I put it behind door #4). Even if the series is a flop I always intended on finishing it.
To be honest part of the reason I left it up to you this time was because you were the most likely to ask for it
I see that once again my post goes unacknowledged.
So it's time to open the doors:
Door #3 got the most so that's what I did.
This fic takes place between season 1 and A's, and focuses on Fate adjusting to, and her doubts about, her new situation. It's also about how her and Yuuno became friends. I had actually posted the first bit of it ages ago but no one read it then.
Was gonna go into Fate's trial but it ended up being longer than expected and I didn't start that part before the week started. I'll just do it as a chapter 2.
Spoiler for My Second Friend:
“Ah, that was a great workout!” Arf said before taking a content swig of her soda. “Nothing like spending the day working up a sweat, eh Fate?”
“Yeah.” Fate nodded, letting her own cold beverage flow down her throat. The morning training session with Arf had worked up quite the thirst which she was currently quenching. Other than train, Fate didn’t exactly have much else to do on the Athra besides sitting around, awaiting the trail that would determine her future.
She had been told things would work out just fine, but she wasn’t so sure about that. She had willingly followed her mother as the woman did unspeakable things, and would probably still be doing similar things if her mother had accepted her. Would the jury really take sympathy on such a person?
Perhaps the biggest worry on her mind was if things would be different from before. By all rights they should be, seeing as how Fate was now surrounded by people who expressed care for her well being and didn’t brandish a whip whenever she did something wrong.
But would it really last? Fate recalled a similar period in her life where she had some one to care for her. Linith had always been kind to her, teaching her gently and reassuring her that she was loved, but that time had been fleeting. Linith eventually vanished and Fate was left at the mercy of her deranged mother. Would history repeat itself?
The present situation had Fate thinking it already had. Arf was the only one by her side, but the loyal familiar was always there. It was the others that had been scarce lately.
At first Chrono used to train with her all the time. She was never a match from him, and he’d defeat her soundly, rubbing salt on her with a cool quip he had prepared. The boy always seemed to keep his distance from her, though. He was rather blunt and, frankly, very cold. While he wasn’t as cold as Precia had been, it still had Fate thinking that perhaps he didn’t like her very much. This was only reinforced by the fact she hadn’t seen him lately. Was he just avoiding her or was his work keeping him too busy?
Fate hadn’t been in contact with Lindy much either. The older woman had expressed kindness before, but every time Fate would called her, asking if perhaps they could eat together, the captain would smile apologetically and say she had far too much work piled up on her desk to make time. Eventually Fate stopped asking, not wanting to bother Lindy if she was truly that busy.
It really did feel like they were going disappear from her life like Linith had. But while Linith disappeared because her time was up, what if the Harlaowns were going because they didn’t want to be around her anymore? What if they had simply pitied her at first, but quickly got sick of her? If that were true, it would only be her and Arf again, but even then if the trial didn’t go well, Fate could be separated from the familiar as well.
But there was still Nanoha, the Earth girl who had saved her and called her ‘friend.’ Fate always had the video mails the other girl would send her, and they never failed to make her happy. However, there was still that doubt that gnawed at her. What if Nanoha got sick of her as well? It was usually several weeks between letters, and during that time Fate would always dread that another letter would never come.
“Fate, what’s the matter?” Arf prodded worriedly, noticing her master’s eyes watering.
“Uh? Oh.” Fate rubbed her eyes, having not realized that she was on the verge of crying. “It’s nothing; I guess I’m just a little more tired than I thought.”
“Are you sure that’s all?” Arf asked sceptically. She could tell her creator was dealing with some painful emotions, but the humanoid canine was unable to do anything unless the girl was willing to talk about it.
“Yes Arf, I’m sure.” She gave a soft smile and patted the familiar’s hair, but Arf wasn’t convinced. Fate squirmed a bit under her inquisitive gaze and she tried to think of a way to alleviate her companion’s suspicions.
“There you are!” A new voice called and Fate turned to see a blond haired, green eyed boy about her age approaching them. She recognised him immediately as the one that had always been with Nanoha. She had first seen him as a ferret, but this was his true form. Fate recalled his name was…
“Yuuno!” Arf said first, going over to the boy and severely ruffling his hair. “It’s been a while! Didn’t you stay back on Earth? What are you doing here?”
“It’s good to see you too, Arf.” Yuuno chuckled softly, putting his hair back in order. “You as well, Fate.”
“Uh, you too.” Fate said dumbly. She had never talked with him before, so she had no idea what approach she should take in dealing with him. Most of their encounters had been as enemies on the battlefield, but if he was a friend of Nanoha’s, then he couldn’t be a bad person.
“To answer your question…” Yuuno turned back to Arf. “Chrono called me back so I could be on hand for whenever they need me to speak at the trial.”
At the mention of the trial, Fate cast her gaze downwards enough for Yuuno to notice it.
“Ah, it’ll be in your defence, of course!” He quickly said. “All I have to do is tell the truth and you’ll be just fine, I’m sure!”
“Well, thank you…” Fate said. The three of them stood in silence a moment, none of them sure where to go from there.
“Um… Have you two had lunch yet?” Yuuno finally asked and the females shook their heads in response. They were quite hungry after their workout. “Then let’s all go eat together!”
“Are you sure that’s ok?” Fate asked. “Don’t you have lots of work to do as well?”
“Me? Oh, no!” Yuuno waved his hands in front of him. “I really don’t have anything to do aside from testifying, so I was thinking I could hang out with you two… if that’s ok…”
“Of course it’s ok!” Arf cheered, throwing an arm around his shoulders. “The more the merrier, right Fate?”
“Uh, yeah.” Fate smiled softly. “That would be great.”
“Ok then.” Yuuno smiled back. “Then once we’re done eating, we can watch this.” He pulled out a DVD from his pocket and offered it to Fate. “Nanoha told me to deliver this to you.”
Fate’s heart fluttered as she took the disk, grateful it meant she would still be receiving them. “Thank you very much!”
“You’re welcome.”
X-X-X
After having their meal in the Athra’s cafeteria, the three made their way to Fate’s room. While by every right she should have been thrown in the brig, Fate was glad she got to sleep in a bed. She popped the disk into the player and Nanoha’s face appeared in the air.
“Heya, Fate-chan!” She said cheerfully. “I’m sure this letter finds you well! I know the big day of your trial is come up soon, and I hope you’re not too nervous! Both Chrono-kun and Lindy-san have assured me that everything will go well, so have faith! And now that Yuuno-kun is there will you, I’m extra sure that it will be just fine! He’s a really nice and capable person, so you can be sure to depend on him! I know you two will get along great!”
Fate cast a glance at the boy, who blushed and scratched his cheek at the praise.
“I can’t wait until I get to see you all again! I’m getting along just fine on my end. Just the other day Alisa-chan and Suzuka-chan…”
X-X-X
After viewing the rest of the video and sending out the reply, once again the trio found themselves wondering what to do next.
“Did you two have anything planned?” Yuuno asked.
“We were probably just going to train some more,” Arf said. “But I think Fate’s too tired…”
“I’m fine now after taking a break,” Fate said with a slight smile. “So I could go for more training. It’s not like there’s much else to do…”
“I guess that’s true,” Arf said. “But…”
“Well then, if you’ll excuse us…” Fate said with a small bow to Yuuno.
“Ah, if it’s okay, could I join you?” He asked.
“Huh?” Fate blinked. From what she knew the boy wasn’t particularly combat orientated.
“I could use the work out and I was just thinking maybe it would be good to practise with some one new,” he said. “I’m definitely not as capable as you are, but I might be able to help you out some. That is, if you don’t mind of course…”
“I… I guess I’m okay with it,” Fate said. “But I’m sure there are other things you’d rather do, so…”
“Not really,” Yuuno said with a smile. “I want to spend more time with the two of you.”
“Are you sure…?”
“Er, well, if you don’t want to…”
“That’s not it…”
“Okay, that’s enough of that!” Arf threw her arms over the shoulders of the two smaller ones. “It would be great if you joined us, Yuuno. Let’s all three of us work hard together, okay?”
“O-Okay,” the other two said.
They all filed into the ship’s practise area and set up their barrier jackets.
“Since I’ve gone up against Yuuno before,” Arf said. “Fate, I think you should have a one on one with him.”
“Fine with me,” Yuuno said. “I’ll be in your care, Fate.”
“Likewise…” If Fate recalled, his expertise was bind and barrier magic but she didn’t think she’d have problems breaking those. Since he had no offensive spells she wondered how it would be much of a match…
“All righty then!” Arf moved to the side lines and pumped a fist into the air. “If you’re both ready… GO!”
Fate started things off by expanding the distance with a jump and quickly fired her Photon Lancers at Yuuno. Yuuno’s hand quickly formed some hand seals and the lancers bounced harmlessly off his barrier.
‘His casting speed is incredible… and he doesn’t even have a device!’ Fate’s surprised blinded her to the glowing chain that appeared to her left. She noticed in time to avoid most of the snare, but it wrapped around her wrist.
Bardiche snapped into scythe mode and she slashed through the chains, enabling her to fly up and avoid the other binds that shot out at her.
“I thought this while watching your fights with Nanoha, but you really are super fast, aren’t you Fate?” Yuuno said with a note of admiration. “Then there’s your lighting affinity too… You’re amazing.”
“T-Thank you,” she said. “I am also impressed with how you can cast spells so quickly without the aid of a device.”
“Come on you two, you’re supposed to be practising!” Arf said.
“Right, let’s resume.” Fate considered her opponent and what her next move should be. If she had any hope to getting through that barrier, she’d need to hit it with the strongest attack at her disposal.
She nimbly avoided some more bind attempts and positioned herself high in the air. She raised Bardiche and many yellow orbs appeared around her.
“Wah, Fate, you’re really going to use that already?” Arf said with a gasp.
“Photon Lancer,” Fate said. “Phalanx Shift!”
“Oh boy…” Yuuno put out his arms and raised his defences. The hail of lighting descended upon him and hid him in a large blast cloud. The pelting stopped and Fate raised her hand to gather energy into a long spear.
“Spark…” Fate hurled the spear into the middle of the cloud, making a huge explosion that would have rocked the ship had it not been for the room’s safety features. “End.”
“I hope Yuuno survived that…” Arf gulped as she scanned the field.
“That should have been enough to break his shield and take him out of the battle…” Fate said as she took some heavy breaths. Her eyes widened when she saw Yuuno stumbled out of the dust, coughing repeatedly.
“That was some attack,” He said. “I barely blocked it all.”
“H-How did that not work?” Fate asked dumbly. Not even Nanoha just shrugged it off like that. With Chrono he usually defeated her before she could pull out more powerful spells and as frustrating as that was, it felt worse having all her power rendered ineffective like that.
Rather than float there gawking, Fate decided to resume her offensive straight away. If power didn’t work she’d rely on her speed.
“Thunder Smasher!” Fate shot out a blast and, as expected, Yuuno put up a shield to block it. Before the attack dissipated Fate was already on the move, flying around the boy to his unprotected side. Yuuno barely had time to shift his body before Bardiche was swung. “Scythe Slash!”
The blow connected and Yuuno was sent flying across the room with a scream before crashing into the artificial terrain. Fate felt glad about her victory until a few moments passed where Yuuno did not get up.
‘Oh no!’ She thought as she ran to him. ‘His barriers might be tough but he isn’t! Stupid! Stupid! He’s not like Chrono! I shouldn’t have been so focused on winning and held back… I messed up! He’s going to be mad at me, isn’t he? He’ll start hating me and go away and maybe the others will go with him and…”
“Owie…” Yuuno finally sat up with a groan. “That was really something…”
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry!” Fate kneeled down next to him and closed her eyes to brace herself for the punishment that was coming. “I didn’t mean to…”
“Ah, don’t worry about it, Fate.” Yuuno held out his hands and patted the air in front of him. “I’m fine, no harm done. There’s no reason to cry.”
Fate wiped at the eyes she didn’t realise had been watery.
“You’re… You’re not mad?”
“Of course not.” He smiled. “Rather than scold you I want to praise you for an excellent manoeuvre. It was my fault for not being skilled enough to react quicker.”
“But…”
“Wow Yuuno, you’re made of sterner stuff than I thought,” Arf said with a wry smile. “But maybe we should take you to the infirmary and get you checked out just in case?”
“No, I’m fine, really.” Though he said that, Yuuno’s smile was clearly pained. “It’s something I can just walk off.”
Arf wondered if she should press the issue or not. On the one hand he was obviously injured, but on the other hand it was clear he was trying to act like it was nothing to spare Fate’s feelings.
“Please don’t push yourself…” Fate dispelled her barrier jacket and slung one of Yuuno’s arms over her shoulders to support him. “You should let them have a look at you…”
“Well… Okay…” Yuuno sighed as they slowly walked out of the room.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry…” Fate kept muttering that under her breath. ‘He might be acting like this but he’ll probably never want to spend time with me again…’
“You don’t have to be sorry,” he said. “I’m sure I’ll be better in no time, so let’s train together again tomorrow!”
“Eh?” Fate stared dumbly at him. “But I…”
“It’s not your fault, Fate,” he said. “Stuff like this happens in training all the time. We just have to be more careful next time, okay?”
“O-Okay…” For some reason Fate felt incredibly relieved to hear him say that.
X-X-X
By the next day Yuuno had recovered and did indeed join the girls for another round of training. However instead of taking part in more mock battles he opted to stand back and help the other two refine their skills.
Several days of this passed but while Fate enjoyed the additional company she still kept her distance. Part of her said that those around her could disappear or turn on her at any moment and that it would only hurt more if she opened up to them.
“Okay, I’m sure you already know this,” Yuuno said as Arf and Fate squared off. “But barriers spread magic omnidirectionally and protect you from all angles. The trade off is that since the magic is spread out it’s not as strong. Shields, on the other hand, only protect you from one direction but are stronger because the magic is more concentrated. It’s important to pick the best defence for different kinds of attacks. There’s a trick I learned to help make defence spells even stronger. It requires some luck but I bet experienced fighters like you two can master it in no time.”
“What is it?” Arf asked.
“Predict where your opponent will strike and focus your magic on that point,” he said. “Give it a try, Fate.”
Fate nodded and put up a shield. She nodded again to Arf who dashed forward and threw a punch. Fate watched the fist carefully and calculated its likely trajectory before pumping more magic into that spot. Arf’s punch connected right on target and after a moment of struggle Arf was repelled back.
“That was perfect!” Yuuno said. “Great job, Fate.”
“T-Thank you.”
Yuuno turned to Arf and something seemed to pass between them.
“Okay, let’s do it one more time,” he said.
They repeated the process however this time before it connected Arf pulled her fist back and shot out with the other one, catching the edge of the shield. To Fate’s surprise that part of the shield shattered, but Arf didn’t follow through on it.
“Just keep in mind that if you guess wrong, you could be in big trouble,” Yuuno said.
“I understand,” Fate said. “Thank you for the lesson. I can see how Nanoha became so good with a teacher like you.”
“Ah, well…” Yuuno flushed. “I only showed her the basics so I can’t really take credit… Her skill comes from her natural talent and her hard work. I had little to do with it.”
“Basics are important,” Fate said with a shake of her head. “That’s what my teacher taught me…”
“Who was your teacher?” Yuuno asked.
Fate said nothing.
“Oh, sorry, I shouldn’t have asked…” Yuuno lowered his head.
Silence permeated until a low grumble slice through.
“Ahaha, sorry, that was my stomach!” Arf said with a big grin. “Why don’t we take a break?”
“Sure, let’s do that,” Yuuno said. “You coming, Fate?”
“Ah, yeah, you two go ahead,” she said. “I’ll catch up to you in a bit.”
“Okay, if you say so…”
X-X-X
“Ah, Admiral Lindy! Chrono!” Fate ran up to the mother-son pair. “It’s been awhile since I last saw you.”
“Huh?” Chrono said as he turned around. “Oh, it’s you. You’re still around?”
“…Eh?” Fate took a step back.
“I thought we ditched her already…” Lindy frowned. “Listen, brat, you’re too much of a hassle to bother with. I don’t know why we tried in the first place.”
“B-But…” Fate’s eyes became moist.
“Can’t you take a hint?” Chrono shoved her back and she fell on her rear. “No one wants you.” The two turned away and disappeared into the darkness.
“Wait! Come back!”
“Fate-chan!” Nanoha’s face popped up on a screen out of nowhere.
“Nanoha! It’s awful, something…”
“I just wanted to tell you that this is my last message to you. I realised I don’t want to be friends with you anymore so this is goodbye. I’d wish you luck but frankly I don’t care what happens to you.”
“Nan… oha…” Tears streamed down Fate’s face now as the other girl’s image disappeared.
“Don’t worry Fate!” Arf appeared beside her. “We’ll be with you!”
“That’s right, Fate. Please don’t cry.” Linith kneeled down and wiped away a tear. “Everything will be fine.”
“Arf… Linith… Thank…”
“Oops, time’s up.” Linith snapped upright and looked at her watch. “That’s all you get from us. Well, goodbye.”
“Stop!” Fate reached out to the dissipating familiars. “Please don’t go!”
Soon they were gone and Fate was left crying in utter darkness.
“What a foolish girl.”
Fate’s head snapped up and she looked into the cold, condescending eyes of her mother.
“Did you really think you’d be allowed to be happy?” Precia sneered. “Your own mother didn’t love you, so how can you expect anyone else to? You’re only damaged goods, remember that!”
“No… That can’t be… I…”
“Everyone will turn on you! Everyone will leave you! Any happiness you obtain will be stripped away!”
“… Why?” Fate sobbed. “Why does it have to be this way?”
As she felt like she was being swallowed by the shadows a sudden warmth enveloped her. It was a familiar sensation for her. It wasn’t Nanoha, but she remembered feeling it during the darkest moment of her life. That second person that was by her side, supporting her…
Light flooded into her world as her eyes fluttered open. She realised she was on a bench in the Athra where she had sat to rest a moment and apparently had fallen asleep.
“Oh good, you’re awake.”
Fate turned to the voice and her face almost bumped into his. She realised it was Yuuno and he had his arms lightly around her. She just stared at them dumbly.
“Ah, I’m sorry!” Yuuno quickly let go and scooted away. “You were taking too long so I came to find you. It looked like you were having a nightmare, so…”
“… You don’t have to bother with me…” Fate said under her breath. “I’m not worth it…”
“What are you saying, Fate? Of course you are!”
“… You might say that now, but eventually you’ll get sick of me and leave me… Just like mother and Linith…”
“That’s not true!” Yuuno put his hands on her shoulders and made her look at him.
“It already happened to Admiral Lindy and Chrono…”
“What?”
“I haven’t seen either of them in days and whenever I ask them to do something with me they say no… I was foolish to think they cared about me…”
“You’re wrong, Fate,” Yuuno said firmly. “They have been really busy lately but that’s exactly because they care about you!”
“… What do you mean?”
“Right now they’re busy getting ready for your trial. They’re putting their all into it so you won’t be harshly punished. I assure you they can’t wait for the trial to be over so they can be with you again.”
“Really?”
“Yes, really.” Yuuno nodded. “Though Chrono would never say it outright that he misses you.”
“I… I don’t understand why they’re doing this for me…”
“Because they care about you. That’s all the reason they need.”
“And Nanoha? Won’t she get tired of sending me messages? I don’t want her to stop…”
“That definitely won’t happen,” Yuuno said with a smile. “She’s constantly thinking about you and is really looking forward to hearing from you again.”
“… What about you? I’m sure you’d rather be with Nanoha and yet… You should go back to her.”
“No,” Yuuno said resolutely. “I’m not going back without you. When I see Nanoha again you’ll be there too.”
“…Why do you bother with me?”
“That’s an easy one.” Yuuno’s smile grew. “Because we’re friends.”
“… We are?” Fate blinked.
“O-Oh, am I being too presumptuous?” Yuuno’s face fell. “If you don’t want to be friends, then…”
“No, that’s not it,” Fate said quickly. “I’m sorry, I’m still not used to this making friends thing…” The words of her first friend replayed themselves in her mind. In order to be friends with some one…
“That’s okay, just take things slowly.” Yuuno smiled again. “We have plenty of time. I just want you to know that Nanoha, myself, and all the others won’t ever hate you, and we won’t disappear on you either. I promise.”
Fate felt her eyes tearing up again, but realised they were tears of sadness. She let them fall and managed a big smile.
“Thank you, Yuuno.”
So then, Yasanagi, you get to pick what I do for next week. You can request a new fic if you'd like, or I could tell you some of the plot bunnies I have. MnJ and RotDK aren't eligable since I updated them recently.
Probably could only say well written. Everything went according to script, nothing out of the ordinary.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yasanagi
Spoiler for Kaiser Mom Bonus Update:
The control room shook lightly from the shockwave that resulted from the impact of the last spell used by the Kaiser hitting against Nanoha’s shields.
“Mr. Scrya, are you alright?” asked Carim. Considering that they indeed felt a little something thanks to the fight in the simulator, it meant that his barriers had weakened a bit. Then again, he had been maintaining them for two straight brawls between powered mages.
“Y-yeah… just gotta maintain my concentration,” muttered the Librarian. He had hoped that none of his barriers were compromised during the last exchange of blows although he wasn’t totally sure since his mind had been rather drained running the numbers to keep the barriers up and running.
“Wait… where did Mom Junior go?”
“Mom Junior?” Subaru thought about that for a moment before she figured out what he meant. ‘Ah, Touma meant Vivio… wait a minute!’
A quick scan of the room did indeed prove that the girl was no longer among them which got Hayate sweating. “Vivio?! Where did you go?!”
“I believe Her Majesty went into the battlefield. As you can see, the chamber door seal had been damaged, most likely as a result from Mr. Scrya’s inability to maintain the barrier during the last clash,” noted Otto. “It’s likely that she slipped through to reach her mother.”
“Let’s just go get her back before she gets hurt in the crossfire! Get in touch with the combatants and get them to pause their match!”
**********
‘I’m… still conscious?’ Nanoha had been expecting that last attack from the Kaiser to knock her out since it didn’t have any problem smashing through the Multiple Defenser but perhaps her opponent pulled her blow at the last moment. For what reason, she couldn’t tell but since she had a chance now, she might as well do a quick situation assessment.
Low on magical energy? Check.
Bind spell still in effect? Nope. At least she could fly again but with the above fact in place, that could be an issue.
Barrier jacket damage? Fairly extensive with her eyes spotting several rips and tears on the magical cloth.
“Raising… Heart?”
“I can still fight, my Master.”
That’s good. The question was whether her body would be prepared to head back into battle. Although she had come a long way in her recovery from the JS Incident, she wasn’t able to go at maximum power as frequently as she used to. Perhaps she should take some time off to rest her wings but that will have to wait. The more immediate concern was the approaching Olivie who took her time while walking towards her.
“Nanoha, can you hear me?! Nanoha!” She could hear Hayate’s voice in her mind and she sounded really panicked.
“What is it?”
“You have to stop your match right now! Vivio’s gotten into the combat simulator!”
Hayate’s warning came a little bit late as Nanoha’s ears picked up the sound of tiny footsteps approaching rapidly. “DON’T BULLY MY MAMA!!!”
“Vivio?!” Nanoha realized with horror that her child had somehow gotten into the arena and placed herself in danger. “No, get out of here!”
But the little girl didn’t listen. As soon as she reached the red clad armoured woman, she started kicking at the legs since that was as high as she could reach with her own. “Take this! And this!”
For a few moments, the only sound that was in the arena came from a foot making contact with magical armour repeatedly. Olivie’s expression remained unchanged so that meant nobody could tell what she was thinking. Not Carim… not Hayate… not even her son.
Finally, after a few seconds of staring at the little girl kick her, Olivie finally spoke. “You’re doing it wrong.”
That caused Vivio to stop. “… … eh?”
“Get into your stance and have your dominant leg behind your other leg.” Olivie moved so that she would be able to help Vivio fix her stance. “The dominant leg's toe should be pointed to its side while your secondary leg is in front, its toe pointed straight forward. You want your torso to generally face the direction of your dominant leg. Your hands can be in a guard position or relaxed.”
“… …” Who is this lady… and why did she look so much like…?
“Are you listening, young lady?”
“Uh, yes!” The smaller girl snapped to attention and moved her right leg back as instructed.
“If you want to go for speed, you will use your front foot. If you want a more powerful kick, use your back leg.” After letting this fact settle in with the child, Olivie continued. “Raise your kicking-leg's knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground, about hip to waist level. This is called chambering. Breathe in as you do this.”
‘So I want to raise… which leg?’ She was trying to remember what that lady was saying but she was going so fast.
“Kick your leg, snapping it forward quickly. With a front kick you can use the ball of your foot or your instep as a striking surface. As you kick, rapidly release the air in your lungs. Remember, breath in when you contract, breath out when you expand. This also will relax your body, allowing for proper technique, because holding air in means your muscles are too tense, and you are trying to control your kick too much, which weakens the kick, slows it down and tires you out faster.”
‘So much to remember…!’ This was making her head spin.
“Now give it a shot,” instructed the older woman while bending down to closely observe the younger girl’s progress.
Vivio complied, using her back leg as the kicking leg. It shot forward, grazing the older woman in the face.
“ARAA…!” And there goes Olivie, fainting backwards dramatically while her armour and gauntlets vanished, leaving her in that fancy dress again while everyone stared, rather stunned at how all this turned out.
“Mom, what just happened?!”
She looked up and smiled at Touma. “Well, my son… I do believe that I was just defeated by a seven year old.”
“I’m eight!” protested Vivio.
“I stand corrected.” Olivie’s playfulness dimmed down a bit as she carefully looked at the child. “So… you must be Vivio? Wow… I never knew I looked so adorable when I was a child.”
It slowly came to the smaller girl. This was the person from the distant past. The person she had been copied from. “You’re…?”
“Olivie Segbrecht. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I guess since we share the same blood that would make us…” She paused for a moment. “… sisters? Or biological mother and daughter? Oh, I don’t know!”
That was the last thing on Vivio’s mind at the moment. “My wish… it came true!” She quickly closed her eyes and clapped her hands loudly. “I wish I had a big large bag of never ending candy that only I can see so that Nanoha-mama won’t take it away from me!”
“Um, Vivio… I’m right here,” said Nanoha in a flat tone.
“Geh…!” That response proved beyond a doubt that she really was her adopted mother’s daughter.
I seriously do not get the last part. What wish? What candy?
This fic takes place between season 1 and A's, and focuses on Fate adjusting to, and her doubts about, her new situation. It's also about how her and Yuuno became friends. I had actually posted the first bit of it ages ago but no one read it then.
Was gonna go into Fate's trial but it ended up being longer than expected and I didn't start that part before the week started. I'll just do it as a chapter 2.
Spoiler for My Second Friend:
-snip-
So then, Yasanagi, you get to pick what I do for next week. You can request a new fic if you'd like, or I could tell you some of the plot bunnies I have. MnJ and RotDK aren't eligable since I updated them recently.
Dunno what to say, that was nice and believable on Fate's fears.
Nanya-muse: *Glomps Deathcurse-muse* Doitdoitdoitdoitdoit!
Deathcurse-muse: Why? You know I love tragedy.
Nanya-muse: But if we go get Moczo-muse, your tragedy will be hilarious!
Deathcurse-muse: Hmm... Moczo-muse is funny.
Nanya-muse: We have to be careful though... Moczo-muse is being swamped by evil corporate meanies!
Deathcurse-muse: Fine. ... Could you let go now?
Nanya-muse: No snuggle time? *Pouts*
Deathcurse-muse: No snuggle time.
Nanya-muse: Drat!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Yasanagi
Spoiler for Kaiser Mom Bonus Update:
-snip-
Heh... Well, that's ONE thing to say to your clone.
At least Olivie didn't go "I shall call her... Mini-Me!"
__________________
My fics Due to certain things, I am not here, find me over on TFF.
The control room shook lightly from the shockwave that resulted from the impact of the last spell used by the Kaiser hitting against Nanoha’s shields.
“Mr. Scrya, are you alright?” asked Carim. Considering that they indeed felt a little something thanks to the fight in the simulator, it meant that his barriers had weakened a bit. Then again, he had been maintaining them for two straight brawls between powered mages.
“Y-yeah… just gotta maintain my concentration,” muttered the Librarian. He had hoped that none of his barriers were compromised during the last exchange of blows although he wasn’t totally sure since his mind had been rather drained running the numbers to keep the barriers up and running.
“Wait… where did Mom Junior go?”
“Mom Junior?” Subaru thought about that for a moment before she figured out what he meant. ‘Ah, Touma meant Vivio… wait a minute!’
A quick scan of the room did indeed prove that the girl was no longer among them which got Hayate sweating. “Vivio?! Where did you go?!”
“I believe Her Majesty went into the battlefield. As you can see, the chamber door seal had been damaged, most likely as a result from Mr. Scrya’s inability to maintain the barrier during the last clash,” noted Otto. “It’s likely that she slipped through to reach her mother.”
“Let’s just go get her back before she gets hurt in the crossfire! Get in touch with the combatants and get them to pause their match!”
**********
‘I’m… still conscious?’ Nanoha had been expecting that last attack from the Kaiser to knock her out since it didn’t have any problem smashing through the Multiple Defenser but perhaps her opponent pulled her blow at the last moment. For what reason, she couldn’t tell but since she had a chance now, she might as well do a quick situation assessment.
Low on magical energy? Check.
Bind spell still in effect? Nope. At least she could fly again but with the above fact in place, that could be an issue.
Barrier jacket damage? Fairly extensive with her eyes spotting several rips and tears on the magical cloth.
“Raising… Heart?”
“I can still fight, my Master.”
That’s good. The question was whether her body would be prepared to head back into battle. Although she had come a long way in her recovery from the JS Incident, she wasn’t able to go at maximum power as frequently as she used to. Perhaps she should take some time off to rest her wings but that will have to wait. The more immediate concern was the approaching Olivie who took her time while walking towards her.
“Nanoha, can you hear me?! Nanoha!” She could hear Hayate’s voice in her mind and she sounded really panicked.
“What is it?”
“You have to stop your match right now! Vivio’s gotten into the combat simulator!”
Hayate’s warning came a little bit late as Nanoha’s ears picked up the sound of tiny footsteps approaching rapidly. “DON’T BULLY MY MAMA!!!”
“Vivio?!” Nanoha realized with horror that her child had somehow gotten into the arena and placed herself in danger. “No, get out of here!”
But the little girl didn’t listen. As soon as she reached the red clad armoured woman, she started kicking at the legs since that was as high as she could reach with her own. “Take this! And this!”
For a few moments, the only sound that was in the arena came from a foot making contact with magical armour repeatedly. Olivie’s expression remained unchanged so that meant nobody could tell what she was thinking. Not Carim… not Hayate… not even her son.
Finally, after a few seconds of staring at the little girl kick her, Olivie finally spoke. “You’re doing it wrong.”
That caused Vivio to stop. “… … eh?”
“Get into your stance and have your dominant leg behind your other leg.” Olivie moved so that she would be able to help Vivio fix her stance. “The dominant leg's toe should be pointed to its side while your secondary leg is in front, its toe pointed straight forward. You want your torso to generally face the direction of your dominant leg. Your hands can be in a guard position or relaxed.”
“… …” Who is this lady… and why did she look so much like…?
“Are you listening, young lady?”
“Uh, yes!” The smaller girl snapped to attention and moved her right leg back as instructed.
“If you want to go for speed, you will use your front foot. If you want a more powerful kick, use your back leg.” After letting this fact settle in with the child, Olivie continued. “Raise your kicking-leg's knee so your thigh is parallel to the ground, about hip to waist level. This is called chambering. Breathe in as you do this.”
‘So I want to raise… which leg?’ She was trying to remember what that lady was saying but she was going so fast.
“Kick your leg, snapping it forward quickly. With a front kick you can use the ball of your foot or your instep as a striking surface. As you kick, rapidly release the air in your lungs. Remember, breath in when you contract, breath out when you expand. This also will relax your body, allowing for proper technique, because holding air in means your muscles are too tense, and you are trying to control your kick too much, which weakens the kick, slows it down and tires you out faster.”
‘So much to remember…!’ This was making her head spin.
“Now give it a shot,” instructed the older woman while bending down to closely observe the younger girl’s progress.
Vivio complied, using her back leg as the kicking leg. It shot forward, grazing the older woman in the face.
“ARAA…!” And there goes Olivie, fainting backwards dramatically while her armour and gauntlets vanished, leaving her in that fancy dress again while everyone stared, rather stunned at how all this turned out.
“Mom, what just happened?!”
She looked up and smiled at Touma. “Well, my son… I do believe that I was just defeated by a seven year old.”
“I’m eight!” protested Vivio.
“I stand corrected.” Olivie’s playfulness dimmed down a bit as she carefully looked at the child. “So… you must be Vivio? Wow… I never knew I looked so adorable when I was a child.”
It slowly came to the smaller girl. This was the person from the distant past. The person she had been copied from. “You’re…?”
“Olivie Segbrecht. It’s a pleasure to meet you. I guess since we share the same blood that would make us…” She paused for a moment. “… sisters? Or biological mother and daughter? Oh, I don’t know!”
That was the last thing on Vivio’s mind at the moment. “My wish… it came true!” She quickly closed her eyes and clapped her hands loudly. “I wish I had a big large bag of never ending candy that only I can see so that Nanoha-mama won’t take it away from me!”
“Um, Vivio… I’m right here,” said Nanoha in a flat tone.
“Geh…!” That response proved beyond a doubt that she really was her adopted mother’s daughter.
Wish you had said "Olivie Segbrecht, at your service", and let Vivio say "They call me Vivio" so that we could have had a Crysis joke.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Craxuan
I seriously do not get the last part. What wish? What candy?
2011-08-16, 19:35
Author
. I'll wait to see what RB decides to do though, so I don't overlap by accident!
.
