What if the world you saw on the other side of your television screen wasn't just a bunch of pictures, moving rapidly from one to the next, with appropriate sounds or voices accompanying it?

What if those pictures and sounds didn't come out of the animators' or writers' minds, but through their minds from a different world, a world that is, in all actuality, just as real as our own?

What if, with the proper knowledge and equipment, you could travel from our world to one of the ones we devote so much time to watching?

Or, what if someone from one of those worlds has already done that?

So, without further ado, I bring you:

Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Cross

A fanfic by Gladius Lucix

"We have been receiving reports of items having power at levels that would designate them as Restricted-Class Lost Logia, were they to be found on and Administrated World," The letter began. Yagami Hayate was sitting at her desk, working her way through the mountains of paperwork that were the unintended backlash of the JS incident. There were reports about the release of limiters, required in triplicate; the arrest reports for all of the Numbers, as well as Scaglietti, Lutecia, and Agito. Of course, for most of these, she simply had to add her own comments where necessary and sign off on the reports written by the rest of Riot 6, but, as her friend's current commanding officer, she was also required to attempt to mitigate Nanoha's use of Divine Buster on a sentient being, to say nothing of her using Starlight Breaker on her own foster daughter, to keep her friend from being court martialed for excessive use of force. In the case of the report on the Divine Buster, she had only come up with, "There were three hundred feet of bulkhead between the suspect and Captain Takamachi." That report promised a large headache when Hayate finally got to the point where it could no longer be put off.

The letter she was reading now, however, was something she had found in her inbox while digging through, looking for something that didn't require a signature. "Since these items originate on the respective Unadministrated Worlds where they have been," the letter continued, "it is entirely possible that the native inhabitants of the respective worlds know how to deal with said items. Conversely, it is also a possibility that they have no knowledge or information about the items whatsoever. Because of the experience Riot 6 has in dealing with Lost Logia, the Intelligence Division and the Research and Development Divisions are making this formal, joint request for Riot 6 to look into these various reports." The letter was signed by the heads of the two respective divisions. Attached to the letter were three pages, filled with summaries of the reports mentioned in the letter.

Hayate gave a low whistle as she looked over the list. "Rein, come over here for a bit," she said as she motioned for her unison device to join her at her desk, slightly stunned by the magnitude of the request.

"What is it, Meister Hayate?" Rein asked as she floated up to Hayate's desk.

"Have a look at this," Hayate said, setting the letter down on the desk. She watched quietly as Rein hovered above the paper. "What do you think?" Hayate asked as Rein came to the end.

"I…I don't know what to say," the tiny girl replied. "I think we should talk to Nanoha-san and Fate-san about it."

"Of course," Hayate agreed. "We'll ask the forwards and the rest of the Wolkenritter as well."

- - - -

Hayate and Rein entered the cafeteria that evening, and were pleased to find that Nanoha, Fate, and Vivio were sharing dinner with the forwards, while the Wolkenritter were having dinner at, or under, in Zafira's case, the next table.

"Everyone," Hayate began. "I have something to tell you about. I received a letter today and, since it concerns all of you, I think you should know what it's about." Through all this, she kept her face and tone grave enough that even her knights looked worried about what the letter held.

After she had related the contents to them, however, everyone was somewhat excited about the possibilities that were offered by the letter. "This won't be required of anyone," Hayate continued. "If you want to help with the efforts, I'd be glad to have you. If there's a different branch of the TSAB you'd prefer, we'll see you off with our best wishes and a glowing recommendation. After what we've all just been through, you deserve no less."

Fate and Nanoha looked at each other, sharing an almost imperceptible nod, and then looked back at Hayate. "We're in, Hayate-chan," Nanoha replied with a smile.

"Wheresoever you go, we shall remain by your side," responded Signum formally, without even looking up from her meal, followed by various affirmations from the other knights.

Hayate chuckled. "I guess I expected you would at least want to think about it for a bit," she said to her longtime friends, with a smile equal parts gratitude and mirth. She then turned towards the forwards. "Well, do you four have anything to say?"

There was no response. The mouths of Subaru and Teana hung open in shock, while Caro had blushed and demurely covered her mouth. Erio had only been paying half attention, due to a somewhat more intense training session, and continued eating until he noticed the others staring at him. "Huh?" He tried to remember what Hayate had been talking about, and then dropped his fork a second later when he finally did. "Um…Hayate-san? This is a really big decision, so do we have to answer now?" he asked once he had partially recovered from the shock.

"That's fine. I wasn't expecting an answer now. Just come tell me when you do decide," Hayate answered with a smile that would be motherly, if not for the twinkle of mischief in her eyes. After she excused herself to get her own dinner, leaving the forwards somewhat flabbergasted, the conversation slowly picked back up, discussing what would be involved in the new assignment, completely distracting them from their previous topic.

At least, the senior members discussed the assignment. Subaru, Teana, Erio, and Caro finished their meals in silence, each too stunned by Hayate's offer to talk. They all finished at about the same time and walked together back to their rooms, still not completely over the shock.

Caro was the first to speak, though not about the offer. "Wow, Erio-kun. You were really quick thinking when everyone was looking at you back there."

Erio blushed and smiled sheepishly. "Remember what I said during our first practice fight with Nanoha-san?" he asked. "'My only specialty is speed.'" Caro nodded as Erio continued. "I didn't just mean moving fast."

Subaru giggled at his comment, and finally asked the question that they had all been pondering for the last fifteen minutes or so. "So, what do you think about what Hayate-san said?" Her voice was more serious than normal, the gravity of the situation overpowering her usual cheerful nature.

Teana sighed. "I guess that's what everyone's so mopey about, so talking about it is probably the best cure for it," she said, taking command, since nobody seemed to know what to do. "I think our choices boil down to whether or not we each want to stay with the friends we've made here, or continue with our plans from before we joined, right?" The others nodded, agreeing with Teana's observation.

"My dream," Subaru began suddenly, "has always been to be like Nanoha-san. So, wouldn't it make sense to stay around her and learn as much as I can from her?" She looked towards the others, silently asking whether or not her logic held water.

Caro, Teana, and Erio shared a few meaningful glances before Caro finally answered. "I guess that makes sense," she answered hesitantly, still trying to figure out how Subaru had made that mental leap. How is studying under Nanoha-san going to make you more like her? She was mostly self taught, I though.

"But on the other hand," Subaru continued, "it would be lonely without Tia." She followed this barely disguised plea with a half serious pout in Teana's direction.

Subaru's roommates, and, as she sometimes truly believed, babysitter, simply rolled her eyes, while Caro giggled a bit at the two of them.

Subaru's jokes easily, though unintentionally, derailed the entire conversation. They spent the rest of the walk to their quarters talking about the friends and memories they had made over the past few months, ever since they joined Riot 6. Once they parted ways and each was drifting off to sleep, once sentence floated through each forward's half asleep mind, differing in the exact wording, but each holding the same intent: "Subaru was right; it would be lonely without the others…"

- - - -

Hayate was surprised the next morning by a polite knock on her door. Fortunately, she had been just about to leave for the office anyway, and opened the door to greet whoever was visiting.

She was slightly surprised to see the four forwards standing before her in their dress uniforms, standing at attention and saluting.

"At ease," she said. "What do you need?"

Teana stepped forward. "Ma'am, we've decided to stay with Riot 6," she replied, the other forwards nodding in agreement.

"That's great!" Hayate exclaimed "I was hoping you would be staying." She glanced back inside at the wall clock and turned back to the forwards. "I'm nearly running late, so you guys have a nice day." With that, she dashed off towards her office.

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Author's Notes: This is my first fanfic, so any constructive criticism is welcome. Also, I have the first few stops in mind, but am open to suggestions on series to visit, be they anime, western TV, literature, or video game. This is intended to be a continuing series, but updates may be sporadic due to school, work, and/or ADD.