The Sky where we were
A Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha fanfiction story by Knight of Lorelei
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the copyrighted material in this text; it's just a work of a fan expressing its sincerest gratitude for the creators of such an amazing story.
Part A
Gentle spring rain poured over the city of Uminari, there under it an old woman with long pale blond hair and blood red eyes stood among the gravestones of a traditional cemetery. She delicately held a bouquet of flowers –which didn't belong to this world– on her hands, as she stopped before a grave that stood between that of Takamachi Shirou and Takamachi Momoko she sighed, and a warm nostalgic smile found its way to her face. "I'm home" she said sheepishly as she knelt down before the grave of the person who shared an entire life with her, she placed the flowers carefully over it and then traced the name that was engraved on it with her fingers, Takamachi Nanoha was it. She remained quiet for a moment and then out of the blue added, "Geez, Nanoha you really had to go before me don't you, or is it that I'm the one that is always trailing your steps?" of course, no answer came, not that she were waiting for one anyway, but even then a small stream of tears rolled down her face even if it was hidden by the falling rain. "It has already being a couple years hasn't it? Vivio and the others are doing well on their own, they will all come here tomorrow, but I chose to come a little earlier so I won't be crying in front of them again, after all every day that passes I feel my body grow weaker, guess it won't be long until we can see each other again" with this she could no longer talk and all she did was let the tears that stained her makeup flow free, these were not tears of suffering or anguish, no, they were tears of joy and love, tears that remembered her of all the beauty of the days that passed since their meet one another.
She didn't even noticed when the rain had stopped, but now the clear light of the crimson sunset filled the place she was with its frail warmth. Fate gazed upwards to the now blood stained clouds of the beautiful sky of her beloved's homeworld "Every time I see these skies I can understand why you loved them so much, and now you can just soar trough it forever like you always wanted, isn't it Nanoha?" she said while lost in deep thought. As the inexorable darkness started to overtake the rest of the day's light a voice called for her from the bottom of the small hill in which the graves of the Takamachi family stood "Ma'am it's getting dark already, we should go now before you catch a cold or something", the voice belonged to the TSAB officer in charge of escorting her, he was a kind young boy who just dreamt of one day being able to meet the ones he admired –the Tree Legendary Aces of the TSAB– from the time he was just a small kid, that much Fate understood. "Hi, I'm coming" she replayed, "Guess it's time to go now Nanoha, I will come back as soon as possible, so if you can just wait for me a little more, ok?" as she turned on her heels to meet her escort Fate could swear she heard the happy giggling of a small girl, "Guess that means a yes, huh?" she said while briefly looking over her shoulder and winking, and then she followed the worried young boy who waited at the bottom of the hill on her way home.
Part B
One year later, Canagran, Mid-Childa.
On the house they called home for great part of their lives, Fate lay on the bed she shared with her beloved for so many nights, she gazed at the sky trough the half-open window on the opposite wall, her mind drifting slowly into a slumber that she knew she would never wake up. To her right –in the place that once belonged to her lover– were the golden metallic triangle of Bardiche's storage form and Arf, her trusted familiar, in her giant wolf form, she were gently licking her master's hand, even though she knew nothing could be done to avoid what was to come she still showed her affection even on this final hour. Knelt by the bedside and holding Fate's left hand was another woman with eyes of unmatching colors, one emerald green and the other as red as Fate's own pair, Fate could see tears rolling down her beautiful face as she said "Please mama…stay with me just a little longer…at least until Erio and Caro arrives…" without much strength left in her to reply, Fate raised her right hand to gently stroke her daughter's hair and face and smiled her ever so caring smile which captivated anyone who saw it, for the last time in her life.
As her mother's hand fell down from her face Vivio cried "No…mother…please…no" as she felt her strength leave her she heard the voice of Arf which was starting to disappear slowly right before her eyes "Don't cry so much kid, she wouldn't like to see you sad because of her, nor do I and certainly not also Nanoha, they…we have lived a good plentiful life, with lots of friends and family there is nothing to regret over it. Even if it wasn't expected of me to go with her as her familiar I wouldn't accept it any other way, 'cause for me Fate was all, Bardiche thinks so too, and he wished me to tell you that he will shut down all his functions and delete his AI to be buried with her, just like Raising Heart did with Nanoha, he will never serve another master, isn't that so?" said the now ghost like wolf woman as she looked at the metal triangle at her side [Yes, I wish to be only with Sir wherever she goes] chimed the device "Well, it's time to go now, just make sure you don't forget us ok?" teased Arf just before licking Vivio's hand one last time and disappearing.
Part C
A couple days later, Uminari, Earth.
A heavy thunderstorm hit the ocean side city of Uminari that day, despite the burial ground's manager asking if they wanted to postpone the ceremony, no one agreed, specially, Signum who said no other weather was more appropriate regarding Testarossa. They stood there under the blast of the thunders and the fury of the winds for more or less two hours, everyone of Fate's still living loved ones made their silent prayer for her and Nanoha –which grave was just a few meters apart– but Signum once again was the only one to voice her words, drawing Laevatein despite being on the middle of the day on an open area, she held the weapon by its scabbard in a stance parallel to the ground and said solemnly as she drew it slowly –all the while thanking Fate silently for the storm, which concealed her flowing tears– "Here lies Fate Testarossa Harlaown, a friend to some, a mother to others, a honored rival to me. No song could do justice to the life of someone, who changed the world so deeply and saved so many people with just her gentle smile no one will ever forget. So, while resting on the same land as the one who loved and was loved by you the most, let this flame, my parting gift, illuminate your way until the day we all meet together again. Laevantein, load cartridge!" the device responded [Jawohl!] and ignited with a passion that awed all that were present, and set the wood of the vigil fire on even though it was drenched only a moment ago.
As the storm receded and the time went on, everyone eventually left the cemetery, everyone but Vivio who still held the metallic form of Bardiche close to her chest, [It's time for parting] chimed the device breaking the eerie silence that had fell down upon the place. "Are you sure you really want to do this Bardiche?" she asked him rhetorically, to which the device responded in its usual monotone [As I said, I want to be with Sir and Sir only wherever she goes, it was a pleasure to know you, but it's time], as Vivio put the device down on the earth its usual brilliance faded and faded, until it became nothing but a dull metal chip. Soon enough she too left the place, the night had long since fallen and she was drenched from head to shoes and cold to the bones, Einhart who observed everything from a distance in order to give Vivio some privacy offered her a coat and a shoulder to hung on to. As they both exit the cemetery's gates Vivio wished both her mothers a warm goodbye, at least for now, she thought.
Epilogue
Somewhere on the vast skies of the afterlife.
Fate couldn't remember when she had felt herself this good for the last time; it was as if she had gone back to the day she first met Nanoha, the day that would change her life forever. With her were Bardiche and Arf, she didn't knew how they arrived here but she was glad to be at the side of her treasured friends again, she was so glad to be able to fly once again she forgot to ask herself the simplest of the questions –perhaps because she already knew the answer– and contented herself just with soaring the endless sea of cotton like clouds, trying to catch Arf's tail just like she did so long ago. She had lost track of unimportant things like time and space and merely played among the clouds, and it was so until she saw her, at first it was only a glance from the corner of her vision field and she thought she was seeing things, but then she saw her again that time from the opposite direction and stopped running after Arf which didn't catch it at first, but when she looked at the same direction as Fate she was left wordless.
There she stood idly floating among the sea of azure that expanded far beyond what the eyes could see, her brown hair and blue eyes shone with the light that illuminated this place her image exactly like the one Fate remembered from the day the first met, the was the Nanoha she loved just not as a friend but much more deeply for the best part of her life. Fate could do little but stand there and stare at the girl in front of her in awe, tears of joy flowing freely down her cheeks, to this Nanoha pouted mockingly and teased her "Mou, Fate-chan I waited for you for so long and now you can't even greet me properly?" she turned her head in an exaggerated gesture. Snapped out of her shock, Fate's face immediately became as red as her eyes, with her arms shyly crossed behind her back and lightly kicking her right leg, she said without looking her friend in the eyes –else she wouldn't had missed the grin on Nanoha's face– "Uh, eh… guess I'm home, then?" it came out more like a question than she liked, but she didn't had time to rephrase it as she felt a pair of hands cradle her face and found herself looking straight in to her brunette friend's eyes. "Welcome back Fate-chan" Nanoha giggled "As always you are so easy to tease" a very indignant "Nanoha" was all Fate could answer as she was pulled by the arm by her eager friend.
And so both of them soared the never-ending skies together forever.
End.
A/N: So what did you liked about it, what did you disliked about it too, I want to know all your opinions, so please take your time to review the story after finishing reading it. As for the idea for this fic, it came to me some time ago while reading "Game Theory" –an excellent fic by Immatrael, which I gladly recommend–, the particular scene that inspired me, even though this is not a Gamesverse fic, was the sad but heartwarming scene where Nanoha and Fate are trying to chase a rainbow while flying through some clouds, and the title of this fic is a clear reference to that scene. Well, even though this is just a one-shot, or perhaps because of it, it is my first serious completed fic, without more to say I thank you all again for reading this text.
Thank you all for your patience and until time, farewell.