Disclaimer: I do not own MGLN series and it's characters. The title of the story was inspired by the song "Passage to the Fourth World" by Sinergy.

A/N: First of all, yeah, I know that I was supposed to post this story at the 20th of September. But I've finished the prologue a few days ago so why wait? Of course, updates may be a little slow at first, as I still have one exam to pass so please, bear with me for a while.

Secondly: This is not a songfic, but a miltichapter story. Probably, it's going to be my longest one so far and this is a prologue. It covers the first season of the anime, but since most of things go totally different, I consider this one an AU.

With that said, have a good read.

MGLN: Passage to Al Hazard

Prologue

By: Caelion

When I saw her for the first time, I couldn't shake off the feeling that she seemed sad and lonely. A little, young girl, just like me. She was sitting alone near a concrete sea wall, hugging her knees and watching the setting sun. Her, still short, brown hair were tied in two ponytails, she was dressed in a uniform-like white dress with a small, black and white jacket on top. I was looking at her for a while before turning back. Just when I wanted to walk away, I heard her silent sobs she wasn't even trying to hide. Was she hurt somewhere? Maybe she needed help?

I acted faster than I was able to think. "Um, are you okay?" I asked shyly, coming closer to her. I wasn't good at talking to people I didn't know. After all, I had always lived with only my mother, Linith and Arf.

At first, she looked surprised when she heard my voice. She quickly wiped tears from her face and turned to look at me. "Nyahaha..." She laughed and smiled. It was a cute laugh. "I thought I was the only one here." We stared at each other for a while before she spoke again. "Want to look at the sea together?" She asked as if nothing happened.

It was my turn to be surprised. It was only my second day here, I had never looked at the sea before like that. "Mm," I nodded, sitting next to her. Together, we were watching the setting sun before I decided to break the silence again. "You were crying before, weren't you?" Somehow I couldn't help but be concerned about this girl. When she didn't respond, I continued. "You can tell me about it if you want. Mother once said that telling someone else about a problem can make things easier."

Her expression saddened when I finished. She looked at her feet, hugging her knees and playing with the edge of her white uniform's dress. "My dad is not feeling well." She said after a while. "When I was very little, he had an accident at work and since that time he hasn't woken up." She confessed silently. "My mom is very sad since then and she often cries in her room. But my older brother and my older sister work hard to help her." She continued her tale and I was listening to her, feeling my eyes watering as she went on. Why was I feeling so compassionate towards her? "And there is nothing I can do to help them. I'm already nine but I feel like a third wheel. And they just tell me to be a good girl and pursue my dreams."

I didn't know how to respond or comfort her. So I patted her arm and said the first thing that came to my mind. "Don't worry, I'm sure that your family cares about you and they wish you only the best." I offered her an encouraging smile. Somehow, I felt that she was similar to me in a way.

"Thank you..." She responded in a little more cheerful way. "By the way, I'm Nanoha. Takamachi Nanoha." When she introduced herself, her voice was already devoid of sadness.

"Nanoha..." I repeated her name, looking into her eyes. She smiled at me, nodding her head and I felt my cheeks flushing lightly. "Um, I'm Fate. Fate Testarossa." I returned the introduction.

"Nice to meet you, Fate-chan." I could swear that her eyes sparkled when she said my name for the first time.

"Nice to meet you, Nanoha." I also couldn't help but smile as well. Nanoha... it was a cute name.

"So, Fate-chan," She started mildly, not turning away. "Now that we know each other's names, would you like to be my friend?"

Friend? Linith had told me about it some time ago, she said that I should make some here, on Earth. "But what should I do to become your friend?" I asked curiously.

To my astonishment, Nanoha burst out laughing. "Nothing, Fate-chan, you've already done it." She replied sincerely. "You have just called my name, it's all you need to do to become one's friend." She explained, giving me a gentle smile.

"Yes!" I exclaimed immediately before I could think about another answer. I wanted to get to know this girl better. "I want to be your friend, Nanoha." If having friends was like that, then I was glad I hadn't walk away back then.

And so, Nanoha became my first friend. I was happy to have somebody to talk with. Arf was busy for the most of time and my mother also called me only once per day because of her tight schedule.

We were meeting for the fifth time in the same place, near the sea wall. We were talking and watching the sunset together. It was always fun, I came to know that Nanoha's family owned a bakery and sometimes she would help her mother or her siblings with baking. But for most of the time she was busy with her school. Ah, I also came to know what 'school' was. I was a little sad that I couldn't go there with her, meeting her friends would surely be fun so she promised to bring them with her one day.

On the other hand, I felt bad that I couldn't tell her more about my own family. Both mother and Linith were constantly reminding me to keep in secret my true reason for being here. So when she asked me, I told her only what I could.

"My mother is a scientist." I said, looking at the calm sea. "Lately, she is very busy and we talk rarely but I know that she cares about me." I smiled at the memory of the time spent with my mother. "Linith is my nanny, she looks after me and teaches me." I continued and she was looking at me, listening carefully. "And there is Arf, my fami- pet." I quickly corrected myself. I didn't like calling Arf my pet but she said that she didn't mind for the sake of keeping the secret. And after all, she was a wolf before I had found her.

"It sounds like a happy family." Nanoha responded, a little thoughtfully. I knew that her life wasn't easy and I wanted to comfort her in some way.

I opened my mouth to say something more but suddenly I heard Arf's excited voice in my head.

"Fate! I found it!"

I needed to go. "I'm sorry, Nanoha," I stood up and looked at her surprised expression. "I have to go now, I promised to come back home earlier today." I offered her an apologetic smile and she returned it, nodding her head. I felt bad lying to her but it was necessary.

"It's okay, Fate-chan, we'll see tomorrow." She answered happily but I could hear disappointment in her voice.

"Um, tomorrow." I confirmed, looking at her one more time, before turning around and running into an empty alley. "Arf, where are you?" I asked mentally, pulling out my small, golden device.

When I came at our meeting place the next day, Nanoha was nowhere to be found. I was looking for her and waiting for almost an hour but in the end she didn't come. I only hoped that she wasn't angry at me for going home the day before so early. Resigned, I went back to the skyscraper I was living in. I was a little sad that I couldn't meet with her, she was the first person in my age I was able to talk with. And on top of that, I liked doing it. Every thought about not seeing her any more was filling my heart with fear and emptiness I couldn't even describe. Was I that attached to her already?

I felt an indescribable relief when I saw her the next day. "Nanoha!" I called out to her, coming closer, but she didn't move. And then I felt that something wasn't right. "You didn't come yesterday." I said with a fake pout to cheer her up.

"I'm sorry..." She responded silently, still looking at the water before her.

Sitting next to her, I looked at her face. She was sad, gazing blankly at the orange horizon. "Why didn't you come?" I asked gently, maybe a little playfully, putting my hand on her own, something my mother would do when I was feeling down.

She stayed silent for a longer while before she answered. "I was at my dad's funeral."

I felt like my breath was caught in my throat and an unpleasant feeling appeared in my stomach. Why was I so stubborn to ask her that again? Suddenly, I heard her sniffing and I centred my attention on her again. When she started crying, I acted instinctively. I wrapped my arms around her, embracing her tightly. "I'm sorry," I whispered silently, holding her gently. She was very warm, and I kind of liked the feeling, but it wasn't a good time to think about it. I started to soothe her like my mother or Linith would do, although I rarely cried myself.

The sky started to turn black. My attempts to calm Nanoha down turned out ineffective as she started to shake and cry harder. I didn't want to see her like this. We'd known each other for only a week but she had already taken a special place in my heart. "Nanoha," I started firmly. "I'll bring your father back." I stated and waited for reaction.

At first, she was acting like she didn't hear me. Only after a while did she start to calm down. "You're joking, right?" She stammered through her tears. "Thank you, for trying to cheer me up." Her voice faltered again.

"I'm not joking." I answered in a serious tone. This time, she stopped crying and looked at me. Her sad, azure eyes were gazing into my red ones. Although I was sure that she didn't believe in my words, I saw in them a spark of hope. "Let me show you something." With an unspoken command, I put my black and red barrier jacket on. Holding her tightly, I soared into the dark sky, hearing only wind humming in my ears and her silent gasp as we were flying higher and higher, leaving the whole world behind.

A/N: Thank you for reading. So, what do you think about this idea? The more comments you give me, the faster I'll post the first chapter. Believe it or not, but a lot of reviews makes me inspired and motivated to work.

For those who wonder about Nanoha's dad case:

Both in the first season and the Movie 1st manga it was stated that Nanoha's father had an accident at work. Nanoha was also feeling useless because she couldn't help her family. In the manga and anime, he had woken up after some time. Here, he had never woken up.

One more time, thanks for reading and 'till the next time!