Unexpected Expectations

Chapter 1: One Moment in Time

Xx~~*~~xX

"Hey, how are things going down here?" Nanoha asked with a smile, as her and Vivio entered the room.

Yuuno looked up from his desk, an array of screens, books, and items around him and cluttering up lots of tables.

"Tiring," he replied, letting out a long breath and leaning back in his chair. "The TSAB has misplaced a lot of records, and many more are incomplete, regarding all these lost logia they've accumulated throughout the years."

Nanoha glanced around the medium-sized room, remembering that one of the vaults was nearby. "So they want you to figure all these out? Isn't that dangerous? I had to check Raging Heart in at the security desk upstairs, in order to come down here."

"Not really, as these have all been sealed, so there should be no danger of them activating," he told her. He picked up a small cube that he was currently working on, and tossed it back and forth between his hands to demonstrate.

Vivio walked into the room curiously, looking at all the interesting items arrayed in the room. "Wow, these are cool!"

"Well, we knew you were working hard, so we thought we'd bring you lunch!" she said with a smile, producing a basket.

Yuuno pulled up a holographic window with the time, blinking in surprise. "Is it lunchtime already?"

"No wonder you seem to be getting thinner lately," Nanoha realized, laying out a blanket on the ground, then setting out cups to fill with tea from a thermos. "You're forgetting to eat."

He sheepishly put a hand behind his head. "Well, I get working on something, and I really get into it."

She smiled, then looked behind him. "Vivio, honey, you can look, but don't touch."

"It's okay," Yuuno replied, accepted a bowl of rice from Nanoha. "Like I said, they've all had their magic sealed, so they're just paperweights at the moment."

"Well, I don't want her breaking anything, either," she replied, setting out some meat and fish.

"So how are things at the house with Fate?" he asked after swallowing some rice.

Nanoha sighed as she picked up some beef. "Not too bad. Sometimes she is away for days at a time due to assignments, but she's able to spend enough time with us. Vivio does miss her Fate-mama from time to time."

"I'll come by and visit more once this assignment is done," Yuuno told her, selecting some of the fish. "She's been having fun learning in the Library, and I enjoy teaching her."

"I think she'd like that," Nanoha said after starting on her own rice bowl, then louder, "Vivio, did you want some food?"

"No thank you, I'm not hungry right now!" the girl called back, still fascinated by the array of objects.

"I thought she might have had too big of a breakfast this morning," Nanoha realized with despair. "Sometimes I wonder how mother managed to raise me so well."

He smiled at her. "You're doing a great job, I think. How are things in her school?"

She ate some of the beef, taking a moment to drink her tea to wash it down. "Very good actually. She's made some friends, and seems to enjoy the schoolwork. I... Vivio!"

Yuuno blinked at her as she put her food down and stood up suddenly, running past him. He twisted around, also standing, noticing what she had. Vivio had picked one of the objects up, and it was starting to glow in her hands. He took off after Nanoha, reaching just after she swiped it out of her daughter's hand.

"What's it doing!?" Nanoha cried, as the small diamond shaped crystal, suspended within concentric bands, continued glowing brighter. "I can't seal it without Raging Heart!"

"I'm not sure, this was one of the ones I hadn't gotten to yet," he replied. "Maybe if we combine our magic we can seal it!"

She nodded, and he placed his hands over hers, as she cupped the object between them. They closed their eyes and began to channel their magic, but Yuuno suddenly felt a strong sense of vertigo, as if he was being pulled down a drain. He lost all sense of time and space for several long moments, only to promptly get it back as he landed into something soft.

It wasn't just into, as he found himself nearly half-buried by cushy, squishy things. It was almost comfortable and he might have been tempted to stay like that, but he need to figure out what was going on.

He emerged from the mass, finding it to be a various bunch of pillows and cushions. As he stood up and looked around, he noted the vague reddish tint around him. The walls of the room appeared to be somewhat transparent, but outside was a shimmery ocean of various colors, similar to the void spots that erupted back on Precia's old Garden of Time, so many years ago. It was like this room was floating in this void.

He heard a feminine moan behind him, and turned around to see Nanoha standing up from the same mass of pillows. His jaw dropped open, and he promptly slapped both hands over his mouth and nose and turned away, looking down to confirm he was the same way.

"N-Nanoha!" he exclaimed. "A-Are you okay?"

"Yuuno-kun?" her light voice asked in bewilderment, then presumably she noted his state, and promptly hers as well. "Eep! Why are we naked?!" There was some rustling of cloth. "O-okay, I found some blankets and I'm covered, you can turn around and come get one for yourself."

He slowly turned around, finding that she had wrapped herself in a reddish blanket and was facing him, affording him some modesty to do the same. His head was starting to feel a bit cloudly, he noted, as he found a thick white blanket to cover himself with.

"What is this place, Yuuno-kun?" Nanoha asked, looking around. "What happened?"

"I'm not sure," he replied, closing his eyes and shaking his head. "That lost logia was one I hadn't gotten around to analyzing yet. Let me see if I can teleport us, though."

She turned back to him, blushing faintly at their situation, but stepping close to him. After several moments of trying, thought, he gestured helplessly.

"It's like I can't gather any magic at all," he told her, rubbing his temples. "I suppose it's partially a good thing, as I'm not too sure about where we are."

"Well, the crystal in that device was glowing a bit red at the end," Nanoha reasoned. "Could we have been teleported inside some dimensional pocket and... Yuuno-kun? Are you alright?"

He heard her gasp as he felt himself temporarily lose balance, his head becoming foggier and foggier, until he could barely think, and then he experienced another wave of vertigo.

x~~*~~x

It wasn't his fault...

Nanoha stepped forward to steady Yuuno, wondering what was wrong with him. There seemed to be something about his head, given the way he was holding it. "Yuuno-kun? What's wrong? Tell me!"

He seemed to recover, but as his blanket had fluttered to the ground, she was intimately aware of his body and position. Still she attempted to focus on what was going on with him. And then he reached out and grabbed her upper arms, gazing at her in a way he hadn't before; his eyes were almost unfocused.

"Yuuno-kun?" she questioned. "What are you-Yuuno!"

Something was wrong...

Shocked, she could only stand there as his lips were forced on hers, but she eventually managed to separate herself.

"Yuuno-kun, what are you doing?" she asked, hesitant, but there was a strange look in his eyes, as if he wasn't entirely there. "This isn't the best time for this. We need to figure out how to get out of here. Eep!"

I was still scared...

"Yuuno-kun, please stop!" she pleaded. "This isn't like you!"

Her cries were ignored as he forced her down.

This wasn't like him at all...

"Yuuno, PLEASE STOP!" she cried, feeling white, hot tears forming in her eyes. "PLEASE!"

Something must have reached him, because he did slowly stop and then sit up on her stomach, and she was struck by how he was grabbing his head, his eyes slammed shut. He let out a loud scream as if in pain, his head shaking back and forth, and then he fell backwards off her, rolling off the pile of pillows and onto the glassy ground.

"Yuuno!" she called, standing up slowly. "What's wrong?"

She carefully moved towards his body, curled up in the fetal position, rocking back and forth as he screamed and cried. [He's in pain! But why? Is something forcing him to do this? Is it bringing him pain to fight against it?] She touched his hot shoulder and felt his body shiver.

"Yuuno-kun," she called softly, her heart aching to see him suffer so badly like this; she found herself trembling as much as he was.

"Nnnnoooo..." he groaned between seethes of pain. "Nnnoooot llllike tthhhhisssss...."

But he was in pain; I had to help him!

[He doesn't want to?] she realized, wondering if her earlier thoughts were correct after all. She bit her lip. [I can't let him suffer like this, though... if... if the only way to help relieve it is...] She felt the tears return to her eyes, as she fearfully stroked his shoulder, her other going to his cheek.

"Hush, Yuuno-kun, it's alright," she soothed, but her voice was trembling. Would she have to... do that? She hadn't really considered it for most of her life, and not really with Yuuno. At most, her only thoughts were of a possible kiss. [Could I?]

His pain seemed to start to go away, but any intelligence was gone again, as he uncurled and focused on her again. And he started to stand up once more...

There was no other way!

He was on her again, and this time she didn't fight or plead; doing so would probably just trigger him fighting it again, and thus going into those painful spasms. She didn't want him to suffer, even if she had to.

But it hurt so much, inside as well as out...

She muffled her cry as much as she could, her back arching as her head tilted back, hot tears leaking from her eyes. She had heard that it was going to hurt, but had no idea how much; and he wasn't as gentle as he probably could have been.

She lost track of time, but then waves crashed over her body; when the earthquake stilled, her death grip relaxed. Blood pounded in her ears, and her body began trembling again, as she slowly registered what had just happened. [What did I do? What did we do? I... allowed this to happen, but...]

And then it was over...

He lifted his head slowly, and she swallowed nervously as he looked at her. [His eyes... is he back to normal?] "Yuuno-kun?"

His eyes were definitely more focused now, as he looked up and down her body. "Oh god... Nanoha... what have I done?"

She felt him began to tremble now, and it gave her an odd sense of comfort. "It's-"

Before she could answer, there was a flash of light, and she found them back in the room they had started from. He quickly got up from her, backing away in fear.

"I'm so sorry, Nanoha!" he blurted out, and she was surprised by the terror in his voice. "I didn't mean to... I didn't want to..." He began to grab his clothes, quickly slipping into them.

What could she say? "Yuuno-kun, it's alright, it's not your fault." She slowly got up, finding her own clothes in a pile nearby.

But he didn't seem to hear her, as he frantically pulled his pants and shirt on. "I'll find some way to make it up to you, I promise. Oh god, what have I done?"

Now she was starting to feel annoyed; after what she had just gone through for him, this was his reaction? "Yuuno-kun, stop it!"

He gave her a single pained look, whispered another apology, then dashed out of the room.

She sighed as she finished getting dressed, as Vivio entered the room.

"Nanoha-mama!" she cried, latching onto her mother. "You disappeared for several minutes and I thought you were gone. I looked outside for a little while, and then Mr. Yuuno ran out. What happened, mama?"

Hundreds of feelings, thoughts and emotions went through her as she hugged her daughter, but one hand went to her tummy. She couldn't find words to answer her adopted daughter, as she felt the same way.

What had just happened?