It Was Always You

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Author's Note: Hello again, I was trying to work on my longer piece and my muse has died. I was then thinking I was doing pretty well with my one shots so let's try another one of those. But I hit another stumbling block, AU versus Canon. Then I was looking through Nanoha Wiki and read that line about Yuuno being an orphan and coming from a clan then thought back to a doujin where Yuuno shows a picture of his family and they're all ferrets. Well we all are use to the angst from the YuuNanoFate stories but what if we throw in another ferret boy? What if Nanoha had to deal with a cute fuzzy ferret boy cuddling up to her Fate? Especially if his human form is comparable to Fate's own attractiveness, so this little plot bunny sprung to life. Please enjoy, read & review and who knows I might get back to my longer story soon.

**AN 9/21/14: Thanks Timmy Bacchus for pointing out that I never used Zafira and Lindy to the best of advantage so I made a few little edits. I also added a tweak to Vesper using telepathy before the sparring match, yes Yuuno used telepathy in MGLN 1st season when in his ferret form so I should have used that, now he is even more annoying to Nanoha.**

No ownership of MGLN being claimed, just having fun.

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The battleship Aquila had just docked and the crew was beginning their disembarking after a six month tour in space. Families are crowded around waiting for their loved ones and there are many moments of lovers reuniting with passionate embraces and kisses. Hayate and Nanoha are waiting further back, having spotted Admiral Lindy Harlaown (Ret) and Admiral Chrono Harlaown standing near the front of the crowd awaiting their youngest family member, with them is surprisingly Arf in her puppy form and Yuuno Scrya.

Hayate pokes at Nanoha seeing the pair standing with the Harlaowns, "Ne Nanoha-chan, why can't we stand with Chrono-kun and Lindy-san? Arf-san and Yuuno-kun are with them so I don't think we'd be "barging" into their family reunion."

Sighing and longing inside to join the group herself so she'd even be one second closer to greeting her favorite blonde she restrained herself, "No Hayate-chan, Arf-san is Fate's familiar and has every right to stand with the Harlaowns as for Yuuno-kun I'm not sure why he's over there but I'm sure there's a good reason. I don't want Fate-chan to feel pressured to choose between us and her family, they have first claim on her, as real friends we should let them enjoy each other's presence for a bit before bowling them over."

"Hmm sure, more like you don't want to alienate your future in-laws," the short brunette teased.

Nanoha turned a nice cherry red at this, Hayate had been teasing her more and more of late over her not so secret feeling for the blonde having decided it was the best way to stop Nanoha's whining over missing her best friend. Sputtering, "Hay-hayate, don't say such things! It's one thing to tease me when we are alone but I don't want you making Fate-chan uncomfortable."

Now it was the brunette's turn to sigh, she had tried to convince the girl to just come out and admit her feelings for their mutual best friend during one of their infrequent video calls but Nanoha had insisted if she was going to admit anything she wanted to do it face to face. How Nanoha could be so unsure of herself was exasperating, it was obvious to everyone that Fate was deeply, utterly, and completely in love with Nanoha. The poor blonde had all but announced it over the intercom and tattooed it to her forehead but the stubborn Nanoha had refused to believe they loved the same way. While Hayate was yanking her hair out in frustration Fate just shrugged and decided to continue to love the girl as openly as she could, shower her attention on her and hoped one day she'd realize she was completely serious. So while everyone around them considered them a de facto item only Nanoha was foolish enough to still claim they were only just friends.

The last of the grunts had exited the ship and the officers and the Enforcers were now disembarking, a familiar head of blonde hair descended while her arm was linked with a tall handsome coal black haired man. He was in the uniform of an Enforcer and the fitted black uniform made him look more dashing then it ever did the blonde girl's brother. The black haired man hugged the shorter Yuuno warmly and then embraced both the Harlaowns comfortably before kneeling to greet the excited puppy Arf. The look on Nanoha's face could only be described as "White Devil Mode," and Hayate who always liked living on the edge decided to poke the dragon in the eye, "Oh dear, looks like Fate-chan is introducing a new boyfriend to her family."

Swallowing hard and trying not to let the raging beast inside loose at these obviously meant to infuriate words, "It's a good thing that Fate-chan is making new friends. Let's go Hayate-chan, we can see her later."

Turning to leave she heard Hayate scream out the blonde's name and begin to wave her hands in the air to catch the other girl's attention. Fate turned and her face broke out into a wide smile at the sight of the auburn head next to the wildly gesticulating girl. Without a word or glance at the group around her she bolted forward to greet her best friends, well actually she wanted to hug Nanoha but she'd get around to greeting Hayate when she got a moment. Hayate could see the homing beacon practically flashing as the blonde made her way through the thinning crowd. Deciding to mess with the pair further she jumped directly in the blonde's path at the last moment and clamped on like a barnacle. "Fate-chan I missed you soo much!"

Fate's smile twitched at the intrusive girl and she said "I missed you too Hayate-chan now let me go I want to greet Nanoha."

When the girl then began to rub her face into her cleavage squealing, "MY FATE-CHAN!" the blonde began to blush, then panicking ripped her off her and none too gently tossed the young Lt Col. into the crowd before turning to her best friend more breathless with her excitement than the tussle.

"Nanoha, I missed you," she smiled the gentle smile reserved just for her best friend before closing the remaining gap quickly and clasped her in a tight embrace.

"Uhm I missed you too, so much Fate-chan," then leaned into the hug and breathed in deeply the scent of the girl. An unfamiliar scent of aftershave clung to her and made Nanoha stiffened suddenly, this was not her Fate-chan.

Fate felt her stiffen and pulled away, looking down at her with concern, "Nanoha are you okay?"

Then a warmly pitched male voice broke in, "Fate, will you introduce me to your friends?"

Turning her head at the voice she smiled warmly, "Of course Noir-kun," then stepping aside so one arm held Nanoha around her waist she began her introductions, "Enforcer Noir Vespers it is my pleasure to introduce you to my best friend Captain Takamachi Nanoha."

The man smiled then bowed gracefully, "It is a great honor to meet you finally Captain Takamaki, Fate speaks highly of you."

Fate laughed, "No Noir-kun, its Ta~ka~ma~chi, I swear you are as bad as our friend Vita-chan."

Nanoha felt her eye twitch, she wasn't sure why but she didn't want this man near Fate. Hayate bounced back over at this moment and Fate relented enough to give her a half hug keeping her other arm holding Nanoha snuggly against her side. Fate the introduced Hayate to the man, "Noir-kun this is Lt Col. Yagami Hayate, she is my other best friend, the three of us grew up together, if not for Nanoha here both of us would have been destroyed in magical incidents beyond our control."

He bowed again and then stood straight to salute her smartly, "It's an honor Lt Col. Yagami."

Hayate looked over the young man, he must be six foot two maybe three, dwarfing even Fate, broad shoulders and fit looking. His face was strong but friendly, sparkling emerald green eyes smiled at her. "So um Noir-kun?" she asked for permission for the more familiar manner of address to which he smiled a nod, "Thank you, please call me Hayate when it's not official. Um what is your relationship with our dear Fate-chan?"

His grin widened, "She was my Junior Enforcer during this pass mission, Chrono pulled some strings so we could work together, he wanted someone he trusted to watch out for his little sister. Though she watched out for me more than the other way around, she is a remarkable mage. I can understand why the three of you are known as the Aces."

Fate blushed, "No, you taught me a lot Noir-kun, besides I couldn't let you get hurt I owe the Scrya clan, Yuuno-kun helped me out nearly as much as Nanoha. I was happy to learn more about your people, I'm afraid I'm not as familiar with Mid-Childa's minority cultures as I should be."

Hayate blinked, "What do you mean Scrya clan? How are you related to them?"

The man stepped back then suddenly transformed into a pitch black ferret. Fate picked him up and settled him on her shoulder much as Nanoha used to do with Yuuno. "Noir-kun is very strong in support magic like Yuuno, but did learn some assaultive magic so he is very versatile in the field."

Suddenly a blonde ferret jumped up onto Fate's other shoulder and the two ferrets began to chitter at each other. Fate laughed again at the two small animals that then jumped off her shoulders and began to chase each other around her feet. "I always wondered what Yuuno-kun would be like with another one of his family around?"

Arf came over and was watching the ferrets now wrestling, tail wiggling as if waiting for an opening to join the fun. Fate saw this and scooped her up, "No Arf, that's how they communicate in that form, they should be allowed to enjoy their reunion as much as the rest of us."

Hayate snickered, "You seem awfully knowledgeable on the Scrya clan customs now. Are you and Noir-kun dating?"

Burgundy eyes widened at the ridiculous question, "Of course not! He's my superior officer and besides I'm already in love with someone else."

Nanoha felt the knot in her stomach loosen a bit at the adamant reply, 'but who is Fate really in love with? Could Hayate be right, is it me after all?' Chrono came over and tried to kick at the pair of scurrying animals, "Stupid ferrets."

Fate smiled at her brother, "Be nice Onii-kun, they deserve a chance to let loose."

"Hmm, well don't get too loose with Noir, are you sure it's okay for him to stay with you during your leave?" Chrono asked in a gruff brotherly tone.

"It's fine, we shared quarters on ship, this will be no different except we'll have more room. He's like Yuuno-kun and likes to sleep in his ferret form and uses the rest of his allotted space as working space," she replied nonchalantly.

Nanoha felt the knot tighten again, "Fate-chan you're going to stay in your dorm? I thought you were going to stay with me again?"

Fate grimaced, "I'd really like to but I can't, I have some work to finish up so it'll be easier to stay in my dorm with Arf and the guys."

"Whoa-whoa!" Hayate held up a hand, "What do you mean guys?"

"Oh Yuuno-kun will be bunking with us, like I said they're going to be "ferreting" at night so it's not like it's going to be crowded. I'm used to sleeping with Arf so we'll take my bunk and the boys will take the second bunk. From there we can go to the Infinity Library to finish the research we need to do," the blonde replied with a hint of confusion, unsure why her friend was making such a big deal.

Hayate looked from Chrono to Nanoha trying to determine if either were going to protest, when neither did so she decided she had to at least make an effort. "Fate-chan, it really isn't proper for a young woman to be staying with two single men, Arf isn't much of a chaperon, I mean come on she helped us get drunk after basic training graduation."

"What are you trying to say Hayate? Neither of the Scrya males will do anything to me, I trust them both. Besides I have many times more magic than either of them and could whip them in a fight so even if they tried I'd beat them into ferret ground meat patties and serve them to Arf for dinner. They both know that," Fate's tone left no doubt that there would be no hanky-panky going on.

Chrono tried to restrain his guffaws of laugher at the thought of the ferrets being struck down with a Thunder Rage if the rascally creatures annoyed her sufficiently. "Don't worry Hayate-san I will be checking up on them, at random. I trust both the fur balls but better to be safe than sorry."

Snorting dryly at her brother's overprotective nature she then handed him Arf. Fate then came over to Nanoha again, placing her hands on her shoulders, "We are all going to go out to eat, will you join us? I really want to spend as much time as possible with you while I'm home. Depending on what we find we may have to go out again soon."

Sapphire eyes looked into the burgundy eyes she loved most and smiled, "Of course Fate-chan, Hayate-chan got us both the afternoon off so we could spend the day with you."

"Good," then caught Nanoha's right hand in her left, "it's lucky you're a lefty, I won't have to let go even we when have to eat. I fear you're going to get tired of having me around with how clingy I'm going to be."

Giggling, "Nope Fate-chan will be the one to get tired first," then intertwined their fingers together and pulled her towards the bored looking Lindy so she could muster the troops for lunch.

Coming up to the teal haired woman Nanoha gave her a bright smile, "Hello Admiral Lindy it's good to see you again."

The older woman smiled back looking at the tight grip between the two girls. "It's nice to see you again Nanoha, it's also good to see you are still keeping a tight leash on my daughter, the gods only knows what kind of trouble she'd get into if she was left in Hayate's care."

Hayate pouting blushed and the others laughed, all familiar with her rather outrageous sense of humor.

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With the ferret boys,' as Fate liked to think of the cousins in her head, Chrono-nii really was a bad influence sometimes, help the final documentation and planning for the next phase of their mission was completed within a week. Their plan had been filed and was now undergoing review, they might have their answer in a week or a month, god bless bureaucracy, so the group was now enjoying some down time. Nanoha wanted to spend time with her best friend but as she had a new group of trainees to teach she couldn't take any time off. Fate missing her friend offered to come and put on a sparring match with Signum so the recruits could see how dangerous it was to slack off in their training. Nanoha had jumped at the offer, that meant the black rat wouldn't be with her.

When Fate arrived that morning she had two ferrets on her shoulders, and no Signum was in sight. Nanoha's smile was weakened when she saw the cousins riding on her Fate and came to greet her trying to muster as much good cheer as she could. "Good morning Fate-chan! Hi Yuuno-kun, Noir-san, are you joining us today?"

The pair of ferrets on Fate's shoulders greeted her telepathically.

Yuuno with a chipper, "Good morning Nanoha-chan."

The black rat replied, "Good morning Nunoho."

Fate heard the mispronunciation and winced, "Ne Noir-kun, how many times do I have to tell you, Na-No-Ha."

The rodent just shrugged and began to groom himself, Fate slit her eyes at him and he grudgingly looked at Nanoha, "Good Morning Na-No-Ha-san, it's good to see you again. I hope we can all work well together today."

Fate then turned smiling awkwardly back to Nanoha rubbing the back of her neck nervously, "Ah Signum called me this morning to cancel she had an emergency mission so I was hoping we could put on the sparring match instead. The guys are offering to provide support for both of us, two on two to show how a good partnership covers each others' weaknesses. Yuuno and you fight together as well as we do together and I'm used to working with Noir-kun so it should be fairly well matched."

Nanoha's stomach began to roll, "So it'd be you and Noir-san versus Yuuno-kun and me?"

The rat gave her a cheeky grin from Fate's shoulder running his paws through her hair. Fate distractedly patted his paw away, "Yeah, if we teamed up we'd blow them up into little pieces of ferret jerky as Chrono-nii likes to point out," she laughed at this idea and the ferrets jumped off her at the affront.

'Not a bad idea,' Nanoha thought blackly. "Um okay, that will work, let's get set up," she agreed with false cheer.

From behind her popped up Hayate, "Oh good you have already agreed to the little match, let's see if the White Devil team can take out the Black Angel team."

The match only lasted five minutes but it had to be said they were the most terrifying five minutes of everyone there's lives. It having ended with a fivefold Starlight Breaker which somehow encompassed both the support mages and Fate when she moved into range to protect them from the gathering blast of energy. Nanoha's temper had been triggered when the black ferret had begun taking liberties with Fate's person, crawling on her in ways that did not seem justified in her jealousy clouded mind. Finally breaking through his barrier with a Divine Buster flinging him across the field near his cousin who was fast becoming a traitor in her mind with how much he was supporting the FatexNoir coupling. When the smoke and debris settled Nanoha saw the tattered remains of Fate's barrier jacket and was guilt stricken (and secretly enticed) leaving her standing alone on the field speechless.

Climbing to her feet and deactivating her device Fate returned to her training uniform and came over to Nanoha laughing, "Still the same, it's always Full Power Full Throttle, it's a good thing I've grown nearly impervious to your magic. Nearly seven years of failing to dodge that insane move of yours and not dying has nearly made me immortal."

Pulling Nanoha into a hug she pressed their foreheads together, "But you really need to learn to hold back, Yuuno-kun and Noir-kun could have been seriously hurt. I was joking earlier about turning them into ferret jerky Nanoha," seeing the girl blush she sighed with resignation as she pulled away placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

"Now, now Fate-chan no lovey-dovey stuff on the practice field, not unless you plan on sharing with more than just Nanoha-chan. If that's going to be the case then rest of us would like to get in line, I know me and Noir-kun would love to cuddle up and get to know your softer side better," the midget Lt Col joked then ran once she saw the twin looks of disapproval shooting death glares at her.

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Nanoha had been training new recruits all morning but was distracted thinking of where she'd rather be at that very moment. Fate had been home for a fortnight and other than the disastrous impromptu sparring match, a few "family" meals and telepathic conversations they hadn't spent any time together. Right now she knew Fate's group was awaiting further orders, so she was taking it easy in her dorm and goofing off occasionally with her family and the ferrets. She wanted to be there, sitting on the couch with Fate's head in her lap watching TV. Or better yet take a nice nap with her favorite blonde body pillow.

Noir in Nanoha's opinion was getting way too familiar with Fate, she came over one morning to make breakfast for her best friend with Lindy and Fate had opened the door wearing a in a pair of faded yoga pants and a t-shirt. She also had a totally unnecessary accessory in a black ferret riding on her shoulder, it had been playing with her hair. It had taken all of her self control not to snatch the parasite off Fate's shoulder and fling it against wall bashing its little interloper brains out.

Nanoha had never experience these kinds of feelings, oh she never liked sharing Fate with others but she was always the first person to push Fate into doing things on her own and making new friends. Fate was really coming into her own, she was the talk of the NCO club, lots of men and women were interested in the young and upcoming Ace of the Navy. This past year alone she had really filled out and was voted behind the scenes as the hottest female in the Naval branch of the TSAB. It made Nanoha feel more than a hint of pride to know the hottest girl in the Navy preferred to hang out with her versus one of her multitude of admirers.

Yet at this moment she was standing in mid-air watching her recruits slog through the mud and avoid being shot down by her training drones and her randomly shot Divine Shooters (just to keep them on their toes) instead of being where she wanted to be. She ignored the chill she was feeling and sniffled before wiping her nose with a handkerchief. Vita came over to her, enclosed in a protective bubble to keep herself dry, "Damn it Nanoha-chan are you trying to make yourself sick?!"

"It's too hard to catch everything they do with the bubble, besides I never get sick." The last bit came out hoarsely and she began to cough to clear her throat.

"Get the hell out of here, get a warm shower and then into some warm dry clothes, I'll take care of the babies." The short red head groused at Nanoha.

Smiling at the kind offer and more than willing to take it, she leaned over and hugged the diminutive woman quickly, "Thanks Vita-chan, you're the best," then took off before she could try to hit her with her hammer.

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Nanoha did as she was told and was now making her way to Fate's dorm and saw her other best friend sitting outside the door with her ear stuck to the door to listen into the conversation going on inside. Opening a telepathic link with the troublesome short haired brunette, "Ne Hayate-chan what do you think you're doing?"

The girl twitched and looked up at the unamused look on Nanoha's face, smiled sheepishly before responding through their connection, "They're talking about families and romantic prospects."

"They?" Nanoha felt her eye begin to twitch again, 'didn't he ever leave Fate alone for a minute.'

"Fate and her harem," Hayate replied mockingly.

"Hmm who's in there with her exactly?" she asked, her fists tightened to the point of her nails digging into her palms.

"The ferret twins, Chrono, and Zafira with Arf in their puppy forms, apparently Noir-kun is interested in their makeup as they transform like the Scryas naturally," she answered honestly as she could see Nanoha was about two seconds from finally snapping and she didn't have her camera.

Then she heard Noir's voice again, "Oh shush it's getting good, come here and listen."

Torn over wanting to learn more about the Fate never with her and wanting to give her friend her privacy she finally relented to the temptation and quietly sunk to the ground next to Hayate and pressed her ear to the door.

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"Sir, Lady Nanoha is outside the door now with Mistress Hayate shall I open the door now?" Bardiche reported to his master.

Fate knew exactly when her nosey friend had started her spying and as such had allowed the topics to range onto ones she knew would make her foam at the mouth in excitement. But now Nanoha was outside and she didn't want her to have any misunderstanding when it came to her own feelings. "Thank you Bardiche no, hold off opening the door this may give me a chance to finally get my intensions clear to her."

"Very good Sir, I have requested Lady Raising Heart to not alert her mistress of our knowledge and she has consented." The mechanical male voice replied.

The smile on her face caught Noir's attention, "Fate, are you okay? Talking to your friend again?"

Giving a small shake of her head to clear it, "No, I was just thinking about family, what it really means, you are very lucky to have a sister, I was created in a hope of reviving my dead sister but in the end I was left behind. If not for Lindy-oka and Chrono-nii I would never have gotten to enjoy the experience of having a warm loving family of my own growing up."

Chrono blushed, as much as he loved his adopted sister it still was embarrassing to be addressed with the familial suffix in front of others. Fate saw the blush and blushed herself, they both were so reserved normally that these little moments of familial intimacy always caught her off guard, Nanoha really was having an effect on her, she could say the things in her heart so much easier now.

"Well if you marry a man with a sister you'll automatically inherit a sister," Yuuno pointed out in hopes of directing Fate's attention to his cousin and his obvious amorous affection.

"No, I won't ever be marrying a man, my preferences lay in a different direction, you know that very well Yuuno-kun." She couldn't help raising an eyebrow at him as if to say, 'are you being stupid on purpose?'

Hoping to divert the conversation which was now becoming strained as Noir worked out what Fate's words meant, Arf broken in, "Fate-chan already as sisters, sisters-in-arms like Signum."

"That's true Arf but I can't really treat her like I would a real sister, she is too imposing, I respect her too greatly to try to get to familiar with her. It would be kinda awkward if we suddenly started getting huggy and used pet names for each other."

Giving her master a canine grin, "I thought you two already did that, she calls you Testarossa when no one else does and when you two are sparring you can get pretty physical grappling with each other."

Fate flicked a tufted ear and shook her head, "That's a very loose interpretation of the facts."

Fate then turned to the blue wolf pup sitting on her brother's lap that had barked a laugh, Zafira immediately saw the unamused look and began to cough-bark to cover up his indiscretion. Chrono seeing his sister's face immediately ejected the pup from his lap, if his sister was going to zap someone he didn't plan on being collateral damage. Fate's look of annoyance broke into laugher at the yelp from the blue pup at the sudden fall, seeing her relax he decided to further distract her by offering up another potential sister candidate, "What about Hayate-chan, you two seem pretty close, you have no problem hugging and all that."

"Hmm, I guess but I don't know, she's such a pervert sometimes, I'd feel even more uncomfortable with the idea of her as a sibling then I did originally with you Chrono-kun, the whole "fufufu little-sister-but-not-related-by-blood-moe" thing she'd probably pull. It's bad enough she likes to grope me as it is, I'm not sure what it'd be like to have to live with her." Her mind began to drift and she shuddered.

The rest of the close knit group laughed at this and Zafira took the opportunity to jump back on Chrono's lap.

~"~"~Meanwhile outside

Nanoha was trying her best to glare angrily and not laugh at the same time. The outraged look on Hayate's face at being called a pervert and the accusation of her probable attempts on Fate's honor if they lived together, making it hard for her to restrain her laughter. But she also had to glare at her friend, how dare she grope her Fate, she was not communal property damn it, if anyone was going to be grabbing bits of Fate it would be her.

~"~"~Back inside

Noir looked at the blonde hard and questioned, "What about that girl you are always talking about Nanaha?"

Fate gave him a sharp eyed look, "It's Na~no~ha, I have told how to say it correctly enough times now, Noir-kun please make the effort to remember her name correctly she is my most important person."

"So she's the most like a sister to you then?" he asked with a tone of hopeful denial, he really didn't want to believe the rumors and innuendo.

"No, she is nothing like a sister to me, I'm in love with her," the statement was made with no hesitation.

The black haired man was taken aback, "Oh so you two really are a couple?"

A delicate long fingered hand rubbed at Fate's forehead, "No, I want that but she doesn't take me seriously. But one day maybe, that's my goal."

He tried to convince Fate smoothly, "If she doesn't take your feelings seriously don't you think it'd be better to be with someone who could return your feelings properly. You are a wonderful young woman and shouldn't have to waste your time and affections on someone who doesn't realize your worth."

Fate stood up suddenly angry, "She does recognize my worth, she saved me from myself, she saw me as an individual and not merely as a defective copy when all I wanted to do was earn my insane maker's affection. She taught me what it means to be a friend. I owe her everything, anything good and wholesome in my life now is a direct result of her reaching out to me when no one else cared."

"Fate calm down, besides from the sound of it you are you are confusing gratitude and your feelings of indebtedness to this girl with love. You shouldn't feel like you have to give yourself to her just because she helped you in the past." Noir again tried to smoothly convince her.

The girl laughed bitterly, "If that was the case then I'd feel just as indebted to Yuuno-kun. When I was stuck on the Asura during my trial he was with me, became my second true friend. He helped me prepare my defense as much as the Harlaowns, he gave me his attention and friendship with the same openheartedness as Nanoha. But I don't feel anything more than friendship for him. When Nanoha was nearly killed I nearly died inside, she is my light, not because I owe her anything but because of everything she gives to me. Everyday knowing she is in the world gives me the strength to do my best. I don't feel like I have to earn her love, she gives it freely. She has always let me know I am cared for, that I am not alone anymore. I just want more, I want her to be my girlfriend and someday my wife."

Making one final push to make Fate realize what she was saying, "So then you are attracted to her physically, you want to have sex with her? That's what married couples do, or are you so self deluded that you want hide behind your so-called deep emotional connection that you have forgotten what it really means to be in a romantic relationship."

"Yes, I want to have sex with her, I want to touch her and kiss her and do all the other things couples do. I am not ashamed of wanting her, of being a lesbian. Here on Mid being a lesbian isn't as big a deal as being a clone, if Nanoha has no problem with either aspect of me then what's the problem?" Fate replied steadily despite the growing warmth in her cheeks.

"Then what about me, if you didn't have feelings for me then why all this?" he asked in a hurt tone to take in their living arrangements. "What about that kiss? Didn't that mean anything to you?"

Really angry now, "That wasn't a kiss! I gave you mouth to mouth resuscitation, only a five year old would confuse that with a real kiss. As for you staying here I offered as a courtesy, I thought we were friends, this kind of thing is what friends do for each other in my experience. If you somehow deluded yourself into believing there was anything else going on that's not my fault. I never once lied about my preferences or gave you a reason to think I wanted more than friendship."

"You conniving little bitch!" he yelled back from his wounded pride.

Suddenly four very angry people were standing between him and Fate. The first to open fire on him was his own cousin, "Noir, when I first heard you were coming back to Mid with Fate I was happy, you were one of my only friends growing up then you left to join the service and I was alone. I wanted you to be happy and thought that maybe if I gave you some support you could make Fate happy, seeing how oblivious Nanoha is to her feelings I thought it at least couldn't hurt. But I realized something in the past two weeks that I never wanted to admit, you are an arrogant brat, you always had to have things your own way. So the girl you like doesn't like you back and you decide to curse her and throw a tantrum like the five year old she called you. You don't deserve Fate and never will."

The black haired man was gaping at his cousin, his normally cool suave face now flushed red and not at all handsome. The two familiars were cracking their knuckles and getting ready to demonstrate what happens to people who insult their friend/family. But Chrono stepped forward first, and punched him in the face knocking him back onto the couch before letting out the rest of his anger in words, "You really are a weasel Noir, I made allowances for some of the things you pulled on me during our academy days since we were so young and your record was so impressive. But you better believe I will never allow anyone talk to my sister that way. You get the hell out of this dorm, out of our lives, I'll be seeing to it that you are never in the same time-space as my sister again."

The man stood up went to his side of the room and gathered his things as quickly as possible and was getting ready to storm out when the door flashed open and a very irate looking Nanoha was standing in his way. For the second time he was struck by a Divine Buster, but this time he had no shield ready and worse, no one moved to save him.

~"~"~"~"~"~

Fate's dorm was pretty much destroyed by the resulting blast of magical energy, though everyone but Noir was fine thankfully. The blonde had to find temporary housing in the meantime and that meant either staying with Chrono and his family or Nanoha, it was a very easy decision to make. Settling onto the couch in Nanoha's room she leaned her head back and shut her eyes. Nanoha was nervously standing over the girl, she had heard everything of course and now wanted to confirm her own feelings for Fate.

Edging closer and settling next to Fate on the couch she called out softly, "Ne Fate-chan can we talk?"

The blonde could feel the nervousness of her best friend, 'silly girl,' was all she could think so when she called out to her she decided to tease her a little to break the tension. "Hmm, yes Nanoha," she replied sleepily without opening her eyes.

"I want to tell you something, um it's really important so could you look at me?"

Fate instead snuggled in deeper into the couch before snaking out an arm to capture Nanoha around the waist and pull her into her lap. Wriggling her around until she laying across her lap and was tucked into her arms, "Um much better, what did you want to talk about?"

The auburn haired girl was beet red having made a number of embarrassing squeaking noises as Fate pulled and poked her into place. Looking up into the serenely still face with eyes still shut she pouted, "Mou Fate-chan, I was being serious!"

The girl went to hit her friend on the top of her head but the hand was caught and pulled to the blonde's mouth where a gentle kiss was placed on each knuckle before it was turned over and another was placed on the sensitive skin of her wrist. Gasping, "Fate-chan, don't…I…we need to talk."

Fate finally opened her eyes, "Mmm, what is it Nanoha? I'm listening."

There was an explosion of butterflies in Nanoha's stomach at the warmth in those burgundy eyes, "Oh," was all she could say before the blonde moved in and sealed her mouth with a gentle kiss.

Fate had seen the flushed look of desire on her best friend's face when she opened her eyes, those few gentle kisses having finally awoken something in Nanoha, unable to restrain herself any longer she moved in to finally claim the lips of her love. Her lips were soft and tasted so sweet, that Fate tightened her hold on the girl bringing her closer. Nanoha in return slid her arms around her neck and pulled her down with equal vigor. When they finally came up for air Nanoha was laying on her back on the couch with Fate hovering over her, foreheads pressed together as the panted to catch their breath.

"You will be my girlfriend now won't you?" Fate asked in a breathless voice.

Nanoha was stunned, this was going far easier than she imagined but all the same she had to say her piece, "Uhm, yes of course, but Fate-chan you aren't being fair."

A fine blonde eyebrow went up, "Oh, I thought I was being fair, I gave you a chance to speak but all you did was entice me into kissing you."

Sapphire eyes flashed with consternation, "I did not! You kissed me before I had a chance to say anything."

Fate merely smiled, then leaned in once more to kiss the girl senseless, far too much time had been wasted and was being wasted in useless words. At first her plan seemed to be working then she found them being rolled off the couch and she landed on the carpeted floor hard with a triumphed Nanoha sitting on top of her. The sapphire eyed girl then caught her arms in a bind over her head, "Now are you ready to listen or do I have to teach you how to listen properly?"

Gulping the blonde girl nodded. Suppressing her cat that ate the canary smile Nanoha began, "Fate-chan, I really sorry I never took your confessions before seriously, I can't imagine how much that hurt you. I was so scared of losing you as a friend especially after my accident, I don't know what I'd do without you by my side. When you left for your mission I was really nervous and the longer you were away the harder it became to keep all my feelings under control. So I decided I was finally going to take up your offer of dating, I didn't want to lose you to anyone else, but when you came home you had that ferret with you…"

Nanoha was interrupted by Fate's laughter at that line.

"What?! Your brother calls Yuuno-kun that all the time and you don't laugh."

"Um yeah but it's the tone of voice and because it's you. Were you really jealous of Vespers?"

"Ugh! It went beyond jealousy, I was daydreaming of ways of destroying him, I don't like other people touching you let alone crawling all over you in that so not innocent guise of a ferret."

"Ha-ha, I can understand that, I was really confused as to why I would get angry with Yuuno-kun when we were younger, he's a great friend but whenever I saw him looking all cute and fluffy riding on your shoulder I wanted to blast him."

"Mou Fate-chan if you knew how painful it can be to see that then why did you let it do that?"

"I never thought you'd be jealous, I thought you understood how much I love you and that no one else could ever replace you in my heart. When I was younger I was so scared of losing you to someone else, I never felt worthy of being your friend. But you made me see that no matter what you'd always be there for me and I stopped worrying. I'm sorry I hurt you Nanoha that was never my intention."

Fate then tugged on the bind breaking it then took Nanoha's hands in hers, "I love you, you are the only person in the multiverse I can see myself with."

"I love you too Fate-chan, no matter what happens in the future you are the only one I want to be with."

Smiling Fate pulled her back down for another kiss, life was perfect.