Joint Fiction ~ nioki-nainai and ElementalMiko12

Disclaimer: We do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha or its characters! No copyright infringement was intended ~

Author's Note: Nao and Lyn here we hope everyone's enjoying the story thus far. This will be a pretty long story and one that is a little out of both of our element, but we will try and make regular updates. ^^

Well we've taken up enough time with this small note so have fun reading; HOPE YOU ENJOY!

Writing Style:

Normal text = Narration
Italic text = Past events
"Double inverted commas = speech"
'Single inverted comma = thoughts'

Take a shot
Chapter 2: Falling

Nanoha woke up with a start as she stretched her arms high above her head, trying to ease her tensed muscles as best as she could before she hopped out of bed. Her long chestnut hair was messy and her face still held this tired look about it as she waltzed across her apartment's hardwood flooring. Her bare feet slapped against it, with each step taken peeling harmlessly off the floor like a sticker. Nanoha's feet soon met the white glossy tiles of her small bathroom, across from where her queen sized bed sat in the midst of her fairly large room. Nanoha looked up, pulling her hair apart which previously somewhat curtained her eyes from being hit with the unwanted sunlight, revealing those pretty blue eyes that managed to enchant a certain blonde haired officer. Nanoha splashed some cool refreshing water against her face to wake herself up. Fate would be soon waiting for her...

Fate was going to teach her a few more things about shooting, even though she was now well aware of her amazing long ranged shooting skills. Nanoha dropped her hands back down into the sink; cupping her hands under the water, gathering a decent amount of water into her hands. The water rippled in her hands as more water rushed from the faucet to her cupped hands. She found herself staring tiredly into the clear liquid as she recalled yesterday's events.

"Okay Nanoha, let's see what you've got!", Hayate commanded, pointing over at the target. The group of candidates frowned in not making the cut; why was the Commander even keeping them here, they wondered.

Fate shook her head. "Nanoha you don't have to...", she began, but soon stopped after Nanoha held up her hand. Fate raised a questioning eyebrow as Nanoha turned to her group and pulled out a mirror, asking one of them to hold it for her.

Nanoha pulled off a long duffle bag looking gun case that up till now had been strapped to her back. She pulled out an AI Tactical Eliminator 2 rifle with a 24" stainless steel barrel without a muzzle brake and a 26" with muzzle brake, which is multi-baffle and cylindrical. The rifle also looked to be equipped with Leopold PRW mounts, as well as a 4.5 x14 power Zeiss Conquest Z-Plex scope.

Fate's jaw dropped; the gun was simply gorgeous!

Nanoha smiled at her family's heirloom that had been passed down from her grandfather to her mother, and now to her. She clipped in her five round magazine; handling the beautiful glossy unscathed rifle with care, as she walked to the candidate with the mirror and faced them, placing the rifle securely against her shoulder. Nanoha instructed the candidate holding the mirror, until she found her sight perfectly aligned like she wanted. Nanoha nodded satisfied, adjusting her gun to her sight in the mirror; seconds later she shot five consecutive times, barely feeling the recoil as the rifle shot.

Nanoha grinned a little as she pulled the gun off her shoulder, releasing the guns magazine clip. Smoke was still oozing from the barrel as she repositioned the rifle her family had named Raising Heart.

As the target came closer, Hayate stared in amazement; for once she was baffled. All the shots had hit within the bullseye and all of them were shot right next to each other, simply making the first hole made by the first bullet bigger with each shot. Hayate turned her gaze to Nanoha as the tall brunette turned to look at Fate, who seemed just as speechless as she was.

"Amazing!", someone with short purple hair shouted, while a girl with orange hair pulled up into pigtails, scolded her friend for speaking without being first addressed by a superior.

Fate finally tore her eyes from the target, watching as Nanoha placed her weapon of choice away with care. "I'm impressed.", Fate told Nanoha, who seemed rather nervous after slinging her gun's bag over her shoulder. Fate grinned, raising her eyebrows in a care to explain manner. "Nanoha, care to explain this to me... I mean, this was perfect, especially compared to how you shot at the Firing Range. Was something wrong earlier?", she asked, having a distinctive guess already as to why she missed that shot, now that she'd seen Nanoha's real shooting skills.

Nanoha's cheeks looked as if someone had popped a red paint filled balloon in her face. Her eyes started shifting nervously around the room, soon closing them as she began rubbing the back of her neck to calm her racing nerves. Nanoha opened her eyes and forcefully chuckled. "Um well... you see... um... I'd rather not talk about it... It's a secret.", she replied, eyeing a snickering Hayate and the crowd of participants behind her.

Nanoha splashed some water against her face again in hopes of waking herself up a little more. Clapping her hands to grip the front corners of the sink, Nanoha stared at her sleepy state in the mirror as water dripped down her face, leaving this cool and refreshing feeling engulfing her, before smiling to herself. She leaned back off the sink and began removing her usual pajamas, which consisted of an exercise bra and a pair of boxer shorts. Pulling back the white plastic curtain hiding her tub, she stepped in and fiddled with the faucets knobs, adjusting the temperature as the water pooled down at her feet. When it reached the desired temperature, Nanoha pulled up the small lever at the end of the silver coated faucet, letting her shower head rain warm water droplets all over her, further waking her once sleepy body.

Fate pulled into the driveway of Nanoha's home and just as she went to turn off the engine, Nanoha rushed out of her house in a baby blue exercise bra and mid-thigh black shorts. Fate's eyes scanned over her and she forced herself to quickly look away when she felt a little blood trickling down her chin. She found herself deeply thankful to Nanoha's neighbors for stopping her before she could get to the car as they started up a little small chat with her. Fate didn't give much importance to what the chat was about and quickly grabbed hold of the box of tissues that she kept in her glove compartment. She pulled down her sun visor and rapidly wiped away any traces of blood in record time. "I will Miss Fernandez! Thanks and take care!", Nanoha's voice rang out, causing Fate to quickly hide all evidence away before Nanoha could see.

Opening the car's door, Nanoha quickly entered inside and sat down, buckling her seatbelt. As soon as Nanoha was ready, Fate shifted gears and began to back out of the brunette's driveway to begin their journey to their destination. Nanoha couldn't help herself but to periodically steal glances of Fate, who was wearing the same outfit as her, aside from the different exercise bra color which was black and yellow instead.

They exchanged some small talk on their way to Fate's favorite running area; Fate told her that she had always gone running there since she was in high school. Nanoha smiled finding out that Fate had once been the leader of her school's track team and that she had a chance to go to the Olympic, but declined the opportunity to go.

Nanoha smiled as Fate stopped the car, parking along side of the entrance road. "I was also in a track team, but I wasn't the leader." Nanoha told her partner as she opened the passenger door, before slipping out of the car and off the nice leather interior of Fate's car. It gave a slight creak at her movements as she stepped onto the curb while a light wind slapped at her cheeks, giving this hot and sunny day a refreshing feel.

Small birds of various species gathered lazily on the tall black metal fence which surrounded the park; leaving the entrances around the park's sides as the only point of entry. Many birds sang songs while others danced, chased or hunted for worms by attacking the harmless ground beneath them. The tall thick trees shook, releasing a few leaves from their tied down prison as they fluttered about in the wind before eventually skidding down to a stop on the ground. Sound of children's laughter echoed all around, as they played games like soccer, football, baseball and hide and seek amongst friends.

Fate chuckled closing her driver-side door, planting her hand over the hood of her car, running her hand over its smooth surface, slowly walking around the front of her glossy black vehicle. As she stepped onto the curb, Fate removed her hand from her car's hood and began fiddling with her long hair as she pulled it back into big pigtails at either side of her head.

Flashing Nanoha a toothy grin, Fate broadly smiled, slapping her hand against Nanoha's, signaling her that they were going to move. Leading her through the entrance, Fate showed Nanoha where the runners track was and soon she began jogging, followed by Nanoha.

Running along the track, Nanoha kept looking around, admiring the beautiful environment surrounding them. "Wow, this is gorgeous!", Nanoha said, jogging at Fate's pace. A majority of the trees hung over the trail keeping any joggers out of direct sunlight. There were also several small snack carts set up around the area.

"Yeah... gorgeous.", Fate mumbled, staring into Nanoha's brilliant blue eyes as they sparkled with life. 'Her eyes... they're so beautiful... I would stare into them for hours if I could... It's like there's a whole world behind them... A world I want to know...', she thought, paying no attention to the beautiful alignment of the trees or their beautiful multiple color range from green, to yellow, to orange, to red, and brown.

Nanoha turned to Fate and noticeably blushed when she caught Fate's completely enchanted stare. 'Are we talking about the same thing?', the tall brunette wondered. Her off center chestnut pony tail bobbed around as her blonde pigtails companion jogged beside her. "Fate?", Nanoha started, trying to snap her out of this trance but had no success. "Fate... Fate, oh my god, watch out!", Nanoha yelled trying to stop her partner before it was too late.

Fate groaned, rubbing her head as she laid down sprawled out on the ground, feeling slightly dizzy as she watched little dancing Nanoha's circle her head shaking maracas. Now with a head pounding headache, Fate returned to the real world with a nice conk to the noggin.

Nanoha dropped down next to the blonde who had fallen back on her butt and was now nursing that nice irritated knot that formed due to her running into a metal pole. "Fate, are you okay?", Nanoha asked, concerned of Fate's well-being.

The blonde shook her head, blinking a couple of times before looking up to her partner. "Yeah, yeah… I was lost in thought and got distracted for a second... I'm ok, don't worry...", she said as she slightly smiled, not wanting to worry her partner. Fate watched Nanoha hug her arms around her knees.

Nanoha released a heartfelt sigh as she tilted her head to the side, slightly giving Fate a small smile of relief. "You scared me for a second. What were you thinking about?", she asked, finding herself curious as to what had distracted her blonde haired partner so much that caused her to bump into a metal pole.

As Fate registered the question and tried to find an answer, various shades of red appeared on her face as blood gathered and took residence in her cheeks. "I… I um… N-nothing… D-don't w-worry…", she stuttered, feeling too embarrassed to say the truth.

Those nice shades of red didn't go unnoticed by the long-haired brunette. Feeling more curious, Nanoha decided to try and find out. "Come on, tell me!", she said, extending her hand to Fate to help her stand up from the ground.

Fate gently grabbed Nanoha's hand and smiled happily, feeling that soft and smooth touch her partner had. "It's a secret… But let's make a deal. If you tell me what distracted you last time, I'll tell you what distracted me just now. What do you think?", Fate asked, knowing already what answer she should expect to receive as she slowly tried to get back up.

Nanoha blushed, letting go of the grip from Fate's hand, causing the blonde to fall back down.
Fate immediately chuckled as she received the expected answer. "Should I take that as a no?", she asked in a playful tone. She still couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed.

Nanoha giggled while nodding her head. "Yeah… but I may accept if you manage to catch me.", she replied with a teasing tone as she gave Fate a wink and a mischievous smile, waiting for an answer. The wind tickled at her ears as a squirrel scurried across the grass, clawing its way up one of the trees.

Fate raised an eyebrow. 'Okay maybe I didn't know.', she thought, before she started smiling like someone who had won the lotto, giving a single nod with her head. "Deal!", she replied, happy with the idea of playfully chasing Nanoha. 'This should be an easy win!' Fate thought, recalling her high school speed rank when she was the track team's leader. She'd been by far the fastest in the state!

With the anticipated answer received, Nanoha dashed away from her partner, running deeper into the park. Fate quickly stood up, sprinting to run after her. Watching intently as Nanoha weaved in and out of trees trying to lose her view. Nanoha hopped over some bushes and succeeded in vanishing from Fate's view.

'What in hell, where'd she go?!' Fate thought, as she skid to a stop spinning around on her heels, looking for any trace of the brunette. Fate sighed closing her wine red eyes, letting her sense of hearing take over all her senses. There were chirps, whistles, squeaks, squawks, laughter, far off stomps, ruffling leaves over her head, and a loud crunch sound that reminded her of snapping twigs. Fate grinned, spinning around and diving blindly into the thick bush; she narrowly missed catching Nanoha by the waist as she hopped back, making Fate do a faceplant into a pile of leaves. Several more attempts later led to similar failures as Fate once again laid face first in the dirt.

Nanoha laughed, panting heavily as she spun around, dashing off again; this time taking refuge behind a thick tree. Nanoha took in a few deep breaths; she hadn't expected Fate to find her like that! Nanoha smiled, bringing her hands and forearms to press against her chest, as she gathered her wits about her to peek around the side of the tree to locate her cute blonde partner. Nanoha's cheeks darkened. 'Cute blonde partner, what am I thinking?!' she thought, as she turned curiously when she heard no movement. Looking around the tree, she startled when she didn't see a trace of Fate anywhere. Seeing so, Nanoha stepped out from behind the tree cautiously.

Fate snickered. "Gotcha!", Fate laughed out, appearing from the skies above the brunette, tackling Nanoha to the ground when she spun around to meet Fate unexpectedly dropping out of nowhere. 'She was in the tree waiting for me to move?!', Nanoha thought, as Fate pinned her arms over her head grinning triumphantly, heavily panting in desperate need of breath.

Nanoha pouted. "That… was... not… fair…", she said, attempting to take a breath between every word said. Sweat dripped back into her hair as she stared up at an equally tired and sweaty Fate. She found herself chuckling. 'I'm glad I gave you a run for your money... She looks so sexy right now...', Nanoha thought as she went wide eyed out of shock by her own bold thoughts.

Fate playfully smiled. "We didn't... set rules... You have... to tell m..." Before she could finish the sentence, Fate got interrupted by the sound of a barking dog. Taking a deep breathe, Fate gulps as she felt a cold chill up her spine. "I know this bark...", she said, speaking in a low voice. Lifting her head up to search for the source of the bark, Fate notices a grinning Hayate with two dogs by her side. 'Of all the people I could meet, it had to be her...', Fate thought while forcefully trying to smile at her childhood friend. "H-hey", she said, mentally cursing Madam Lady Luck inside her head for always playing these kinds of tricks on her at the worst possible times.

Hayate gave them an out of character cheshire cat grin which stretched itself across her face as she raised her eyebrows teasingly. "Well, what do we have here~? So this is why you couldn't walk Arf today.", Hayate spoke in the teasing all-knowing tone; a tone that Fate hated with a passion! The two women on the ground blushed a light tint of pink.

Fate quickly stood back up, brushing herself off. "It's not what you think...We came here to j-jog a...", Fate started as she helped Nanoha to her feet. Now that they weren't so close, she could think clearly again; Fate's cheeks suddenly darkened, realizing how close they had been moments ago. 'I-I can't believe I pinned her down like that...', Fate thought, as she could still feel Nanoha's warmth that had transferred to her legs from straddling her sides.

Hayate interrupted her childhood friend, closing her eyes as she waved a finger at Fate in front of her, giving her a teasing grin. "Fate, Fate, Fate. There's no need to explain. I'm glad you chose to use your FREE time WISELY.", Hayate told her, adding quotations with her fingers when she said the words free and wisely to emphasize them, as she stepped closer to the pair. She then turned her smile to Nanoha. "Fate you should just take her to a hotel and get it over with already. You know you... Youch!", she yelled with tears in her eyes as she hopped around on one foot, dropping Arf's leash down to hold the foot that Fate had just stomped on with her now free hand.

Fate planted her foot back on the ground next to her as she watched her friend bounce around with an annoyed look on her face. The now free dog rushed to Fate while the other sat idly by, watching his master bounce around in place for several more seconds.

Hayate pointed at Fate with tears in her eyes. "Zafira, auntie Fate hurt me. Sick her!", she whined to the huge police dog that stood to her mid-thigh in height. He tilted his head at his master for a moment, before following her finger with his head to meet Fate's gaze. Zafira's ears twitched as he stood up and did a few circles around Hayate. "Ah... Wait Zaf...", Hayate started, only to fall face first into the ground.

Fate laughed hysterically, watching as Zafira plopped butt down on Hayate's back; all that was missing from this picture was Zaffy bringing his paw up and saluting.

Nanoha frowned looking down at her leg, finding the dog that had been loving up on Fate a minute ago, was trying to push her away and was now growling at her. Had she done something wrong?

"Arf be nice. Nanoha this is Arf; Arf this is Nanoha!", Fate introduced after tugging Arf away from Nanoha, hoping to stop her from growling at the tall brunette.

Nanoha smiles, lowering down on her knees. "Hello Arf. Nice to meet you.", she said sweetly, slowly extended her hand to pet Arf, soon pulling it away as the dog showed her its teeth. The dogs ears pinned themselves down against its skull and the fur on Arf's neck spiked up as she knelt down low to the ground in attack position.

"Arf!", Fate shouted, tugging once again the leash to make her stop. "Don't do that.", she continued, lowering down in front of Arf. Seeing her control partner shouting at her, Arf stopped and lowered down, looking up at Fate, giving off a whine. "Good girl. You shouldn't growl at Nanoha. She's my friend and work partner. You can't do that, ok?", she asked as she started petting Arf's head.

Nanoha watched as Fate started talking with her dog and was now expecting some kind of answer, which she soon received. Arf jumped at Fate, pinning her control partner down while licking the blonde's face. The brunette admired the scene as her partner happily smiled and laughed at the dog's behavior. 'She looks like she's enjoying herself... That honest smile... You can really tell that she's happy by this... Arf seems to be happy too... Well, she has all reason to be...', she thought as she started eyeing Arf.

Fate was struggling to get up. "Arf... Arf, stop that... come on.", she said as she tried to make Arf stop licking her face. "Arf, no more... I love you too... Let me get up now...", Fate said, watching as her dog moved to a side to let her get up. Standing back up on her knees, Fate smiled, petting Arf's head. "Good girl.", the blonde said, planting a gentle kiss above Arf's nose before she started lightly scratching Arf's sensitive ears.

"Lucky dog", Nanoha whispered in a low voice as she closed her eyes, lightly scratching at her cheek, embarrassed at feeling somehow jealous of Arf. Blood gathered to her cheeks as images of her kissing Fate flashed through her head, unconsciously wiping away some of the drool with the back of her hand.

Unfortunately for Nanoha, someone happened to hear that whisper, snapping her out of her amazing fantasy. "Oh ho ho, what was that Nanoha? Did I hear that correctly? Could you repeat it again?", Hayate asked, grinning at what the long haired brunette has just said. As she continued to struggle to get out of her predicament on the ground, Zafira had gotten up and was now trying to help her, after she promised him a treat when they got back.

Nanoha felt her cheeks suddenly burn up again as she nervously waved her hands in front of herself, trying to deny what she mumbled moments ago. "N-nothing... I d-didn't s-say a-anything...", she stuttered, feeling stupid that she had let that thought slip out of her lips.

Hayate stood as the leash untangled and she tapped lightly at her clothes ridding them of dirt. Seeing Nanoha's behavior, she couldn't help herself but to chuckle, dropping down in front of Zafira. "Someone isn't being sincere here; with us and with her feelings. Am I right, Zafira?", she asked while petting her dog's head. Zafira immediately howled, causing Hayate to laugh and turn facing Nanoha. "See, he agrees too.", she said, causing Nanoha's cheeks to turn into various darker shades of red.

The laughter caught the attention of the blonde haired. Turning back to her friend and partner, Fate finds her childhood friend chuckling while her partner was heavily blushing. "What did I miss?", she asked curiously, wanting to know what could possibly make Nanoha blush in such a cute manner.

Hayate mischievously grinned while standing back up, giving a playful pat on Nanoha's shoulder. "Nothing Fate. You missed absolutely nothing, right Nanoha?", she asked, enjoying the reactions the long haired brunette was having. Hayate snickered at her new officer as she watched her whole face turn red, with smoke rising off her cheeks as her eyes shined shyly with embarrassment.

Nanoha nervously nodded her head, agreeing with Hayate. "Y-yes. Y-you d-didn't m-miss a-anything F-Fate.", she replied, wanting to bury herself from the embarrassment of stuttering like an idiot with a schoolgirl's crush, and also the idea of Fate finding out what she had said didn't help calm her nervousness either.

Fate raised an eyebrow at the two as she gave them a slow not so convinced nod with her head, deciding to get Nanoha to tell her soon... She did after all win their little game of cat and mouse earlier. Fate lightly scratched Arf's orange fur; making it official in her mind that she'd get Nanoha to tell her at some point, 'Even if...', she thought, pausing long enough to smirk, 'I have to pin her again.', she continued as her heart started pounding against her chest at the engraved memory that was now saved in her memory bank.

When Hayate finished tapping the dirt off her clothes, she readjusted her shirt, removing the unneeded wrinkles. "Alright let's head to the department... and Fate...", Hayate said in a serious tone as she grabbed her blue furred companion's leash, kneeling down to Arf's level, petting her head. She looked up, finding Fate raising a questioning eyebrow at her. The short haired brunette broke out into a grin. "Nanoha sure is right... Arf is a lucky dog!", she told Fate, flashing Nanoha a devilish smile as she walked away with Zafira, giggling evilly behind her hand.

"Hayate!", Nanoha screeched loudly, running after the short haired brunette, ready to pound her for letting that slip, while Fate was left there to stare into space and process what just left her friend's mouth. Hayate screamed in the distance as she realized that the long haired brunette was already on her tail. She decided it was best if she hauled her ass back to Fate's parked car, also in hopes of giving the two some 'alone time'. As things quieted down, the three made their way back to the car with their two four-legged companions.

End of Chapter 2

Author's Note: And this is the end of our second chapter. We hope you enjoyed reading the story so far. We'd appreciate if you leave a comment or a review =]. All input and constructive criticisms will be appreciated. Let us know what you think.

Thanks again for taking your time to read our story.

Regards =]
ElementalMiko12 and nioki-nainai