Standard issue disclaimer: Akamatsu Ken created and owns Negima. I am not him. This is a parody, protected speech. Thanks to my cowriters and the reviewers.

A Decadent Habits Christmas
Chapter Two: Mana

In the handful of times when he'd been able to have a sit-down talk with a fellow battle-mage, he'd usually sounded out their thoughts on facing opponents armed with guns. Their opinions had universally been that the only threat such weapons posed to them would be from sniper fire. Any closer than that, and there were an embarassment of ways to prevent the gun from firing, or the bullet from striking.

Negi was not quite so sanguine. Of course, he suspected that his perspective was different because very few, if any, of his colleagues in the field counted any true masters of the gun among their close allies, as he did. For the most part, Mana agreed with their verdict. Her preferred method of dealing with an enemy mage was the sniper shot from a concealed position — with a magically incapacitating round if possible, but if not ... then not.

But she also had no illusions that she would always be able to have her choice of circumstances in every engagement. Relying too much on long-ranged attacks would be a weakness, and she abhorred weakness in herself. So Mana had set out to develop a set of tactics for close- to medium-range combat that allowed her to bring her strengths to bear, and Negi was happy to help her practice them. He was her teacher, after all, and it was only right to help his students to develop their skills.

Of course, the sessions involved some heavy handicapping on Negi's side. Not using Erebus, a power that practically no other caster had ever or would ever wield, was just the beginning of it. Mana didn't want him to reduce himself to the level of a 'normal' mage, whatever that was, since she would certainly never be facing one. But on the other hand, no matter how lethal the shooter, bullets couldn't be made to move faster than their propellants would permit. And those velocities were nowhere nearly as fast as he could go in lightning mode.

So, holding back from his full power, how did things go?

"I think you killed me twice over," Negi declared wearily, looking at the dye splatters on his coveralls as he lay on the forest floor.

"No," Mana reflected as she leaned back against one of the trees. "That one on your side, it's bad, but probably fixable if you have a healer nearby, and you probably would in a real fight. And I had to pull back after I pulled it off, so I wouldn't be able to follow through or cap the healer. Now, the one to your center of mass, that's a kill shot. Barring immediate, artifact-level healing, it'd have you bleeding out pretty quickly."

"So you win, then," he confirmed.

"Only if I survive the rest of the encounter, which is by no means certain," she replied with a shrug.

Negi nodded ruefully, imagining the fury that wouold be unleashed on someone who succeeded in killing him. It would have been much more flattering to his ego if he didn't find the thought of his friends on a grief-filled roaring rampage of revenge to be horrifically disturbing. The thought of his own death didn't bother him nearly as much. Or at least, it wouldn't have, up until recently.

"Well, up and at 'em, private," the mercenary said as she came over to offer him a hand up.

He winced at the nickname, bestowed on him after calling her 'Commander' once too many times. The embarrassment distracted him from realizing her intent until she'd pulled him up into a tight embrace, with her chin resting against the top of his head and his face against her left breast.

"It wasn't your fault, you know," Mana told him after a moment of silence.

"I never thought it was," he replied, not lifting his face to meet her gaze.

She let out a short laugh devoid of mirth. "You are a terrible liar. It's an endearing quality, really, but heaven help us all if you ever have to rely on verbal deception, querido ... ah, no, no flinching when I murmur sweet nothings, you'll give this poor girl a complex."

"Wouldn't want that," Negi muttered.

"I'll take snark if I have to, but I'd rather have that foolishly honest face of yours facing mine."

Obedient as ever, he lifted his head to look up at her.

"It wasn't your fault," Mana repeated.

"I know that."

"But you feel guilty, nonetheless. It's a lot easier than blaming me, isn't it?"

"Eh?" he asked, startled by the way that the conversation had suddenly turned. "Why would I blame you?"

"I had a warning, remember? Your mother dropped that bombshell on us right before she left. So I had plenty of time to change my ways. And I didn't. And so ... and so I had a miscarriage, and our daughter died without being born. And if it was anyone's fault, it was mine. Certainly not yours."

"But I could have done something," Negi protested.

"Like what? Force me to spend the next nine months in confinement?" she asked. Seeing a speculative look on Negi's face, she continued with considerably greater asperity. "I'd like to see you try it!"

"I suppose that would be a bit much to ask," he muttered.

"Damn straight," she said, as she shifted the embrace so that he was at her side. Together, they started to walk towards the path out of the forest, towards the shrine where Negi would change out of the coveralls and into his suit.

"Do you think about her a lot?" Negi asked softly, breaking the silence.

"I try not to," Mana answered, eventually. "Dwelling on might-have-beens is a good way to get yourself killed."

There were all too many of those, he mused, but chose to address another part of her statement. "You try?"

"I ... try."

NEXT: Chachamaru