A/N:

Thank you everyone for your kind reviews. I do have a plan for this story, and while it may not suit everyone's expectations, I hope you can still enjoy reading the story as much as I enjoy writing it.

In response to one of the guest comments, I made a quick search of the fanfiction database to look for the fic in question (regarding Fate and Hayate in a cave somewhere or something or rather), but have yet to find it. Unfortunately, I am not familiar with that work, but if I unwittingly infringe on anyone's idea, please feel free to let me know so I may take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation. With the "memory loss" theme being a rather popular vein in the world of fan fiction, it is unavoidable that some of the topics addressed in this work may resemble previous works. But I will endeavour to make this as interesting and novel a read as I possibly can.

With that in mind, let's move on to chapter 2. Once again, your kind support is always appreciated.

02:

The next few hours were occupied by an assortment of strangers coming through the door. Most of them crying uncontrollably. Some yelling at her for getting injured. Some bearing gifts they assured her she liked. But she really couldn't tell.

Fate smiled awkwardly, not entirely sure how else to react. It was like her life was a blank slate with simply her name scrawled across the top. If that was her name, anyway. She couldn't be sure if her name was all she could remember, or if it had been drummed into her mind with everyone calling her that. This seemingly endless tide of people barging into her room seemed to be looking for someone she was not. She gave her visitors what she hoped were friendly smiles, comforting some of those who were crying, especially the one named Yagami Hayate, who had a pretty dramatic flair for wailing. It felt odd comforting her visitors. Wasn't she the one who should be feeling sad? Yet it was difficult to feel sad when she didn't feel any loss.

There was a soft knock on the door and a slightly worn looking woman with slightly disheveled short purple hair entered the room. This one she knew. If only from their interactions earlier today. The doctor gave everyone an apologetic smile, assuring them she would only take a couple of minutes as she ushered them out of the room. Fate took a deep breath. Felt like she could breathe again.

"Harlaown-san." Dr Ishida began, setting her file down at the end of the bed while she moved to Fate's bedside. The blonde was silently thankful for the medical officer's intrusion. Being surrounded by sniffling strangers was beginning to become slightly suffocating. "How are you feeling?"

"Like crap." Fate answered. It was the most honest she had been all day.

"That's understandable. You were asleep for quite some time." Dr Ishida said, peering at the myriad of beeping machines. "Where is Takamachi-san?"

She must have been referring to that brown haired girl.

"She left just before everyone else came." replied Fate, making a mental name tag for the unknown girl and filing it away under 'friends of Fate'.

"I see… I would have thought she would have stayed longer."

"Why is that?"

Dr Ishida thought for a moment, unsure of how much information about Fate's past to divulge to her. "She's been here every day since you came in, Harlaown-san."

Fate contemplated her words as the doctor entered some notes on the holographic chart in front of her.

"Did I really know these people, sensei?" the blonde asked quietly, halting Dr Ishida.

"Harlaown-san," the older woman said, closing the holo-terminal with a quick wave of her hand to sit at the edge of the bed. "I have never seen a group of individuals more dedicated to someone. You are someone very important to them. Whether or not you remember them, they all love you, and I am certain you can feel that."

"I can, and that's what bothers me." Fate responded, the emptiness in her voice more evident. "I'm just somebody who looks like someone they knew."

"Here are your personal effects, Commander Harlaown."

Fate frowned at the receptionist giving her that strange forlorn look to accompany her inappropriately sweet tone, then at collection of items she did not recognise. It had been a week since she had woken up, and everyday seemed like a bombardment on her already fragmented mind. Every day someone new to remember. Every day questions from TSAB agents she could not possibly answer.

She was infinitely grateful to the one they called Shamal who, quite literally, worked her magic and got her atrophied muscles working again so she could be discharged much sooner than expected. She was constantly being visited by people she was beginning to get to know, most often by Hayate who managed to concoct a new excuse to visit every day.

But that pony tailed girl never came again.

What did Dr Ishida call her again?

Takamachi-san.

Right.

Damn these names were complex.

Burgundy eyes attempted to register the things displayed to her on the desk. Were these all really her belongings? There sure weren't a lot of them. A battered cellphone. 3 mostly destroyed access cards. A small silver key. She sifted through the items gingerly, eyes eventually falling on a simple band of white gold.

"Are you sure these are mine?" asked Fate again.

"Yes ma'am. Everything we found on you at the time."

The blonde enforcer frowned again, furrowing her brow as she scooped up the unfamiliar items into the bag she had. She picked up the ring last, tentatively trying it on each finger until it slid comfortably onto her left ring finger. However, regardless of how well the ring fit, it filled her with a sense of unimaginable sadness.

She promptly removed the ring and plopped it into the bag with the other belongings. She had enough sadness to deal with already.

"Home sweet home!" declared Hayate, wheeling Fate into the small studio apartment. The lift and door were a tad too small to accommodate the wheelchair, but through sheer willpower and determination, they were here, and Fate now had a marginally larger doorway.

"This… Is my room?" Fate questioned, looking about the small space. She had wondered what sort of person she used to be. But the walls were barren, the room devoid of the personal items that she was hoping might clue her in to a past forgotten. No photographs. No knick knacks or even civilian clothing. Even the fridge was barely stocked with anything other than some cans of drink. It was almost as if she never really did live here.

"Well, yeah." Hayate said, sensing a bit of the blonde's trepidation. "It's not much, but you hardly spend time here anyway. You're always off on some mission or another."

The blonde cast her faze around the small apartment. There wasn't much to orientate herself to, really. A small kitchen, and even smaller bathroom. A small glass table with a single dining chair. And an impeccably made sofa bed which Fate now moved to get herself seated on the edge of when Hayate sprung into action, grasping her hand and insisting on helping her up.

"Let me help you with that-"

Fate snatched her hand away roughly, turning to snap harshly at the brunette. "I'm an amnesiac, not a fucking cripple!"

Hayate was visibly taken aback by the blonde's sudden outburst, pausing for a moment before slowly letting go of the slim wrist in her hand.

Fate averted her gaze. The pain in the other girl's eyes was simply too difficult for her to keep looking at. "I'm… I'm sorry Yagami-san."

"Hayate." the brunette corrected, a hint of sadness in the smile she gave the blonde.

"Hayate." Fate sighed. "This is all just quite exhausting for me."

"Hahaha… That's alright, Fate. It's a lot to take in." Hayate's voice sounded slightly strained, her laugh sounding more hollow than she probably intended it to. "If you ever need anything, just call me."

The blonde furrowed her eyebrows slightly at the brunette. Calling her name with such familiarity, Yagami Hayate must have known her pretty well. She watched silently as Hayate fussed over a few other minor things about the house before hesitating in front of Fate. She seemed to be tossing things up in her head before relenting to whatever internal struggle she was battling and giving her an awkward hug, promising to call again the next day.

The click of the door shutting spurred the enforcer into action. Fate overturned the small paper bag onto the tiny dining table, poking at the items tentatively. She couldn't help but feel like she had stolen these things off some stranger. Sighing, she picked up the worn looking cellphone and flipped it open. Surprisingly, the battery was still eking out just enough power for her to browse through its contents briefly. Hardly any text messages, and if there were any, they were nearly all about work. Her contact list itself was pretty sparse, holding only the office, Lindy Harlaown and Hayate's numbers.

The blonde let out another sigh. The cellphone was not very helpful after all. But it did ascertain that Hayate was indeed a friend. The phone made a particularly flat sounding chime, indicating its very imminent death before flickering off, leaving Fate staring at the recently demised device.

After several minutes of crushing silence, Fate decided she would go for a walk.

She was lost.

Undeniably. Definitely. Lost.

She couldn't even remember the roads she took to get to this park, but in all honesty, she didn't really care. She would wander the streets as far away from that apartment and all its unanswered questions as possible if she could. Away from the life of the Fate T. Harlaown she most definitely was not. It was infuriating how she could feel so very isolated when being surrounded by people who knew her.

And there lay the crux of the matter.

They knew her.

But to her, they were just strangers.

She silently cursed her past self for not leaving more of an identity for her to cobble her past back together. But then again, who would anticipate and prepare for a situation like this?

Her feet somehow brought her to a lake somewhere in this nameless park, pausing to watch as the amber rays of the sunset scattered across the surface of the water. The park was beginning to empty. But time had little consequence to her when she had no concept of past or future.

She turned to leave when a flash of auburn caught her eye. The ponytailed girl sat on a park bench not too far away, her hands placed neatly on her lap. The wind rippled through the long tresses and tugged playfully at the lapels of her blue and white uniform, but none of that seemed to distract her from the very intense blank stare she had.

Fate felt a quiet anger gnaw away at her. If she had so much time to just sit by some lake, why hadn't she come to visit? She quashed the bubbling feelings, unsure why she felt so frustrated at someone she had only met a few days ago, and only for a few minutes before she left stuttering to get the doctors.

What was her name again?

Right.

"Takamachi-san…"

Nanoha jumped, snapping out of her reverie, only to nearly leap out of her seat when she saw who was talking to her. The blonde was definitely not one of the people she was expecting to see here. She hastily got to her feet, brushing the few stray strands of hair behind her ear in an attempt to hide the faint blush she was now sporting.

"Fate-chan, what are you doing out of the hospital?"

"I got discharged today." Fate shrugged.

There was a pang of guilt that flickered through Nanoha's eyes. She had been doing her best to avoid the blonde once she had regained consciousness. An attempt to gather her thoughts to figure out what she wanted to say to her. A "thank you for saving me"? A "I really missed you"? An "I'm really sorry for everything I put you through"? Did any of that really matter now that Fate could not even remember her name? Nanoha decided to defer that confusing conversation once again. Till she was ready. Whenever that was. "Do you live close to here?"

"I really wouldn't know. I'm quite lost." confessed Fate.

"Oh.. Sorry."

This tension was suffocating.

"Hey… Wouldn't be the first time I forgot something today." laughed Fate awkwardly, if only to break the silence between them.

Nanoha smiled apologetically, grateful for the out offered. Fate hated that smile. The one full of pity. There were so many of those looks this past week. But she still plastered that same smile on her face. If only to make the girl in front of her feel better. The flight instructor took the opportunity to look at Fate. Properly this time. The bandages had long come off, her long blonde hair easily hiding the scar at her temple. The blonde had surely made a surprisingly quick recovery, the trauma of a month-long coma barely showing. Cobalt eyes followed the long silky strands up towards the other girl's face, finally locking onto those questioning pools of burgundy. Those eyes she had not gazed into for years. Those eyes which had not looked her way since they last parted ways. Those eyes which used to speak volumes without her ever having to utter a word.

She almost lost herself in those eyes again.

But these eyes were different now. And this wasn't the Fate-chan she knew.

Nanoha was the first to break their intense stare, turning her attention to the watch on her wrist.

"Nyahaha look at the time. I'd better head back soon."

"That's true…" Fate noted the rapidly darkening park as the lights along the pavement began to spring to life. "Takamachi-san, this is going to sound truly infantile, but… Do you know where I live?"

Nanoha blinked. "No, Fate-chan, you never told me where you lived."

"Oh…" Fate's voice sounded disappointed. For all the foreign emotion she felt when looking at the auburn haired girl, they weren't even close enough for her to know her address.

"I'll call Hayate-chan for you."

"Thank you, Takamachi-san." responded the blonde genuinely.

Nanoha visibly flinched at Fate's words. What she would give to just hear that voice call her name once again. In that warm, loving tone she had grown addicted to.

But that hour had long past.

And the now all that was left was polite reservation and words she could never find the courage to say.

3 years ago….

There was a sharp sound of a key scraping into the lock, drawing Nanoha's attention away from the dishes and to the front door. There was only one person she was expecting tonight…

The door clicked open and almost immediately, the blonde enforcer in the doorway was assaulted by a whirlwind of auburn hair and flailing limbs. Her initial shock gave way to a soft smile as she dropped her bag, encircling the white mage in a tight embrace. She inhaled deeply, breathing in the intoxicating mix of roses and something that was just distinctly Nanoha.

"I'm home, Nanoha." she said softly into the other girl's shoulder.

Nanoha grinned, letting herself bask in the warmth and scent she had missed so much for the last 2 months. "Welcome back."

"Fate mama!"

Fate smiled as a her daughter scampered towards her, raising an arm to hug the youngster close to her side. "Hello Vivio-chan. Were you a good girl while I was gone?"

"Mama, I'm already 12!" Vivio huffed grumpily, attempting to shake the blonde's hand from ruffling her hair.

Fate chuckled. "And I'm still your mama, right?"

The young girl eventually relented, allowing her mother to muss up her hair for a few more moments before squirming out from her grasp.

"Presents?" grinned the 12 year old.

"Of course." smiled Fate. "I wouldn't dare return without them."

After the usual handing out of presents and souvenirs from her tour of duty, Vivio was marched off to bed, oddly without much fuss, leaving her two mothers to themselves. She had learned many years ago not to intrude on her mamas "private time", lest be faced with the blunt end of a frustrated Nanoha.

Nanoha stretched lightly as she walked into their bedroom, quite happy that this evening, she wouldn't have to fall asleep alone in this massive bed. She knew it was Fate's job, but she would be lying if she said she didn't feel a slight resentment towards TSAB whenever a mission took the blonde away from their home for months on end. It seemed like they were apart more than they were together, and Nanoha made it a point to ensure whenever her girlfriend was home, she enjoyed time with her family to the fullest. She turned to see Fate standing by the window, holding Bardiche in the palm of her hand.

"Nanoha," Fate began as Bardiche silently activated, cloaking her in her barrier jacket. "Fly with me."

"Fate-chan?" the white mage looked quizzically at the blonde. "Where are we going?"

"Trust me." came the simple reply.

Nanoha nodded, her wordless command to Raising Heart activating her own barrier jacket as she took Fate's hand and stepped off the window ledge, shooting off into the night sky. They drew long arcs in the canvas of darkness, cruising outwards and away from the city. They seemed to fly for ages and Nanoha was about to ask where they were headed to when Fate turned to her with a soft smile.

"We're here."

They slowed their approach. They were now quite a fair way from Cranagan, the lights of the city receding into a dim glow in the distance, silhouetting the skyscrapers as a toothy line on the horizon. But from here, away from the light pollution, where the darkness enveloped everything, the sky was painted with the entire cosmos. The two moons of mid childa cast their soft blue glow across the untouched landscape, highlighting the dramatic mountain ranges and valleys that streaked across the land, taking Nanoha's breath away.

"It's beautiful…"

Fate smiled, the light from the moons tracing the outline of her sharp jaw. "When I am on a faraway mission, I would look up to the night sky and wonder on which of those brilliant lights is my family on, and when I can see them again."

"You know we're always here waiting for you, Fate-chan." smiled Nanoha, leaning into her girlfriend's warmth, intertwining her fingers with the blonde's. She felt Fate's warmth through the back of her barrier jacket, letting herself get enveloped in the smell of lilies.

"But I don't want you to wait." the blonde said firmly in her low voice, sending shivers down Nanoha's spine. Her grip on the white mage's hand increased. "I don't want to have to look at my family from some faraway planet. I want to always be by your side. To make sure you never have to wait for me again. To make sure I am always there when you need me. To make sure you never have to wake up to an empty bed again."

"Fate-chan… What are you…"

Cobalt eyes widened as she felt a small metallic object being slid onto her finger. Fate slowly moved her hand away to reveal a single diamond nested on a band of white gold now sitting snugly on the auburn haired girl's ring finger. Fate leaned close to her girlfriend's ear, whispering words that only she would hear.

"Takamachi Nanoha, will you marry me?"