A/N: Sorry for the delay in updates. Being around this time of the year it's been really busy.

Disclaimer: I bet no one reads this part but anyways… I don't own MGLN

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Chapter 4

It had been a day since Nanoha had woke up. Despite having come out of her coma she still slept the rest of the day. Fate hadn't left since the brunette was first admitted into hospital and now that she had finally woken up she was defiantly not leaving. When Shamal told everyone that Nanoha had finally woken up they were all ecstatic but no one was more relieved than Fate was. To Fate, Nanoha was all that mattered. As long as she was okay, Fate was too. Throughout the day the blonde refused to sleep no matter how tired she felt. She wanted to be there to greet Nanoha when she woke up again.

Thinking about the sleeping brunette, Fate unconsciously whispers her name and to her surprise she got soft mumble in return. Excited that the brunette was wake again Fate wanted to jump up and down in joy but she managed to keep her excitement to a minimum.

"H-Hey Nanoha." The blonde said trying to remind calm but happiness was visible in her voice.

After hearing her name a second time, the sleeping brunette slowly opened her eyes and met joyful red ones. Fate couldn't be happier, she was once again looking into those deep blue eyes that she loved so much. Unable to hold back her happiness anymore she moved closer to the brunette and wrapped her arms around her in a tight yet gentle embrace.

"Fate-chan…" the said brunette whispered. Her voice was dry and tired but despite this, it had a warm feel to it that made the blonde feel relaxed and safe.

Fate hugged Nanoha tighter never wanting to let her go again but when the brunette stiffened she pulled back instantly and her happy expression soon turned into a worried one. Looking at the brunette to see if she was in pain she saw the bandages that still covered the said girl's body. "Uh Sorry…" she said letting go of the girl completely. "I'll go get Shamal okay? I'll be right back."

Fate was hesitant to leave Nanoha but Shamal had told her that when Nanoha woke up again to come get her. The blonde walked as fast as she could without drawing attention to herself through the hospital. Shamal was sitting at her desk sorting out paperwork when Fate had reached her office.

"Shamal? Nanoha is awake now…but I think she may have gone back to sleep…."

"Ah okay, you head back and I'll be there in a second." The doctor replied not looking away from the stack on papers that currently surrounded her. The younger blonde nodded and made her way back.

As she reached Nanoha's room, she saw that she was in fact asleep again. Fate sat down in her usual seat and stared at the brunette lovingly. Instead of waking the girl she waited quietly until Shamal came. Only a few minutes passed before the door opened and Shamal walked in. The doctor saw that Nanoha was sleeping and sighed. She then looked at Fate who gave her an apologetic look.

Shamal walked over and nudged Nanoha gently careful not to hurt the sleeping brunette. "Nanoha-san?" Shamal waited to for a response but never got one. Nudging the said girl one more time, she tried again. "Nanoha-san?" This time Shamal got a groan followed by a mumble.

"Oh sorry…I fell asleep…" the brunette said quietly. She went to sit up but stopped remembering how her body responded last time. Even though she had just been asleep she still felt tired.

"Hey Nanoha-san," Shamal greeted. She did the daily checkups and saw that Nanoha had improved a lot but her wounds were still tender and fresh. "I was talking to the other doctors before and we decided that you will be able to go home soon! I was just sorting out the paper work for it." Shamal informed the two as she finished up her tests.

With the help of Fate, Shamal removed Nanoha's bandages to see if she had healed up enough, and put new ones on. Fate felt sick when she saw the scars that marked Nanoha's normally flawless skin. As Shamal wrapped new bandages Nanoha had her eyes shut tightly. Even the slightest movement hurt. The blonde doctor noticed this and tried to apply the bandages as quickly and gently as she could. Once done, most of the brunette's torso was covered, her waist and her left thigh was wrapped tightly in a soft white fabric. Satisfied with her work, Shamal helped Nanoha lay back down while Fate went back to her chair.

The three talked about the recovery process Nanoha would have to go through once she was better and how Fate would have to help her around. Shamal stressed that Nanoha was to take it easy and not to do any work but she had know Nanoha for ages and knew that the girl would ignore her.

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As the days passed by Nanoha was able to do simple tasks without being in too much pain. Things like sitting up and eating something small became easier and less painful but of course the brunette always had Fate by her side to help her. It wasn't long now till Nanoha would be able to leave.

"Mou Fate-chan, I can't wait to leave. I really hate being here." The brunette said as Shamal left the room after her daily checkups.

Shamal had told the pair that at the rate Nanoha was recovering she would be able to go back to their apartment tomorrow but on the condition that the brunette would be aided by a wheelchair to avoid any necessary strain on her body. Even if she had been in hospital for at least two weeks Nanoha was still in no condition to go back to how she was before, yet. Fate helped Nanoha gather her things in preparation for tomorrow. The blonde couldn't be happier that Nanoha would be coming back home but she also felt sad because Hayate had told her that as soon as Nanoha was discharged from the hospital she would have to come back to work.

Having lost two of the best mages, their unit was under a lot more stress. Hayate had spent the past weeks busting her gut trying to make up for the lost of the two S class mages. 'Hehe Fate-chan, you're so gonna get it when you come back.' The short haired brunette thought to herself. She couldn't wait to see the blonde's reaction when she came in and saw the massive stack of papers waiting for her. Hayate had taken care of Nanoha's share of the work but left Fate's since the blonde was perfectly capable of doing it herself.

The next day Shamal came in and did one last check on the brunette. She redid the bandages and forced Nanoha to wear a sling. Normally someone who had injures like the brunette did, they usually wouldn't be allowed to leave the hospital for another week or two just to be on the safe side, but everyone knew that if Nanoha had to stay there any longer she would get up and walk out or worst, fly out.

"Mou Shamal, do I really have to be in a wheelchair? I can walk just fine." The brunette complained. She didn't want to look like a crippled person and having a sling was more than enough for her. "And also, I thought I didn't break my arm? So why am I wearing a sling."

"Nanoha-san, first off, yes you need a wheelchair, no you can't walk and you didn't break your arm, but you shattered your collar bone so you can't move you arm." Shamal deadpanned. "If you really don't want to be in a wheelchair walk from the bed to where Fate-san is. If you can do that, I won't make you have one."

"Really? Okay! Challenged accepted." Nanoha slid down to the bottom on the bed and dangled her legs off the bed.

Fate leaned towards Shamal and spoke loud enough for only the doctor to hear. "Shamal? Are you sure this is a good idea? I mean-"

"Don't worry Fate-san, just get ready to catch her okay." Shamal replied with a small laugh.

Fate raised an eye brow at the older blonde's actions then turned her attention to Nanoha who was still sitting at the end of the bed. Fate wondered what Shamal meant by 'get ready to catch her' but she soon found out. Nanoha moved off the bed and balance on her good leg but as soon as she put weight on her other leg a sharp pain was sent through her body making her lose her balance and fall. She prepared herself for the impact but it never came instead strong arms held her firmly. Opening her eyes slowly she saw the amused look in Shamal's eyes and the worried one in Fate's.

"So, I'll go get the wheelchair?" Shamal chuckled feeling pleased with herself.

"Stupid Shamal…" Nanoha whined. Fate helped Nanoha to her feet taking most or her weight and half helped, half lifted Nanoha back onto the bed. "Thank you Fate-chan." Nanoha said as she planted a small kiss onto Fate's cheek.

Feeling Nanoha's lips against her skin, Fate could feel her face heating up. Quickly averting her eyes to hide her blush she stammered out, "A-Anytime…"

The brunette laughed at her friend's reaction and wondered why her face was looking very similar to a tomato. "Nyahaha Fate-chan is a cute tomato."

Fate felt her face become redder that it already was. Despite the brunette's teasing she was glad to have Nanoha back, back to her old self again instead of the lifeless person she was a few weeks ago.

Shamal soon came back with a wheelchair and saved the younger blonde from falling unconscious with the amount of blood that had rushed to her face. Trying to cover up the fact that she was blushing Fate went over to Nanoha and lifted her into the chair but having their bodies pressed up against each other wasn't helping the blonde in the slightest to get rid of her redness, in fact it made it worse. She quickly placed Nanoha in the chair and started to wheel out when Nanoha stuck out her good leg to stop her.

"Uh Fate-chan, my bag…"

Fate was in such a hurry to leave the room that she forgot about the bag. Sighing heavily she walked back, got the bag and went back to Nanoha. The blonde thanked Shamal then quickly wheeled Nanoha to the front of the hospital and towards the car that was waiting for to take them back to their apartment. Luckily for Fate, the car was equipped for a wheelchair so there was no need to move Nanoha. Fate jumped in the front and soon after they arrived at their stop.

"Kill me now…" Fate mumbled as she got out of the car. She had forgotten about the small amount of steps that lead up towards the front door. She thanked the driver who had taken them there and slowly wheeled Nanoha to the stairs.

Unable to think of a normal reasonable way to take Nanoha up the stairs like taking the brunette out of the chair and carrying her up, Fate decided to lift the wheelchair above her head with the brunette still sitting in it.

"Ahhh! F-Fate-chan! What are you doing?" Nanoha said as she clutched the arms of the chair as tightly as she could. "Couldn't you just carry me up normally?!"

Fate started climbing up the stairs holding the chair firmly above her head. To her surprised it wasn't as hard as she thought it was although she did almost fall backwards a few times getting a shriek from the girl above her. When she reached the top she wondered how she was going to put Nanoha down without throwing her out of the chair. Deciding that walking a few steps down and placing Nanoha on the top step would be the safest way, she did that. The brunette looked down at her curiously but didn't question her friend's actions. Fate adjusted her hands and bent down placing Nanoha gently on the upper step. As the blonde moved to stand up straight again she misjudged how closer her and Nanoha actually were and her face was soon inches away from Nanoha's.

Fate was frozen in place unable to think straight. She felt the Nanoha's breathe against her lips and Nanoha's vanilla scent that clouded her mind. The blonde found herself lost in those deep blue eyes that reminded her of the blue sky above them.

Nanoha brought Fate back to reality when she wrapped her arm around Fate's neck and pulled her into a hug. The blonde came tumbling onto Nanoha nearly knocking them both off the steps as her face came in contact with the brunette's chest. "Fate-chan… I'm sorry…" she whispered as she buried her head into the crook of Fate's neck.

Not knowing what to say, Fate simply placed her arms around Nanoha and lifted her up carrying her bridal style. Nanoha cuddled into Fate and sobbed quietly as she was carried into the apartment and placed on the couch in the living room. After putting Nanoha on the couch, Fate went back to get the wheelchair then sat down next to the brunette.

"Why are you sorry Nanoha? You have nothing to apologise for." Fate said calmly but Nanoha only seemed to cry more.

"Fate-chan… I'm sorry… I'm really really sorry…I didn't keep my promise…" Nanoha said between sobs. She didn't understand why Fate wasn't angry at her. She had caused so much trouble for the blonde and she had been injured when she promised she wouldn't.

At first Fate didn't know what Nanoha meant but soon remembered. She moved closer to the said girl and put her hand to the brunettes face and wiped away her tears. "Nanoha…"

Nanoha leaned into Fate's hand as she spoke again but she didn't make eye contact with the blonde. "Fate-chan…I'm sorry that I got hurt and caused you so much trouble. I'm sorry for coming back injured even thought I promised you I wouldn't. I know you probably are angry at me but I just want you to know-"

"Nanoha look at me." Fate cut in. Nanoha continued to look down not wanting to met those red eyes that belonged to the blonde haired girl she loved so much. Fate cupped Nanoha's face in her hands making the brunette face her. "I'm not angry at you…"

"But-" Nanoha interrupted.

"Nanoha, let me finish." Fate said sternly. She sighed wondering what she was going to say next. 'It's now or never.' She thought to herself. Taking a deep breath she looked straight at Nanoha. "Nanoha…I wasn't mad at you and I'm sorry that you thought that."Nanoha looked at her wondering why she was apologising now but before she could question it Fate continued. "Nanoha…I was so worried when I saw you lying on the ground covered in blood. I was so scared because…because I-" Fate stopped again mentally slapping herself for not being able to tell the brunette what she wanted to tell her. "Because I wouldn't know what to do without you Nanoha. I couldn't imagine not being with you and seeing you like that brought back horrible memories from my past."

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha pulled Fate into a hug noticing the sadness in Fate's eyes.

Fate wanted to cry but she controlled herself and stopped the tears that were threatening to appear. Pulling back she finished what she was saying, "Nanoha… you mean the world to me and if I lost you I wouldn't know what to do with myself. I love you Nanoha so please don't leave me…"

Nanoha was so surprised at what Fate had just said. She never expected to hear that come out of the blonde's mouth. She had had several dreams about Fate saying those three words to her but she never thought it would actually happen.

Noticing the lack of response from Nanoha, Fate had thought of the worst. She didn't want to wreck their friendship so she decided to keep her feelings a secret and now she had ruined the most important thing to her. "Nanoha I'm sorry…Please just forget I said that…"

"I can't do that." Nanoha replied simply after a moment of silence.

"Please Nanoha. I don't want to ruin our friendship and you obliviously don't feel the same way about me so…"

"Fate-chan, I can't forget what you said because I don't want to. I love you too Fate so please don't say things like that."

Fate stared lovingly into Nanoha's bright blue eyes but before she could do anything else she heard a rather loud thump outside the window. Fate groaned irritated having missed the chance of a lifetime before stomping over to the window. When she saw who was laying on the ground outside the wall she whacked her head against the window still. Opening the window she cooed out to the girl in a sickly sweet voice, "Ha~ya~te~" each syllable more sugar coated then the last.

Scared to death at being caught it took awhile before Hayate realised what kind of situation she was in. As she turned around to run away, she saw Fate jump out of the window and coming charging towards her. "Wait Fate-chan! Slow down!" Hayate shouted as she sprinted away in no particular direction.

"Me?! Slow down?! No way! You ruined the best moment of my life I was about to have!" Fate shouted back shorting the distance between them. She was surprised at how fast Hayate's little legs carried her.

Meanwhile Nanoha was still sitting on the couch. When she heard Fate call out Hayate's name she smiled to herself but it quickly disappeared when she turned around to see Fate jump out of the window. Wondering what was going on she slowly got up from the couch leaning against the wall for support. She refused to use the wheelchair and made her way to the window sill. Each step more painful than the last but she refused to give in to the pain. When she finally reached the window, a smile formed on her face and she let out a laugh that hurt a little. Finally unable to withstand the pain any longer, Nanoha felt herself start to sway a little. Nanoha started to lean backwards making sure that she wouldn't fall forward but it backfired because she swayed forward that little bit more.

Hayate and Fate ran past the apartment door for the third time, Hayate still calling out to the blonde begging her to stop and Fate yelling back at the brunette for ruining the moment. Their chase was cut short when they heard a scream followed by a bang. Forgetting about Hayate, Fate ran over to where she heard the sound and felt her heart drop when she saw Nanoha face first into the ground.

Rolling over onto her back, Nanoha let out a groan. Staring up into the sky, her view was blocked by worried red eyes and another pair of blue ones. "Oh…Hi Fate-chan, Hayate-chan." Nanoha spoke trying to hide the pain she felt.

"What the hell Nanoha?! Why didn't you use the wheelchair?" Fate said angrily.

"Wheel chair?" Hayate questioned not knowing that Shamal told Nanoha to use one.

Before Fate could say anything else she realised that Nanoha was no longer answering back and her eyes are closed. Fate mentally face palmed at her friends actions before becoming more serious. "Hayate, we need to get Nanoha back to the hospital." Fate jumped through the window and into the apartment, grabbing the wheelchair before jumping back out again.

Hayate raised a brow when she saw Fate pick up the unconscious Nanoha and place her into the chair before starting to wheel her in the direction of the hospital. In more ways than one, living close to work was very convenient. Minutes later they were out the front of the hospital and shortly after that they were outside Shamal's office.

"Shamal is going to kill Nanoha when she sees her…" Fate said swallowing thickly before entering the room with Hayate right behind her.

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A/N: So here is the chapter that everyone has been waiting for, the one where Fate finally confessed her feelings. I thought I'd add a little twist to it though hehe. Please know that even If I don't update, I am still working on the story. There are only going to be one or two more chapters so until then!