Chapter 7: Aftermath
"Kyoko-san, your leg..."
"Is completely fine, runts. But you can see that."
Kyoko grinned down at Nanoha and Fate, who were staring at the smooth skin under where her cast had been.
"But it..."
"Had a chunk of steel through it? So it did. I suppose this is a benefit to the whole Soul Gem thing, eh? To think I was a lich the whole time and I had no idea... Not that it changes anything. More food for me, eh?"
She devoured another bite of apple with shocking ferocity. Behind her, an elegant girl with twintails smiled and sipped her tea.
"You should eat slowly, Kyoko-chan. Savor your food."
Kyoko's haphazard grin seemed to widen somehow. "And you should appreciate being alive, Goldilocks."
Mami just sipped another sip of tea. "Oh, I certainly do. Right, Nanoha?"
Nanoha giggled. "Right!"
Fate just smiled.
The four of them enjoyed their happy ending.
"Excuse me?"
"Yes, Admiral! Please come in!"
Admiral Lindy came in, bearing tea of her own...
Green tea..
With... Milk... and... Sugar...
Mami leveled a gun at her head.
"This is a disgrace to every tea and tea drinker I have ever known."
"Oh, my..."
After Mami's Soul Gem had cleared, and the Witch program had been dealt with, Mami and Nanoha had been disconnected. It had taken a while for Nanoha to awaken, but the elegant magical girl had woken up relatively quickly. A flurry of explanations ensued. Normally, the reality of her situation would have broken her.
Waking up in a spaceship was anything but normal. Besides, she was still happy from defeating the beast within her along with Nanoha. The swell of that victory carried her through the trough of those revelations.
Not to mention Kyoko being with her, and having Nanoha and Fate to hug and comfort her... The crew of the Arthra quickly became almost a second family to Mami. And when Fate used her full name, the refined girl had an inkling of following in Fate's footsteps.
An inkling that was a tale for another time. More currently, there was the matter of their Soul Gems. Amy had a few... somewhat scary ideas as to what she could do with the process she had used earlier and two conscious and willing test subjects. And it didn't hurt nearly as much.
Everyone else on the ship eventually managed to talk her down into simply stabilizing Kyoko's Soul Gem as they had for Mami's, and installing basic recharging functions so the girls wouldn't need to depend entirely on Grief Seeds for mana. It wasn't much, but no one wanted to tinker around too much with people's souls. Or things very much like souls, at any rate. Lindy wasn't even sure if what they were doing was technically legal, but since neither was the creation of the Soul Gems in the first place, they could probably get away with it. Probably. If they didn't mention this particular facet.
….Okay, so this was probably a bad idea, but even so, it was for the greater good. And it turned out alright in the end, didn't it?
Didn't it?
After their 'operations' had finished, Mami found herself in a meeting. A strategy meeting, a meeting on what to do with their mission, and Mami was the guest of honor.
"So Kyubey tricked us. The closest thing I had to a friend and he turned out to be anything but... Why would he do such a thing?"
Lindy sighed, and looked the worried Mami squarely in the eyes. "That's part of what we're here for. We were sent to investigate the dimensional tremors.. which turned out to be caused by the Witch, Walpurgisnacht, and by Homura's time travel. Both have been traced to Kyubey, or others of his kind. Creating a system such as this is a serious crime, and we intend to get to the bottom of this. Will you help us, Ms. Tomoe?"
Mami blinked. Would she help the people who had saved her life not once, but at least twice? And done the same for Kyoko? This wasn't even a hard question.
"I would be honored to do anything I can!"
A smile. "Good."
Part One End
Okay, first off, the elephant in the room, before anyone asks: Why'd I write this after my excuse for writing it was gone?
It's not like I own anything. Since I pretty much stole this, you can steal it back at your leisure. Frankly, I'm amazed that the author of Nanoha Magica endorsed this. But I had fun writing it, property or not. It was a real blast.
Second, why is this the end of Part One? Because I plan to have this take up three parts, each one about as long, chapter-wise, as this. Yes, I have a plan. It's not the most detailed plan, but it is a plan, and I'm happy to say that there are some hints I've dropped, some subtle and others not-so-subtle, about what will be happening in the future of this fanfic.
Third, how is this being written? One part at a time. See, it's also a convenient way for me to organize my posting and chapters. Story arcs, the diagram of a story, that sort of thing.
Fourth, special thanks to Aklyon for beta-reading. :)
Fifth, thanks for reading. It's been a pleasure. Leave a review, and you might be featured in the beginning of Part 2!
