T/N: Yay, chapter 7. Well since I got quite a few review from last chapter I decided to update this story instead of the other one I'm translating, I'll do that one later since I think people like this story better. But anyway here's the continuation, I know some of you don't really like the change in mood, but you'll see here that things are going back to normal, not like before but they are, slowly, also there is a third part to this little 'story', so this chapter will also have a continuation, so keep in touch, though I don't think I'll update tomorrow, but I will the day after, promise. Well please enjoy and review. :)


She had never liked hospitals. She saw them as cold and hated the quiet and sterilized environment that made everything so unnatural. She especially hated them because most of the memories she had about hospitals were painful for her.

Nanoha sighed and had to stretch out on the couch where she was. She didn't know how many hours she had been sitting there, but her body was starting to notice the consequences of that bad posture. Her back creaked in protest, and once again she moved to the same position as before. She leaned over and reached out to take back the hand that wasn't bandaged and that was lying on the bed, carefully, trying not to disturb her.

She was planning to stay there until she regained consciousness, as she always did, and just as Fate did for her. Whenever one of the two ended up wounded the other would worry, it was inevitable, it was natural. And now it was her turn to worry and wait for her friend to open her eyes and look back at her with those crimson eyes that managed to completely hypnotize her.

And that she missed so much.

#07 LIMIT

She swallowed. It distressed her to see Fate in that bed, bandaged and with the IV drip directly administering the serum. According to Shamal, all she had was that wound in the arm, the surgery had gone well but Fate was still too exhausted, physically, to wake up, maybe a few more hours would pass until she could see her eyes again…

She yawned.

It was already pretty late at night and she had stayed there alone after her friends tried to persuade her to leave and take some rest but, like always, they gave up seeing her determination to stay with Fate. Hayate had told her she was as stubborn as the Enforcer and had left the room snorting and muttering something that Nanoha couldn't understand. Now that she remembered those words, she couldn't help letting out a chuckle.

"Hayate-chan is wrong," she murmured, leaning slightly to kiss her friend's forehead. "Fate-chan is more stubborn than me, if she weren't she wouldn't be lying in this bed right now."

She looked at Fate and her smile disappeared from her lips. Fate always worried too much about others and didn't care about the danger she could run. That was one of the things she loved most about her and yet it also was one of the things she hated most, didn't she realized that if she got hurt in any way, she would get worried and sad? Just as it was happening now.

She laid her head beside Fate's, enjoying her calm face while sleeping. She brushed a lock from her face and slid her finger down her cheek, avoiding the small bandage that covered one of her wounds. She smiled with a wry gesture, she was starting to get tired of those situations that were repeated over and over like a vicious circle. One would get into something dangerous and suffer some damage, then the other would stay by her side during the recovery only to later on be the one in a dangerous situation… but Nanoha knew that the two of them liked their jobs too much to not do something for the simple fear of getting hurt.

Basically the two were just as stubborn.

Nanoha was surprised to find herself in the darkness. She didn't know what had happened but the shadows seemed to have wrapped around her, creating a distressing sense of emptiness, it almost felt as if she was floating in space. With surprise she realized that her feet were firmly on the ground, at least now she knew she was standing.

She started to walk, not because she wanted but because her feet moved on their own. Gradually her eyes became accustomed to the darkness, or maybe it was that every time there was more light… still she couldn't see much but managed to somehow distinguish a figure beside her, she had to move with care or she could bump with Fate's bed or IV, she needed to get close to the wall to know where to go, but her feet kept on walking on their own.

Suddenly the place was lit up even more and she noticed that she was nearing the end of a tunnel or cave, what exactly had happened? Where was she? Her feet continue on walking and far away she could see the figure of someone silhouetted formed by the light from the outside.

She stood right at the end. The landscape before her was completely covered with a layer of snow, so white that it even blinded her for a moment. She felt how someone called for her, even though she hadn't actually heard a sound. She turned to see Vita a little further away from her, with Graf Eisen over her shoulder and smirking. Nanoha looked up, searching for the sky but instead saw some icicles hanging menacingly above her head… showing the reflection of a twelve year old girl.

And then at last she understood. That place full of ruins in the snow, that period of time when she was still a little girl, that feeling of experiencing everything as a spectator… she was reliving her worst nightmare. And couldn't do anything to wake up.

She turned again to see Vita, the girl was saying something but she couldn't hear anything. She saw her smile and then say something else before laughing. She didn't need to hear it to know what her words had been: she was proud of completing the mission ahead of time and complained because it had been too easy for her liking.

She knew what would happen next. She wanted to get out of there, to regain control of her body and yell at Vita to get away so she could prepare herself to shoot a Starlight Breaker to an enemy she still couldn't see.

But as expected she could do nothing more than to watch the events happen like in a movie.

Nanoha smiled as she complained that Vita was too reckless. The mission had been easy in a way, but it had also been hard and now her body started to feel the fatigue of the battle. She walked a few steps while stretching the muscles in her shoulders that felt stiff. She brushed her hair from her face, the wind was blowing strongly in that place and swirling with the snow around them. Vita stood beside her as she communicated the base that they were done.

She glanced at her with a smile and that's when she saw it. Something shining on the snow, as if a clear glass was approaching them at full speed.

"Vita-chan!"

She no longer knew if it was the memory of the cry she let out at that time, or the one she was now letting out as spectator.

She pushed her companion away and stretched her hand out creating a barrier seconds before the impact. Something had collided with ferocity against her shield and made her stagger as she felt her arm hurt as if it was being torn apart. There was a small glow and out of nowhere appeared a kind of robot with two blades, one of which was preparing to throw a second blow.

Nanoha got away with a jump, the wings of the Flash Move appeared on her feet as she moved back a few meters. She caught a glimpse of how Vita was incorporating from the ground, her hat had blown away and she kept a hand on her head, still dazed by the situation. The robot though, decided she wasn't his target and prepared to once again attack the brunette, who grabbed Raising Heart with both hands and pointed at the enemy with determination. Her lips parted to shout the name of her attack and her magic power began to concentrate on the tip of her device.

Suddenly her face contorted with pain. From her hands came out several drops of blood while she staggered and lost her balance. The ball of energy barely managed to touch the robot, failing to make it stop and attack her without preamble. Raising Heart was faster than Nanoha and created a protective barrier that prevented a lethal hit, but the force from the impact caused the girl to be thrown a few feet away and fall on the cold snow like dead weight.

She gasped as she tried to sit up, her arm was bleeding and every move hurt. She coughed and saw the whiteness of the snow stained with blood. The enemy was approaching again. She barely grabbed her device and tried to lift it, that simple movement made her cry in pain. It hurt. It hurt too much. She saw the robot standing right in front of her and in the background she could see the look of horror on Vita's face.

The next thing she can barely remember. The robot destroyed, her friend's arms around her, the voice that desperately called her… she remembered Vita with tears in her eyes turning to see who had appeared behind them, there were screams she couldn't hear and then she saw her.

Fate-chan lunged at her, falling to her knees and holding her face with both hands. Nanoha's eyes were half opened, about to fall back into unconsciousness, but she didn't want to stop looking at those red eyes that were filled with tears as she was saying something.

She closed her eyes shut.

Her breathing was heavy due to the impression caused by that memory. Why was she dreaming about that now? It made no sense. There was no point on remembering an event that happened years ago and that also was not pleasant for her at all. The distressed look of Fate had been so clearly engraved in her memory that even now she could see it clearly with complete accuracy. That look of concern, the pain in her eyes to see her hurt, those watery eyes, the trembling lip while she said something… something she never managed to hear but deep down she knew what it was.

She noticed her hand being squeezed. She realized she was lying in the hospital bed at the same time that she looked up to see the person who owned the hand that clutched hers. The Enforcer looked at her with a calm smile on her face, with her burgundy eyes half opened due to the fatigue.

"Good morning," she whispered and Nanoha jerked up opening her mouth to answer the greeting. But instead she let out a muffled gasp followed by a series of hiccups. "Nanoha...?"

Fate saw her cover her mouth with her hands, wiping the tears in a vain attempt to stop crying. The brunette swallowed, felling stupid for crying like that. She had so many things to tell her, things like how happy it made her to see she was okay, or how reckless she had been and so deserved a punishment… or how much she cared for her…. so many things, that it seemed like a waste of time to cry.

She gasped when feeling something touch her cheek. Fate had sat up and was watching her with concern. The blonde smiled and once again caressed her cheek gently, with her hand full of bandages which only managed to make Nanoha cry even more. She collapsed onto her lap and grabbed the sheets, trying to control the tears. The dream had affected her more than she thought… and she was also so happy Fate had regain consciousness…

Slowly she stopped crying, while her friend's hand gently stroking her hair, repeating the gesture over and over again, wordlessly comforting her.

"What an idiot…" she finally said, lifting her head to wipe her tears with the back of her hand. "I should be the one comforting you, you're the sick one here."

"Nanoha…"

The words got stuck in her mouth when seeing her friend so close. The brunette had moved closer and stared at her with their faces a few inches away, and Fate found herself blushing and swallowing, seeing those blue eyes brighter than ever fixed on hers and conveying thousands of feelings. Nanoha closed her eyes and let out a sigh that made Fate shiver when she felt it on her skin.

"I'm so glad you're okay…" she whispered, clinging to her friend's hospital gown. "Really…"

She lowered her head, leaning her forehead on Fate's chest. She could hear the beating of her heart and that made her let out a new sigh of relief.

"I'm sorry," Fate muttered, frowning. "I made you worry so much… I'm sorry."

"You did the same."

"Huh?"

Nanoha lifted her head again and smiled while she brushed away a strand of that long blond hair.

"When I was injured," she explained. "The first thing I saw when I awoke were Fate-chan's eyes… and then you started to cry while thanking that I was fine."

Fate looked away. The memory wasn't pleasant, she would rather see herself in that bed a million times, wounded, than seeing Nanoha again in that state.

"What happened to you was way worse," she said almost in a whisper. "I was really worried…"

"Now I know exactly how much you worry about me," the crimson eyes met again with blue ones, which smiled a little sadly. "Because I worry exactly the same about you."

They stayed staring at each other for what seemed like hours until finally the brunette broke the contact before starting to laugh.

"Why are you laughing?" questioned the blonde.

"I was thinking you're a lost case." Fate raised an eyebrow and Nanoha laughed again. "Of all people, you should have been the one to learn a better lesson from the accident I had. You were always by my side and I made you spend a really hard time with my recovery." Fate was about to protest but Nanoha simply placed a finger on her lips, silencing her, and frowning. "You know what happens when we reach the limit, you know it's not good to exceed ourselves, you know I worry about you if you get hurt in any way and you know the basis of my teachings. But you're still just as reckless as ever. Tell me… what's the point of me teaching my students that they shouldn't push themselves too hard, if the person I most want to learn that lesson doesn't listen to me?"

Fate stayed silent and finally gave her a half smile, she was right, she knew all of that and still couldn't help working too hard, even if the consequences were bad.

"But Nanoha does the same," she noted. "Don't expect the studentsto listen if the teacherdoesn't apply her own lesson on herself."

Nanoha let out one of her characteristic laughs and tapped Fate's nose as she muttered, "Touché." She had to admit she had been caught, and as she had thought before, the two were equally stubborn. Maybe Hayate was right after all.

Nanoha dropped on the bed and stretched her arm out to encourage Fate to lie next to her, something to which she quickly agreed. The blonde used her friend's arm as a pillow and snuggled against her chest, sighing wearily and closing her eyes ready to rest.

"…Fate-chan?" asked the instructor after a few minutes, receiving a mumbled response. "Why do we continue to strive to the limit, even though we know we'll end up hurt and worrying those who care for us?"

"Because we are stubborn."

"I thought so."

To Be Continued…