A/N: I finally was able to shine a little clarity on the situation Nanoha and Fate are going through in this update, although we still have a lot more to go in this story. Hope you enjoy the chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters from or the Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha anime, nor or any other movie, actor, song, or character referenced or stated in this story.


PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT

by : ~Nissanity~

Chapter 8 – Hell or Highwater


Nanoha POV

"How long has it been?" I asked.

"About half an hour."

I paused for a moment. "I can't stand this," I said quietly, brushing away a few tears from my cheeks with shaking hands. I listened to the ticking grandfather clock outside the kitchen doorway in the otherwise silent house. "It feels like we should be doing something. Anything."

Lindy was sitting at the kitchen table, staring across it with an empty tea cup gripped tightly in her hand. I was leaning against the kitchen counter across from her, occasionally pacing from my spot to the doorway, hoping to see Fate on the other side by some miracle.

"Do you know why she might have disappeared?" I asked after a few minutes of silence.

Lindy shook her head. "I don't know. I've never heard of anything like this before in all of my studies."

"I don't understand. Why us? Why are we being punished like this?" I said, clenching my fists.

"Nanoha, I do not think this is a form of punishment," Lindy began gently. I turned my head to face her as she spoke, watching her begin to pour a cup of tea.

"It feels like it, though," I told her. "It's like something outside of ourselves is trying to keep us apart."

"And your response to it is...?" she asked.

I crossed my arms. "I'm going to fight to be with her. No matter what it takes," I affirmed.

"Exactly," she replied, now smiling a little. She then began to add cubes of sugar to her tea as she spoke again. "Nanoha, I assume you know what a 'muse' is, correct?"

I nodded my head in confirmation. "Yes, an artist's source of inspiration, basically."

"Well," she continued, "You may have already learned about this in school as well, but there were actually nine muses in Greek mythology. They were the daughters of Zeus and Mnemosyne, with Mnemosyne representing 'memory'."

I nodded again silently, perplexed at where the conversation was headed.

"Throughout history, human beings have always written stories of true love, yes? Masterpieces that filled mankind with hope, and of the possibility that two people were destined to be together forever. So, what if... all those fated encounters in the stories had actually occurred at some point in history?"

I frowned. "So, the writer witnessed the relationships happening at some point, and then wrote about it?" I asked, still confused.

Lindy shook her head gently. "No. The theory behind all of this is that Mnemosyne contains the memories of these encounters that occurred throughout history, and the Nine Muses have dedicated their existence to sharing those experiences, by inspiring artists all around us to recreate them."

"So every movie or book written may have been based on events that actually occurred in the past?" I asked, finally understanding what Lindy was saying.

"That's right. Details may be changed as time progresses, to reflect the period of time in which the story is told, but overall it is a retelling of prior events," she informed me.

I looked up, now lost in thought. "So, what does that have to do with Fate and I?"

"Well, the stories have to be based on somebody, correct?" she responded, and then took a sip of her tea.

I paused. "Now I'm confused again," I finally replied.

"Nanoha... do you truly think this is the first time you've met and fallen in love with Fate?"

I felt myself fall backwards against the kitchen counter at the weight of her words. The longer I thought about it, the more the pieces started falling into place. It was true - - my feelings for Fate were instantaneous from the first time I saw her, as if my love for her was engrained in my being itself. It would also mean the reenactments we were performing were a retelling of events in our previous lives, and that we were entering the roles as ourselves each time.

"I don't believe in reincarnation," I said softly, although I could feel my eyes betraying my words.

Lindy set her tea cup down against the saucer with a soft clink. "You're going to say something like that, after everything else that has happened?" she asked me, a hint of laughter in her voice.

"But what about the electricity thing? And when we couldn't touch?" I began to ask her hurriedly.

"Honestly, I really don - " she began to respond, before we both heard a loud thud come from the living room. Lindy and I tore through the kitchen doorway to find Fate laying in the middle of the room, her back to us.

"Fate-chan!" I screamed, immediately running to her side. I gently rolled her over to face me, and I began checking her body for any injuries. She was unconscious and her breathing was shallow, and I placed my hand over her heart and felt it beating rapidly.

I began sobbing as I pulled her close, holding her limp body in my arms tightly, willing her to come back to me. I looked back to Lindy, who was standing with a hand over her mouth, tears streaming down her cheeks.

"Come back, Fate... please," I whispered my plea into her ear.

I felt Fate's arm wrap around my shoulder in response, and I immediately leaned back to see her groggy expression looking back at me. I smiled while bursting into tears again, and I kissed her lips quickly before embracing her again.

"I guess I should do that more often then, huh?" she mumbled slowly.

I squeezed her harder. "Only you would make a terrible joke at a time like this, Fate-chan."

"Nanoha, let's get her over to the couch," Lindy spoke from behind me.

I nodded, and placed my arms underneath Fate's body to lift her up, carrying her bridal style to the couch. I set her down gently, adjusting my arms around her to make her comfortable, while still holding her against me lightly.

Lindy left the living room momentarily to reenter the kitchen, and returned shortly after with a glass of water. She placed it on the coffee table as Fate made motions to sit up on the couch. We assisted her, and she slowly seemed to become oriented with her surroundings again. She eventually looked over to me and tried to give me a reassuring smile.

"Fate-chan, what happened?" I finally asked her when she seemed ready.

Fate shook her head once quickly and lowered her head, her eyes narrowed as she tried to concentrate on the memory. "It... it was like a dream," she began slowly. I reached over and found her hand, squeezing it a little in support.

"You and I were in it, but we weren't us. Well, we were, but different versions of ourselves. I could only catch glimpses of it, though. It was like... I was floating above us in a sea of white, watching us interact in the middle of it," she explained.

"Did it look like you and Nanoha, but from another time, Fate?" Lindy asked from behind me.

Fate nodded her head slowly. "Yes...Yes, now that you say that, it did feel like that. It didn't feel like us now, I don't think."

I fell backwards hard, landing in a sitting position on the floor, the pieces of the puzzle now falling further into place all around me. My tumble had alarmed Fate, as she sat up on the couch and moved to the edge towards me. "Nanoha, are you okay?" she asked me.

I looked down and laughed a little. "Fate-chan... you dissolve into thin air for thirty minutes, and then you're worried about me?" I asked, overwhelmed by her concern for my well-being.

Fate smiled at my comment, but then her face fell slowly. "I was gone for thirty minutes?" she asked, now skeptical.

Lindy nodded in confirmation. "How long did it seem like you were in the dream, Fate?"

"Five minutes, maybe?" she responded, thinking hard again.

"Fate-chan, don't press yourself too hard, okay?" I said, stopping her. "You should just rest a little bit. What do you feel like doing right now?"

"Well," she began, looking up to the ceiling. "Probably going and lying down in bed might help. As long as you come with me, Nanoha."

I paused for a moment, watching the mischievous spark I was now all too familiar with return to Fate's eyes. I laughed once, and then looked down at the floor, praying that Lindy hadn't noticed it too.

"Fate, you could have died, and you're thinking about that," Lindy exclaimed, noticing it perfectly well.

"Hey Lindy-san, I had to use that as blackmail to get her to make me breakfast this morning," I said over my shoulder.

Fate's face blushed furiously. "Did you just make a sex joke about us with my mom?" she asked quietly through clenched teeth, her eyes staring at me in a state of disbelief.

"Yeah... I think I just made a sex joke about us with your mom," I replied, my eyes equally stunned at my own comment.

Lindy laughed a little and started walking back towards the kitchen. "I'm sure you guys are pros at it already," she said playfully over her shoulder as she exited the living room.

Fate looked even more panicked, silently pointing in the direction that Lindy just left in while still looking at me. I kissed her lightly on the forehead and stood up, and then extended my hand to her with a smile.

"Come on, Fate-chan. Your mother will explain everything," I told her.


"Sorry we're late, everyone!" I announced as I walked through the clubroom door with Fate following behind me, our hands clasped tightly together.

"Nanoha! Fate!" Hayate turned and cheerfully replied. Teana, Subaru, and Ginga also turned as we entered, and after a second they all stared at our touching hands in sudden realization.

"AHHHHH!" they screamed in unison and ran over to us, giving us hugs and congratulations, all the while asking questions about how we were able to touch each other again. I asked everyone to sit down in the common area, so that I could explain what had been proposed as theories so far.

Fate and I had decided, prior to our arrival at the club meeting that day, that we wouldn't discuss her sudden disappearance with our friends, not wishing to alarm them any more than we already have. We also figured we might receive more insight on the situation through the unknowing actions of everyone around us.

I began by explaining the Nine Muses theory Lindy had proposed, as well as the idea that Fate and I may have existed before, on various timelines throughout history.

"Do you think you two are the characters in all the romantic movies ever created?" Ginga asked, stunned.

I giggled. "I doubt that, it seems impossible. Who knows how many other people are out there like us, really? And whether they even realize it themselves."

Teana and Subaru turned to look at each other slowly, and then shook their heads and laughed at the notion. I watched Ginga glance up at Hayate, who was now looking at the ceiling, lost in thought about everything she had been told. Ginga looked away, and had expression I couldn't read present on her face.

"So that explains the reenactments, and what happens when you guys do them. Well, for the most part," Hayate said next. "But what about when you guys couldn't touch each other, or the thing with the pendant?"

I shook my head. "There are... still a lot of things we don't understand yet," I responded, then looked over to Fate. She just nodded in response.

Hayate smiled. "Well, do you guys feel like doing some reenactments then?" she asked us.

The whole group perked up with the idea, as we all chattered about how much we missed the fun of them after the grueling week of research we had last week.

"Excellent!" Hayate exclaimed, and stood up from her seat. "Because I had an idea this weekened - - musicals!" she announced.

Ginga panicked and stood up next to her. "Now wait a minute, Hayate, we've talked about this..." she said quickly.

"No, nothing like that, Ginga. What I mean is, scenes that are romantic that involve singing or dancing as a big part in them," she tried to reassure her. "Come on, it will be a lot of fun. I even found some clips this weekend we could do."

Hayate walked over to her backpack, and picked up a laptop bag that was lying next to it. She reached into it and pulled out a small gray laptop. She set it on the table, and we all crowded behind her to watch. She pointed the cursor over a folder on the desktop that simply read "MUSICALS!" and double-clicked it.

"I knew it!" Ginga accused her.

Hayate pouted at her. "You need to trust me more," she said, and then playfully bumped Ginga with her shoulder.

"Teana, Subaru, you're up first!" she called over her shoulder. She double-clicked the first video, and a scene from Dirty Dancing began to play.

"Ah, the lift scene!" I said, now getting excited at what we were about to see. The six of us watched the first half of the scene, where the two main characters danced together on a narrow log that was perched precariously over a river. The second half of the scene involved one character trying to lift the other character high over his head.

"Why do we always get the most physical 'dates'?" Teana asked with a grimace.

"It's your destiny," Hayate replied with a wink. While Subaru and Teana reviewed the scene a few times to familiarize themselves with the dance, Fate and I found some masking tape in one of the cabinets. We began marking off an area of the floor with tape, estimating how wide the top of the log was in the scene.

"Bare feet!" instructed Hayate, and the two girls reluctantly removed their shoes and socks, placing them near the doorway.

Ginga was standing next to the laptop, ready to replay the scene again so that they could have the music in the background. Fate and I stood on one side of the taped off area, with Hayate standing on the other side. Subaru was on her mark, standing between the lines of tape, and Teana was sitting directly across from her.

"And, action!" Hayate yelled.

Subaru immediately mimicked her character from the scene, assuming on odd-looking karate position. "I saw this on Kung Fu Panda once," she announced with a smile. I threw my head back and laughed, while Teana simply glared at her partner. Subaru then moved her finger up and performed a 'come-hither' motion to Teana, before pointing it downward in front of her.

"No," Teana deadpanned, shaking her head.

Subaru stood straight up and walked over to Teana, grabbing her by the arm and forcing her onto her feet. She then dragged her to the middle of the taped-off section on the floor, putting the two of them into a tango dancing position. The two moved awkwardly together, but it wasn't long before they were using each other as balance and laughing hysterically as they danced.

The two moved further down the room and separated, beginning to do impromptu dance steps. Occasionally one of them would glance over at the laptop and mimic a move from the character on the screen, causing the other to laugh even harder.

The scene then switched over to the male character trying to lift the female character over his head from a standing position.

"That's pretty dangerous," Fate whispered in my ear.

I nodded. "That doesn't seem like a good idea, Hayate," I yelled out over the music.

"I agree. Subaru, go lay down on the couch, please," Hayate requested. Subaru quickly jumped over the back of the couch, landing on her back. Teana slowly followed to stand near the edge of the armrest, carefully eyeing the entire situation.

"Okay, Teana," Hayate began, but then stopped immediately when Teana turned her glare to her. "Whoa..." Hayate said, backing up.

"Don't worry, Teana! Fate-chan and I will spot you," I assured her. We both began pushing Teana closer to the couch.

"You'll be fine," Fate added. "Just crouch down on the armrest. Subaru will put her hands around your waist. You just jump up a little and Subaru will hold you above her."

I smiled at Fate behind Teana's back, impressed with her patient instructing skills, which seemed to reassure Teana. She took her position on the armrest, and Subaru placed her hands above her waist.

"One, two, three!" we said together, and Teana was lifted above Subaru, with Fate and my hands supporting Teana's outstretched arms. It was in that moment we heard two loud footsteps, and then the front door of the clubroom suddenly burst opened.

"Signum!" Ginga cried, immediately slamming the laptop lid shut. The music from the scene still continued to play, even though the lid was now closed. Ginga closed her eyes in a grimace, drumming her fingertips on the top of the lid.

Signum stared at the scene in front of her, looking a little confused but mostly angry. "Care to explain what you all are doing?" she asked slowly. I panicked as I witnessed Subaru's arms start to tremble under Teana's weight.

"If you say anything about me being heavy, I will kill you, Subaru!" I heard Teana growl in a whisper next to me.

Hayate ran over to Signum. "We were um, exercising! Subaru wanted to try to bench pressing something, but we didn't have any free weights," she quickly explained.

Signum looked past Hayate, now seemingly impressed with Subaru. "How many lifts have you done so far?" she asked. Fate, Subaru, and I glanced wildly at each other, not knowing what an appropriate answer should be.

"15!" the three of us said in unison. All of our eyes then grew wider at the small miracle that had just occurred. I looked over at Hayate and Ginga, who were staring at us completely dumbfounded by our synchronized response.

"Ah, excellent! Carry on then," she said, beginning to exit. "Takamachi, please put everyone's results in your daily summary tonight." I nodded, and we all let out the breath we were holding as the clubroom door clicked closed.

Subaru immediately let her arms drop, and Teana came crashing down hard on top of her. I couldn't help but notice the Teana's and Subaru's lips met briefly during the crash. I braced myself, waiting for Teana's explosion after the occurrence.

To my surprise, Teana just stared at Subaru quietly for a moment afterward. She then calmly leaned back on the couch, her legs on either side of her partner's. Subaru pushed herself onto her elbows to look at Teana in shock, who was now looking off to the side, blushing a little bit.

"That was um, a lot of fun, Subaru," Teana finally said quietly, before looking down at her hands in embarrassment.

Subaru immediately formed a grin. "Yeah, it was, Teana," she said in return, and we all watched Subaru reach over and hold Teana's hand in hers. The four of us walked over to the whiteboard to leave them to their moment.

I uncapped one of my brand new dry-erase markers and started writing fake bench press results for everyone in the daily summary report section. Hayate was leaning against the table, her back to the couch that Teana and Subaru were seated on.

"Three...two...one..." Hayate counted slowly, and then pointed her finger up in the air.

"Shut up, Subaru!" Teana's voice screamed from behind us, right on cue.


Hayate opened up the lid to her laptop. "Ginga and I are up next," she announced, double-clicking the second video in the folder.

Two seconds into the video, Ginga reached over Hayate's shoulder and hit the stop button.

"I don't need a refresher! Let's go!" she exclaimed with her hands clasped in front her, her eyes sparkling at Hayate. I had recognized the scene when it started as well. It was from Grease, with "The One That I Want" as the song.

I restarted the video for them as Ginga and Hayate took their marks. Ginga strutted up to Hayate, pretending to smoke a cigarette while eyeing her suggestively.

"Sandy!" Hayate recited, speaking in unison with the character in the scene.

Ginga licked her lips in Hayate's direction. "Tell me about it... Stud..." Ginga said, now looking Hayate up and down hungrily. I rubbed the back of my neck, not quite now sure how much was just acting on Ginga's part at this point.

Hayate glanced at everyone around the room nervously, before she started singing along with the character on the screen. She took off her uniform vest and twirled it a few times in front of her, before throwing it across the room, all while moving her hips side to side. Ginga did the same, removing her sweater to reveal just her blouse underneath as well, tossing it across the room to land on top of Hayate's.

Hayate then fell to the floor in front of Ginga on cue, and Ginga stepped in front of her, pretending to put her fake cigarette out near Hayate's face. Hayate raised up, and Ginga kicked her in the shoulder playfully to push her backwards. I think she might have been too much into the scene though, as Hayate went flying on her back a few feet across the room.

Ginga immediately turned and started walking away, and Hayate recovered quickly to chase after her. When Hayate reached her, Ginga turned around and placed a hand on her shoulder, pushing her backwards again as she sang along with lyrics. As soon as Ginga turned her back to her again, Hayate was back to following her. They performed the entire song in this manner, chasing each other around the room and all over the furniture while singing.

As the song faded out, Ginga jumped onto Hayate from the couch, wrapping her legs around Hayate's waist in a very Grease-esqe type movement. Hayate spun her around once, laughing and bracing Ginga against her with her arms. Ginga quickly grabbed Hayate's face and kissed her, letting her lips linger on hers for a moment. After she pulled back, she noticed Hayate's stunned face staring back at her.

"Oh, um... I'm sorry, Hayate," she said, sliding off her to now stand in front of her. She then put her fingers next to her lips, lost in thought. "I think... I just got carried away with the scene was all."

Hayate was frozen in place, so I walked behind her and gently nudged her in the back to wake her up. Falling forward, she seemed to snap out of her daze.

"Right, of course. The scene..." she said quietly and nodding, before turning around and walking back towards the laptop.

I looked at Fate helplessly, who raised her eyebrows in return, indicating she didn't know what to do for our friends either. Before either of us could intervene to help ease the tension, Hayate closed the laptop lid.

"Let's take five, everyone," she said quietly before walking over to whiteboard, busying herself with writing notes about the scene that had just occurred through the whole break.


"Nanoha, your scene with Fate will be the singing scene in A Walk to Remember. Have you ever seen the movie, Fate?" she asked.

Fate shook her head. "No, not yet," she replied as walked towards the laptop. After a few seconds of studying the video on the screen, Fate began to stumble backwards, catching herself on a chair behind her.

"Fate-chan, what is it?" I asked, rushing to her side.

"That was in my dream," she whispered, her hand trembling as she pointed to the scene playing on the laptop.

Hayate looked at Fate, confused. "I thought you said you've never seen this movie before, Fate?"

"Who were you?" I continued to ask, leaving Hayate's question aside for a moment.

"I was the one singing, and you were the one sitting down watching me," she replied.

Ginga came to stand next to Hayate. "What dream is she talking about?" I heard her ask quietly. I looked over as Hayate shrugged and shook her head.

I paused. "Do you want to see what happens if we try to do the reenactment, Fate-chan?" I finally asked.

Fate pushed her bangs back from her forehead before moving her hand over her mouth, leaning an elbow on her knee as she thought about it. She finally nodded, even though her skin was now more pale than what I was comfortable with.

"Hayate, everyone..." I began. The other group members gathered around us, waiting to hear my new announcement. "Fate-chan and I are going to do this scene, but it's really important that we aren't interrupted, okay? Also, no matter what happens, don't try to intervene. Please."

"If this works, we'll explain everything afterward," Fate added. The girls nodded their heads and began setting up the furniture to best accommodate the scene.

"Do you want the video to play during it?" Ginga asked us.

I shook my head. "No, it won't be necessary," I replied.

"Okay, take your marks, Nanoha and Fate." Hayate pointed at the two seats we were going to sit in on the couch. She then nodded, indicating we could start at any time.

"All I know..." I began reciting to Fate, "is that you're beautiful."


~~Chicago, 1927~~

Nanoha POV

A white light briefly flashed in my eyes, and I felt my body jerk backwards in my seat, as if an invisible gust of wind had entered into my body. I looked down at myself, noticing I was now wearing pin-striped dress slacks, a button-up dress shirt, a tie and suspenders. I reached up to my hair, and felt it was now cut short and slicked back with an unknown hair product.

Sitting next to me was Fate, wearing a stunning red evening gown, her long blond hair carefully curled and setting gently across her face and shoulders. I looked past her to examine the room we were sitting in together. I instinctively knew it was a nightclub that I had once owned in a previous life, and Fate was the main lounge singer that I was madly in love with. The lights were dimmed, indicating the club was closed for the night, leaving Fate and I in the bar with only the piano player seated at his station in the room with us.

"The dream," I continued to Fate. "Help me to remember," I said.

She looked down for a moment, unsure.

"Will you sing for me?" I requested softly to her.

The piano player immediately played the first notes to a song, and I watched Fate nervously take a deep breath, before she began singing the lyrics to the song meant just for me.

(There's a song that inside of my soul/ It's the one that I've tried to write over and over again)

(I'm awake in the infinite cold/ But you sing to me over and over again)

Fate's husky vocals flowed over my senses as they echoed softly across the room. I sat motionless, completely captivated by the love of my life singing in front of me. She slowly rose up from beside me to stand next to the bar across the room, as she began singing the chorus.

(So I lay my head back down/ And I lift my hands/ and pray to be only yours)

(I pray to be only yours/ I know now you're my only hope)

She crossed back to be by my side again, her long evening gown flowing delicately around her legs, as her heels clicked softly on the wood floor. She was smiling warmly at me, her love for me shining brightly in her eyes.

(Sing to me the song of the stars/ Of your galaxy dancing and laughing and laughing again)

(When it feels like my dreams are so far/ Sing to me of the plans that you have for me over again)

Fate rose and crossed slowly in front of me, her perfume flowing around me lightly as she walked by. She now stood off to my left, and my eyes never left her smiling face as she sang the next chorus.

(So I lay my head back down/ And I lift my hands and pray/ To be only yours)

(I pray to be only yours/ I know now you're my only hope)

She crossed behind me, and I watched her carefully over my shoulder, before she made her way to be in the middle of the room.

(I give you my destiny/ I'm giving you all of me/ I want your symphony)

(Singing in all that I am/ At the top of my lungs I'm giving it back)

Her elegant back was to me, a vision I had experienced so many times before as she sang center stage, her beautiful voice touching every corner of the room.

(So I lay my head back down/ And I lift my hands and pray/ To be only yours)

(I pray to be only yours/ I pray to be only yours/ I know now you're my only hope...)

She slowly returned to sit next to me after her last verse, humming a few notes as I stared at her beautiful face. I leaned over, and as the last note of the piano struck, I kissed her softly as the scene faded to black.


~~Present Day~~

My body landed back on the couch, my vision restoring about a second after the black had overtaken it. I looked over to my side quickly, noticing that Fate was on the couch next to me, seemingly unharmed after our experience as well.

I turned my head to look for the other group members, and found them standing in front of us, completely motionless. They all had their hands to their mouths or cupped around their faces, openly crying.

"What did you see?" I asked them.

Ginga shook her head and swallowed hard. "I, can't..." she began, barely breathing.

Teana seemed to recover faster. "We saw them... You..." she tried to say.

"I-It was like a hologram, is the only way I can describe it," Hayate said, then clearing her throat. "It was you two from the past. You were both glowing, and even flickering a little."

"Like ghosts?" I ventured.

"No," Ginga replied, finally able to speak. "It was real. What we saw was really happening. So was the sound of the piano playing in the background."

I looked to Fate for permission to tell them about her disappearance, and she gave me an affirming nod.

"So, there's one more thing we have to tell you guys..." I began.


A/N: Thanks to BrokenSiLence199 for the movie recommendation. I had never seen A Walk to Remember before, and I fell in love with it! Until next time ~Nissanity~