Fate stared at her arm. The bandage was still in place but at least she no longer had to use the sling and could move more than before. She stretched her arm as far as the bandages allowed her and then pulled it back.
"It hurts, right?" Nanoha's voice made her turn around. "You're not completely recovered, don't ask too much from yourself."
The blonde nodded and looked at her hand with a small frown. It was true, it still hurt if she did certain movements and the recovery had been quite problematic, but at least she had managed to get out of the hospital.
"I couldn't wait to leave the hospital…"
"Shamal better not hear you say that…" Signum commented from the driver's seat. "… again."
Nanoha laughed at the comment and Fate could even see a poorly disguised smile on Signum's face through the mirror. She couldn't help smiling also. Every time she was on her way home after some time in the hospital, she would say the same thing. She just really hated being kept in the hospital.
#08 PAIN
Signum left them in front of the building where they had their apartment and said goodbye to them before turning back with the car. Fate raised her hand to wave goodbye but had to hide a gesture of pain when feeling something pull in her shoulder. Which didn't go unnoticed to the brunette on her side.
They entered the building and headed for the elevator. The enforcer called it insistently, she really wanted to get to their home. Once inside, Nanoha got behind her and even though Fate tried to turn around to follow her, she didn't let her. Fate noticed how she undid the ribbon that held her hair and removed it, but not before passing her hand several times through her blond hair, enjoying the silky feeling of it.
"Okay, stay still," Nanoha said between giggles, standing in front of her.
"What do you want to play?"
As an answer she received a playful smile that made Fate raise an eyebrow, a gesture she repeated when seeing her friend stretched her hand showing her the object she had just removed from her hair. She pretended not to understand her but, seeing the angry look of Nanoha, she smiled and leaned forward to allow the object to be placed on her eyes.
She felt herself shiver noticing the girl so close to her, placing the fabric and making sure she couldn't see anything. She let herself get carried away by the touch from Nanoha's fingers as she knotted the cloth, and gulped when she realized the breathing of the brunette very close to her ear.
"Can you see anything?"
Nanoha backed away from her and laughed at how the girl was trying to find her. She ran from her across the elevator and when she was about to get caught, the doors opened with slight tinkle.
"Make sure I don't bump into something," said the blonde.
"And if I don't…?"
"We'll see…"
Nanoha approached her and grabbed her arm that wasn't bandaged, to guide her carefully out of the elevator. Fate looked like a walking robot, she was sure she would bump into something, like it happened the last time they played that little game.
"Don't worry, this time I won't leave you," she whispered close to her ear. "I don't want you to get hurt."
Fate felt relieved at those words and started to walk with more ease, simply letting herself be dragged around by her friend. Nanoha stopped in front of the door and looked for the keys to then open it wide and let Fate pass.
"Do we have to play this every time one of us prepares something?"
"It's fun, don't deny it."
They both giggled. The truth was that they really enjoyed playing to be the "puppet and puppeteer", like the brunette once called it. They reached the living room and Nanoha placed her friend in front of the table. Fate turned her head curious, trying to follow the noises made by her friend moving around the whole room frantically, apparently putting some things on their place and preparing others.
"I get it." Nanoha stopped to look at her and smiled looking at the grin on Fate's face. "So you actually had the house a mess, didn't you?"
Nanoha shook her head. She wasn't going to let her know that part was true. And in reality the blonde probably knew what it was she would find. It was a small tradition that she had started when Nanoha left the hospital after her accident. The brunette had liked the surprise so much, that every time one of them had to stay in the hospital for any injury, when coming home the other would have something prepared for her.
Nanoha stood beside the girl and leaned into her ear as she pulled the end of the cloth to undo the knot.
"Welcome home, Fate-chan," she whispered when the cloth was away from her eyes.
Fate smiled at the huge chocolate cake that was before her. She recognized it as "the famous chocolate cake from Midoriya", recipe that Nanoha had had to learn some years ago by the request of her friend, who, if been able to, would never stop eating that cake.
"Looks delicious," she said reaching out and grabbing a bit of the topping to taste it. "You have to teach me how to do it."
"Yeah right…"
"Seriously," she turned to look at her with a frown. "You've spent years avoiding teaching me."
"It's just that I prefer to cook it myself," she protested. "What's the point if I'm not the only one who can cook this cake for you?"
Fate laughed seeing the childish expression on her friend's face and she hugged her careful not to hurt her arm.
"Thank you," muttered the blonde.
"You're welcome," she smiled. "The bath is ready just as you like it."
"See? You can do a bunch of other things for me," she laughed. "You can prepare baths too. I think I should hurt myself more often."
Nanoha pulled away from her and hit her in protest for that comment. What she didn't expect was to make a mistake and hit her in the hurt arm, causing Fate to yelp in pain.
"Sorry!"
"It's okay."
The brunette got closer to her and raised her hands, not knowing exactly what to do, repeating the apology again and again while Fate kept on telling her not to worry. Although the tears she tried to hide made clear of the opposite. Apparently she had hit her just above the wound.
The blue-eyed girl sighed sadly. Her whole welcoming plan had gone to waste for her carelessness. She lowered her head and Fate ran her hand through her hair trying to cheer her up.
"I'm fine, really," she told her. "Are we going to eat that cake or not?"
"Yes, but first you should take a bath or the water is going to get cold," she grabbed her wrist, making sure it was the good arm, and guided her into their room. "Come on, let's go."
"But that cake looks so good…"
Nanoha looked at her to see how she almost drooled looking at the dessert sideways as they walked away from it. She shook her head and dragged the girl until they were in their room, to then force her to sit on the bed.
"Come on, I'll take off the bandages," she told her as she helped her unbutton her shirt. "I'm sorry."
"Seriously, I'll hurt myself more often," Fate repeated again, trying not to laugh.
"Would you stop saying that?"
The blonde finally laughed seeing the angry face of her friend. That phrase had been said by Nanoha herself the last time she was in the hospital, and when upon arriving home Fate had prepared a table full of her favorite dishes.
The shirt was left aside and they stayed silent while the bandages were falling one by one, revealing the soft and pale skin of Fate. Nanoha blushed to see that the blonde had nothing covering her chest. She had gotten used to seeing her naked, but sometimes she still blushed when her mind wandered too much. And that was one of those times when her imagination forced her to swallow hard and look away embarrassed.
She forced herself to focus on her work and soon the arm was free of bandages.
"Thank you," Fate muttered, shaking her arm a little. She opened and closed her fist a few times and smiled with satisfaction. "It almost doesn't hurt anymore. Shamal has done a good job."
Nanoha looked apprehensively at the small mark which evidenced the injury of her companion. She took Fate's hands and got close to her to kiss the wound carefully, startling the girl. Then she gave it another little kiss and then one more, each one a little higher than the last until she touched Fate's bare shoulder with her lips.
She raised her head and stared at the enforcer. They were so close that for a moment they both clearly noticed the breath of the other. Nanoha raised some more and finally gently kissed Fate's forehead.
"Take a bath and rest," she whispered, pulling away from her. "You have to recover soon, okay? I'll bring a piece of cake for later."
Fate followed her with her eyes until she disappeared behind the door of the room, then she flopped down on the bed and closed her eyes, letting out in a long sigh all the air she had been holding without realizing it.
For some reason, her wound no longer hurt.
T/N: Yay, finally the last part of "Fate's little accident" as the author called it, and with a happy ending, plus some good NanoFate moments. I know many of you have been wondering about when they're finally going to confess to each other, well I'm just going to say that half of the story is about their life before being in a romantic relationship and the other half is about their life as a couple, and if you carefully read the A/N in the first chapter, plus some simple math, then you can probably get an idea of when that event is going to happen. Well anyway, thanks for reading and please review. Bye :)
