Chapter 9: Christmas
Nanoha and Fate were in the Ravenclaw common room, three books and two unfinished essays in front of them. A good number of their housemates were scattered around the room in a similar state, and as always the din of debate echoed from some of the desks. For all that Ravenclaws were believed to be great thinkers, a fair number were even better talkers, and the room was never quiet. The evening's topic, at least for the next hour or so, was the proper use of rat bits in potion brewing.
Nanoha resisted the urge to add her own ideas on the topic. She still had a transfiguration essay to finish, after all.
Arf yawned slightly. "When is Christmas break, anyway?"
"Next week," Fate answered.
"Oh," Nanoha yelped, pulling out her phone. "I completely forgot! Suzuka invited us all to a big party at her place."
"Really?" Fate said, looking at the email. "That's so great. I wonder if Hayate will be able to come."
"I hope so," Nanoha said. "I mean, they did promise her a couple weeks off a year, right?"
"Yeah, that's true," Fate agreed. It was a little weird thinking that their best friend was technically serving out a sentence for endangering the whole world, but then again they lived weird lives. "We'll need to get her something special." She looked back at her essay. "Did Professor McGonagall want the full effects of transfiguring iron into steel or just the most common ones?"
"Full, I think," Nanoha said. "I'm not going to get those last inches without them anyway."
"That's because you write too small," Fate teased.
[So, ready for tonight?] Nanoha asked silently, while out loud she kept up the banter.
Fate responded to whatever Nanoha said with a pout. [The meeting? I think so. I mean, we just need to be there. Captain Lacrosse is going to do most of the talking.]
They had decided to give it a couple months after Dumbledore first asked to speak with a TSAB representative, back in September. Then with finding out about Fluffy from Hagrid, they pushed it back further because Lacrosse wanted to know who Flamel was before transporting down. That wasn't going well; none of the books they'd scanned into the database mentioned the man, nor did any of the modern history books in the Hogwarts library. Even the Ravenclaw library had struck out, although to be honest it was light on history books and heavy on magical theory. The only reference they had found was a few hits on the internet about a French scribe who lived close to seven hundred years ago, a rather obvious dead end.
A few hours later saw Nanoha and Fate escorted into the Headmaster's office. Dumbledore smiled at them. "Miss Takamachi, Miss Harlaown. Please, have a seat. Lemon drop?"
Nanoha shook her head. "No thank you, sir."
Fate took one and looked at it curiously before popping it into her mouth. "Thank you."
Dumbledore smiled. "How have you enjoyed your first term?" he asked.
"It's been interesting," Nanoha confessed. "Although…a lot of the spells don't seem that…useful."
Dumbledore chuckled. "Generally not," he agreed. "Over the thousand years Hogwarts has been here, the spells taught to students have changed every year. You see, the professors need to cover the principles that will allow you to cast as wide a base of spells as possible. So far, the simplest combinations of spells that actually cast so wide a net are rather…eccentric."
"You mean pointless," Fate observed flatly. "Professor Flitwick said next term we'll spend a month on getting fruit to dance."
More chuckling. "Yes, followed by two weeks of practical spells. That's when you'll see results, girls, trust me."
"Still, that seems like some more time teaching useful spells," Nanoha said.
Dumbledore didn't chuckle at this, instead smiling indulgently in the way of a grandfather who has had a certain argument many, many times and has no intention of changing his mind. "I would like you to imagine, for a moment, Miss Takamachi, various tasks you would like to accomplish with, say, charms."
Nanoha's face blanked. Her usual experience with magic was combative, but that was DADA, not Charms. Deprived of her first instinct, she fell back on her schooling career and her parents' bakery. "Well, learning and cooking, I suppose," she said.
Dumbledore nodded, that would do. "And what kind of spells would help with learning and cooking?"
Nanoha's young face scrunched into concentration and she spoke hesitantly. "That would mean...spells for taking notes and enhancing memory…and taking notes would mean something like self-inking quills that take dictation and paper that makes itself available…and…what were the other things I mentioned?"
Dumbledore nodded again and looked at Nanoha expectantly as her verbal litany turned into a quiet process that created a heap linking downwards from "stuff magic could be useful for" to categories of tasks to specific tasks to all the component actions that made up those tasks.
"There's not enough time," Fate realized. "When Linith tutored me, she taught me the magic I would need for what I wanted to do. You need…you need to give everyone what they need."
"That's right," Dumbledore said solemnly. "Five points to Ravenclaw. You see, everyone that comes to this school has their own ideas of what they want from their magic. Some, like the two of you, are very well grounded in a career path already. Many are like your friend, Mr. Potter, and will not seriously question their future plans for several years. Others think they know who they are and what they want, but find that they will surprise themselves and completely change their minds."
"Neville," Nanoha and Fate said in unison.
Dumbledore chuckled. "Yes, Mr. Longbottom does seem the type. Your professors have the most unenviable task of accommodating all of them. So, for your first two years, we give you a broad foundation of magical knowledge. The next three years build on that foundation to get you to the point where for most spells, all you would need is a book, perhaps a demonstration or two, to learn it. And then for your final two years, we push you to a degree of excellence in your own chosen fields. Those subjects you take through your seventh year will be those where you stand above the average wizard, and no spell in that field should be beyond your reach."
Nanoha nodded, thinking that over, then perked up as a telepathic message was sent their way. "Oh, Captain Lacrosse is coming." She looked expectantly towards the fireplace.
Dumbledore turned as well, expecting to see the green flames of floo powder, but instead a white diagram appeared over the grating. The outline of a man appeared as a soft white glow that quickly faded to reveal a smartly pressed uniform on a man with an aging, severe face and greying black hair. The man stepped out of the fireplace and bowed stiffly. "Hello, I am Captain Trent Lacrosse of the diplomatic escort Kaithya of the Time Space Administration Bureau. I am honored by your invitation."
Dumbledore responded with similar formality, listing his own full name and many titles. Three months, two weeks, four days, seven hours, and fifty-two minutes later (by Nanoha's admittedly bored reckoning) he invited the captain to sit, offered tea and a lemon drop, and got to business.
"There are only two questions I know how to ask properly," Dumbledore said, "although I delight in the possibility that the answers may define my ignorance more clearly. What, exactly, is the Time Space Administration Bureau?"
Lacrosse smiled slightly; that question had to have cost the old wizard a few hours' sleep each night, if he didn't miss his guess. "The Bureau is a multiplanetary organization providing top level government for dozens of worlds and disaster relief for a few hundred more," he said calmly. "Earth is, as the girls told you, one of those unadministered worlds. Our only presence here is in reaction to a small handful of incidents we deemed of crucial importance to resolve while being beyond the capabilities of local groups to resolve. Of course, that determination was made on the assumption that there were no trained mages of any kind on this world. Our records of Earth only go back two centuries, but even knowing about the wizarding world we can find no hint of it in those scattered observations. You are very well hidden."
Dumbledore nodded. "It is good to know that our efforts have not been wasted," he said cheerfully. "Now that you know of us, and we of you, what are the Bureau's plans?"
"No plans," Lacrosse said easily. "The Admirals are still debating that much. But if it follows the pattern of history, you can expect a petition to address your international convention in about five years' time. Our representative will explain in detail the benefits of joining the TSAB, as well as the price, and leave the invitation open for you to accept at your leisure."
"And if we refuse?" Dumbledore asked.
"Then nothing changes," Lacrosse said simply. "Your world moves on as if that address had never happened. It will be an invitation to join a community, not a declaration of annexation."
"A benevolent position," Dumbledore mused. "How did the TSAB form?"
Lacrosse hesitated. "It's not secret, but to give the story justice would require a history lesson longer than I am really prepared to give," he admitted. "I can provide some books if you are interested, but the short version is the old order collapsed in a bloody war and the Bureau was founded to pick up the pieces."
"Indeed? I would be most happy to receive whatever histories you are comfortable sending," Dumbledore said. "Although that does bring to mind the second issue, namely the incidents in Japan last year and the report Miss Takamachi and Miss Harlaown provided."
"Oh?" Lacrosse asked. He looked to Fate. "They wanted a full report, didn't they?"
Fate nodded. "Specifically they requested a full description of the magics unleashed over the ocean and at Christmas. I provided hardcopies of all records from the ocean battle."
Lacrosse nodded and turned to Dumbledore. "I'm afraid the Christmas incident involved magical weapons that are currently classified by the Bureau. We can't provide full disclosure at this time."
"That is unfortunate," Dumbledore said gravely, "however I was referring to the reports that were filed, rather than what was missing. I'm afraid there was some misunderstanding. We were expecting a more narrative account of what happened, who was involved, and why."
Fate's eyes widened. "Oh I thought you wanted records of magical energies from the scene."
"Is that what that was?" Dumbledore asked, politely curious. "I'm afraid the Japanese Aurors encountered a small problem trying to enter your report into their records."
"A problem?" Fate asked.
Dumbledore nodded. "It would seem, Miss Harlaown, that they have no idea, at all, what any of it means. There is talk of inventing new kinds of arithmancy from some of your equations."
Fate's eyes widened at this. "But…but it was just a standard energies report."
Lacrosse decided to bail her out. "Most mage groups develop their own ways of measuring magic, Agent Harlaown," he said formally. "Often, mages trained in one system cannot understand the measurements of another without help."
"Oh, I see," Fate said.
"In any case," Lacrosse continued, looking back to Dumbledore, "I think I can fill you in on the earlier incident." He paused to gather his thoughts. "It began with an archeology dig several worlds from here. A young archeologist sent twenty one magical artifacts of unknown purpose back to his homeworld for study. We don't know exactly what happened, but the transport went down while passing Earth and the artifacts, which he called jewel seeds, were scattered over a small region of Japan. The archeologist attempted to secure the artifacts himself, failed, and recruited a local girl with impressive magical talent to help."
Nanoha raised her hand. "That was me," she said shyly. "That was when I got Raising Heart and became a mage. Yu- I mean, the archeologist and I worked really hard to collect the jewel seeds before they could hurt anyone else."
Dumbledore nodded. "These jewels were dangerous?"
"Very," Lacrosse said. "Each jewel carried a complex magical energy matrix that would respond to the emotional state of anyone in contact with it." He sighed. "If Miss Takamachi had continued as she had, the incident would have been minor. However, a rogue mage decided to use the jewel seeds for her own purposes."
"She sent me," Fate said flatly. "She told me it was very important to get as many jewel seeds as I could."
"We fought a few times," Nanoha admitted. "We stopped with two big fights over the ocean."
"The first one is the one the Japanese wizards saw. The last six jewel seeds were underwater, so I created a storm to activate all six. They fed the storm and I tried to seal them. I wasn't strong enough."
"Then I helped," Nanoha said brightly. "We split it up and we did it together."
Dumbledore's face was emotionless. He knew the girls had been involved, but he also knew the magical storm they were talking about. He had seen the records taken of its strength and size. It had jumped in power considerably after its inception, but for a nine year old girl to create even the storm that sparked the incident was no small work of magic. "Impressive," he said at last. "I take it you resolved your differences."
Fate looked pained. Nanoha took her hand and answered for her. "It's really personal, what happened next. Fate, Arf, and Bardiche were the only ones left from…from the group that was trying to take the jewel seeds."
"The TSAB took them in, specifically Admiral Harlaown, whose ship had responded to the incident," Lacrosse explained. "Fate was sentenced to community service for her part in the scheme. She decided she liked the work and became formally employed once her punishment was up." He smiled. "From what I've seen of her record, she's an impressive agent for one so young."
Fate blushed heavily. "Captain," she whined.
Dumbledore laughed. "Ah, I see. Thank you for clearing that up. I'll see if I can calm down our Japanese friends, but it would be much easier if I could provide them with names, dates, motives, maybe a pensieved memory or two."
"Memory?" Nanoha asked.
Dumbledore explained the magic of a pensieve and Fate turned pale. "No," she whispered. "No, I can't…I just can't."
Dumbledore remembered what Nanoha had said. It was, apparently, very personal. "Very well," he said softly. "No one will ask it of you, then."
"I think maybe we've had enough revelations for one day," Lacrosse said with equal softness. "I will see what I can do about getting you the records I promised, Professor."
"Thank you, Captain," Dumbledore said. "If I need to contact you again, may I send an owl?"
Lacrosse smiled. His ship was still orbiting the moon. "I doubt an owl could reach me," he said seriously. "Young Nanoha and Fate can contact me with their devices, if you need it. I'm sure they'd be happy to help."
Nanoha recognized the order, TSAB captain to TSAB part time mage, and nodded firmly. "Of course," she said.
"I see," Dumbledore said. "Well then, it was a pleasure to meet you."
"And I you," Lacrosse offered. He stepped back into the fireplace and the Kaithya scooped him up with a dimensional transfer.
Dumbledore turned to the girls. "Well, then, that was interesting. But I'm sure you two are getting ready for Christmas." Both girls nodded, bringing him to smile. "Off you go, then."
Once the girls were out of his office, Dumbledore slumped in his chair. The world was changing on him, and for once he felt as old as he was. A chuckle escaped him. "What a fascinating time to be alive," he said happily.
Just a few days later, classes had ended for the year and students were packing up their belongings. A few had elected to stay behind; notably Harry and the entire Weasley clan. Nanoha caught Harry and Ron after breakfast, before heading off to the train.
"Well, I guess I'm off," Nanoha said brightly.
"Yeah, see you after holiday," Harry said, just as cheerful.
"Right," Ron grumbled. It was his first Christmas away from his parents, which had him a little down.
Nanoha gave them a sly smile. "You know, the castle will be practically deserted," she confided. "I bet you could get anywhere without anyone noticing."
Harry blinked at that and grinned. "Hey, you might just be right about that," he said. "Brilliant."
Ron narrowed his eyes and looked at Nanoha. "And I suppose you have an idea of where we could sneak off to?" he guessed.
"Oh, a few," Nanoha said airily. "The library, maybe."
"Nanoha," Ron whined. "The library? You're getting as bad as Hermione."
"Besides, we've been all over the library," Harry added.
"Nyahaha, not in the restricted section," Nanoha countered with an evil little giggle. "Merry Christmas."
Ron and Harry wore identical expressions of shock as they watched the scariest little girl in the world leave the Great Hall. "I think we've been a bad influence on her," Ron whimpered.
"I'm not entirely sure she's not the influence on us," Harry said.
Nanoha, Fate, and Arf found a compartment on the train to relax in. "It'll be really nice to see Mom again," Fate said wistfully.
Arf smiled at that and nuzzled deeper into Fate's lap.
Nanoha nodded. "Yeah, this has been really fun, but I miss my family."
"At least this time you kept in touch," Fate said. "You're not keeping big secrets from them."
"That's true," Nanoha said brightly. "And we'll see Suzuka and Arisa again. It's really been a while."
After that, the girls fell into a comfortable silence and soon drifted off to an idle stupor and then a full blown nap, rocked by the gentle motions of the train.
Nanoha and Fate dressed down their robes as they reached King's Cross, stripping most of the Hogwarts bits so the two were dressed in simple black witch's robes with just enough blue and bronze for house pride, and then they took the floo to Diagon Alley. They were far from the only students to do so, and the shops of Diagon were host to such a crunch of underage customers that it was amazing anyone got any shopping done. It took a good few hours for Nanoha and Fate to fill a couple bags with brightly wrapped gift boxes and then a quiet little alcove that they used to teleport into the living room of Fate's home in Uminari City.
Fate immediately found herself wrapped up in a giant hug. "Fate!"
"Mom!" Fate gasped. "I didn't think you'd be home for another couple days!"
"Admiral Lindy," Nanoha greeted. "It's nice to see you."
[Can't breathe,] Arf sent furiously.
Admiral Lindy Harlaown was a tall, elegant woman from MidChilda. She had long green hair and matching emerald eyes. Nanoha had seen those eyes go from warm and caring to cold and ruthless in a heartbeat, because Lindy was in command of a TSAB cruiser, the Arthra, which boasted power that dwarfed Nanoha's own formidable magic. Nanoha had seen Lindy deploy that power twice, once against the Book of Darkness and once again at a small moon that had once been a Belkan weapons research lab. If Nanoha ever needed an example of how one used great power, all she had to do was remember those eyes.
Lindy let Fate go and the puppy between them gasped for breath. "Sorry, Arf," Lindy said.
"No problem," Arf panted.
"What are you doing here, mom?" Fate asked.
Lindy smiled. "I asked the Belat to relieve the Arthra a few days early. I own Captain Andes a case of vodka, but it's more than worth it." The Belat was part of the same taskforce as the Arthra. Technically Lindy was in overall command, but because they specialized in emergency response and disaster relief, each ship was pretty self-sufficient. Rather than order the Belat as was her right, Lindy traded favors between captains as was naval tradition.
Nanoha giggled. "So they're still at it?" Ever since Lindy had adopted Fate, scuttlebutt around the taskforce was that she had 'gone native' on Earth. Almost every favor Lindy traded since had been some variant of "my crew would like to sample this thing from Earth." To Nanoha's best recollection, Lindy's shopping list for this trip included gallons of three kinds of spirits, four movies, a current generation game console (plus peripherals and games), and a rubix cube.
Lindy shook her head mournfully. "You buy a condo on an unadministered world and suddenly you're a backwater yokel, no matter that you're Mid born and raised. Er, no offense, Nanoha."
"None taken," Nanoha said brightly. She'd get revenge during a spar, anyway.
Lindy looked at Nanoha's smile and reminded herself that sparring is a fun activity to share with friends, family, and trained medical professionals with the happy drugs. "Well, Fate, why don't you take your things to your room. Nanoha, will you be staying for dinner?"
"Thanks, but I need to get home," Nanoha said. "My family is expecting me."
"Alright," Lindy said. She put the little girl in a hug. "But I want a full debriefing before you head back into the field, got that?"
Nanoha giggled again and threw a salute. "Aye, Admiral!"
The door to the Takamachi residence swung open quietly, attracting a few curious glances which quickly brightened into welcoming smiles. "I'm home!" Nanoha announced.
"Nanoha!" Momoko said. "Welcome home!"
"Hey sis," Miyuki called, waving over the back of the couch. "How's life abroad been treating you?"
"It's been really exciting," Nanoha said, smiling a bit shyly, "but it's really good to be home, too."
"Well I'm glad to hear that," Shiro said, walking in. "Why don't you get your bags put away and tell us about it?"
"Okay!" Nanoha said brightly.
Momoko watched her youngest run to her room carrying what looked like three or four kids' worth of bags, at least one of which was obviously filled with presents. She looked to Shiro with an uncertain smile. "How many of those packages do you think can explode?" she asked softly.
"Knowing sweet little Nanoha?" Shiro asked back. "All of them."
As it happened, Nanoha's regular emails home left fairly little to actually catch up on, but the family still made the most of having their youngest back in their midst. A few lines of text every few days really didn't have the same impact as an excited ten year old waving her arms about and talking about her classes. Of course, eventually someone asked about Fate...
"...and then Fate got me totally by surprise," Nanoha gushed. "I thought she was still behind the smoke when Bardiche hit me, right here." She held her had to the side of her head, smiling broadly and completely unaware of her parents feelings towards her recounting what could have been a life threatening injury.
Shiro shook his head at his daughter. "And here I thought this Hogwarts would be less dangerous than your usual magic," he chided.
Nanoha blinked innocently. "Eh? But I only had one spar all term," she pouted. "I didn't even get to see the troll."
"Troll?" Momoko asked faintly.
Nanoha closed her eyes and laughed. "Nyeheheh...did I forget to mention that?"
The next day saw Nanoha with last minute Christmas shopping with Miyuki. "Okay, I already have everything for you guys, Suzuka, Arisa, and Hayate," she said, looking over her lists, "but I still need to get something for Fate, Arf, Harry, and Ron."
"Hmm, that's a tricky list," Miyuki mused.
"Yeah," Nanoha agreed. "I think Arf is getting a bit bored at Hogwarts with all the time Fate is in classes. She can't really help out much."
"Oh yeah, there was that thing about 'categorizing' her," Miyuki remembered. "What ever happened about that?"
"Huh?" Nanoha asked blankly. "Oh, right. Professors Kettleburn and Dumbledore – he's the guy that teaches Care of Magical Creatures to the older students – got a guy from the Ministry over. They just asked Arf a few questions and said she was smart enough to be a Being, which I guess made her legally a person or something."
"Oh, well that's good," Miyuki said. "How do the other students treat her?"
"I think they mostly ignore her," Nanoha said after a moment. "She's just sort of there in the background all the time." She frowned. "That sounds kinda sad, now that I think about it."
Miyuki grinned. "I think I have an idea, then. Remember when you first met her?"
Nanoha hummed and thought back, then perked up. "Oh, that's a great idea! Thanks, sis."
"No problem," Miyuki giggled, ruffling Nanoha's hair. "So, what were you thinking for your other friends?"
"Well," Nanoha said, stretching out the word for all it was worth, "I'm pretty sure most of Ron and Harry's presents are going to be magical. I was thinking I could get them a cell phone each and have Mari modify them so Hogwarts won't fry them."
"That sounds like a great idea," Miyuki enthused. She blinked as a thought hit her. "But where were you planning to get phones that would work in England? I mean you've got standards and language and programming and everything."
Nanoha smiled sheepishly. "Well..." she dug a piece of paper and handed it to her sister.
Miyuki scanned over the paper, which was a printout from a store's website. "A phone store in London," she said flatly.
"It's just a few blocks from the Leaky Cauldron," Nanoha said.
"So what, you were planning to teleport us over there?" Miyuki asked. For some reason, the idea of teleporting to England and be back in time for supper was a great deal stranger than sending a couple phones to an alien spaceship to be modified to work in a magic castle.
"I'm not that good with passengers," Nanoha admitted.
"So that ship is going to teleport us?"
"Ummm..."
Miyuki hung her head. "Mom did not have good things to say about those fire pits."
"Maybe you get used to it after a while?" Nanoha wondered hopefully.
As it turned out, hoping wasn't enough. Not nearly enough.
"I think she's still mad about the soot," Nanoha muttered.
"Can you blame her?" Arisa asked, her bossy tones smoothed over by amusement.
"Not really," Nanoha admitted.
It was Christmas Eve and, as promised, Nanoha and Fate had gone over to Suzuka's home for a party with Suzuka, Arisa, and Hayate. They'd just had a feast of a dinner and were lounging around lazily, surrounded by the house's seemingly endless pack of kittens. Nanoha's brother, Kyouya, was somewhere else with Suzuka's sister, Shinobu. Nanoha was dangling a ribbon for one to play with as she related Miyuki's experience with fire travel.
"It is odd, though," Suzuka mused. "I was surprised that you three were able to keep your magic secret for just a few months. Now you're telling us that there are wizards all over the place?"
"Apparently," Fate said. "They're quite skilled at hiding themselves away."
"Well that sounds suspicious if you ask me," Arisa declared. "Why do they need to hide?"
Hayate shrugged from her wheelchair. Her legs were getting stronger almost every day, but she still couldn't take more than a few steps without tiring herself out. Unless, of course, she flew instead. "Maybe they just want their privacy?" she suggested.
"Those are some pretty extreme lengths to go for privacy!" Arisa said.
"I think they're afraid," Fate said softly.
"Yeah," Nanoha agreed glumly. "They're not just hiding from mundanes, they've cut themselves off pretty hard, too."
"What do you mean, Nanoha?" Suzuka asked.
Nanoha looked around the room and made a few quick estimates. "Well your house is what, fifty years old? Older?"
"Something like that," Suzuka agreed. "We just finished remodeling, though, so all the old stuff was thrown out."
"Well, the wizards in England would find your house really hard to understand," Nanoha explained, "because it's so modern."
Suzuka and Arisa looked shocked at that while Hayate just frowned a bit. "What about Japanese wizards?" she asked.
Nanoha frowned. "They're a lot more familiar with the mundane world," she speculated. "At least, they build stuff like they are. Super fast trains and skyscrapers and stuff."
"So it's only the English that are weird?" Arisa asked. "That makes a lot more sense. We'd have noticed wizards going around with wands and great big green fires and all that."
"The secrecy thing is an international law," Fate said. "The English just embrace it a bit more."
"Does that mean you'll get in trouble for telling us?" Suzuka asked.
Nanoha nodded glumly. "It's really important that you don't tell anyone," she stressed. "We'd get into trouble and they'd wipe your memories."
"They'd what?" Arisa shrieked.
Nanoha nodded. "We first ran into them when they tried to wipe the memory of a man whose cat killed one of their owls. And I didn't get the feeling that they cared what happened to him after."
"That's terrible!" Hayate protested. "And the Bureau is trying to make contact with these people?"
"Standard procedure," Fate said. "Thanks to the two of you and Admiral Graham, and anyone else who's been recruited from Earth, the Bureau doesn't have a choice but to make itself known to the local magical authority."
"And the Bureau likes to make changes on the inside," Nanoha said. "Give us a few years and we can get started bringing them back into the world."
"I wonder if the world will be ready for that," Suzuka mused.
"You were," Nanoha pointed out.
Suzuka hid behind her tea for a moment. Nanoha was a dear friend, but they weren't as close as they were before Nanoha became a mage. Was it the secrecy, the physical distance, or the different lifestyle that had caused the damage? Maybe all three?
"Hey, enough worrying about that," Arisa demanded, taking charge as was her idiom. "Christmas isn't until tomorrow, but it would be a lot more fun to open presents now, when we're all together."
Like that, the gloomy mood vanished and the children almost climbed over eachother to get their presents out and into eachothers hands.
Nanoha was thrilled by a cookbook Suzuka got her that had recipes she'd never seen before. Arisa did almost as well with a set of high quality pans that matched those same recipes. Fate and Hayate had pulled a few strings and got Nanoha a new set of training programs for Raising Heart.
Fate's gifts made it clear that, while Suzuka and Arisa cared for her, they really didn't know much about the Midchildan girl's life. They collaborated on a collection of gifts that more closely resembled a care package than anything else. Fate found herself surrounded by a collection of toys, games, and cosmetics that all fit her personal style, some of which looked interesting and others fell into the "it's the thought that counts" category. Hayate got her hands on a cleaning kit for Bardiche, while Nanoha handed her friend a selection of envelopes – donations made in her name to orphanages and animal shelters – and a broomstick cleaning kit. Fate barely looked at the kit while her eyes danced over the pictures of the kids and animals she was sponsoring.
Suzuka, Arisa, and Hayate each got a hefty package of English and wizarding treats from the two Hogwarts students. The magic stuff would all go away sooner or later, mostly candies and one-use toys that wouldn't leave any suspicious evidence behind.
Nanoha handed Fate another envelope. "This is for Arf," she said conspiratorially.
Fate took it and nodded. "What is it?"
"Well..." Nanoha hedged. "It's a day at a spa," she confessed. "A wizarding spa on the island. Full treatment, as much pampering as she can stand."
Fate looked back at the envelope with new appreciation. "I think I'm a little jealous," she laughed.
Nanoha pouted. "I thought about getting you one too but..."
Fate wave her off. "No, I get it. Arf will love it, I'm sure."
Nanoha smiled in relief. "Good," she sighed.
Christmas came, with all the family togetherness the day deserved, and Nanoha would reflect on the lazy, comfortable unity of her home with contentment. More gifts traded hands, meals were shared. The days passed into New Year's and before long the Hogwarts term was only right around the corner.
Nanoha hugged her mother tight. "I don't wanna go," she mumbled.
Momoko ruffled Nanoha's hair. "We both know you don't mean that," she chided.
Nanoha pulled back from burying her face in her mother's shirt and looked up glumly. "Well...no," she admitted. "It's really fun. I just wish I didn't have to leave to do it."
Momoko smiled and gave her little girl a goodbye kiss. She watched the rest of the family give her a grand send off, and then she was gone, out the door and doubtless to meet up with Fate again.
"She's growing up," Shiro said, walking over and wrapping his arms loosely around his wife's waist.
Momoko leaned into the hug with a glum smile. "Sooner or later she won't come back home anymore," she said softly.
"Later," Shiro promised. "Much later." He wasn't sure how much he believed that himself, but it didn't matter. He'd hold a strong face for his family.
Besides, even when the day came, Nanoha would never just vanish from their lives. She was too caring for that.
Author's Note: Ugh, I'm terrible at emotional scenes. I also hate author's notes. Really this chapter just kicked my ass a buncha ways, and I'm glad it's over.
