Disclaimer: I do not own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and its characters, nor do I own this plot since it's directly based on Radclyffe's story of the same title. I just love the story so much and the characters had an uncanny similarity with NanoFate that I had to share this awesome story .. Apologies if I offend anyone.
Chapter 9
"Momoko! We'll be late if we don't leave soon!"
Shiro and Nanoha were impatiently pacing the length of the sitting room, dressed and ready to go. Shiro didn't want to miss a moment of the night's festivities. Nanoha hadn't been able to think of anything all day except that this was Fate's last night in town, and that it would seem so dreary with her and the other cowboys gone.
"Well, Nanoha! Since almost everyone in town will be at the dance tonight, it feels like your coming-out ball all over again." He smiled at his daughter. "You look lovely."
She wore a midnight blue dress that her mother had carefully packed and carried all the way from Cranagan. It was elegant in its simplicity, cut away at the neck only enough to show a hint of bodice, the skirt skimming her slender form in the latest style. Nanoha had worn it once before, but not with the anticipation she did now. Tonight she felt like a woman, and not like a young girl on display.
"I think after this evening we'll be seeing more than a few young men appearing at our door." Shiro enthused, beaming with fatherly pride.
Nanoha smiled at him, dismissing the question of suitors with an easy shrug.
"We shall never know if we don't get there, Father. I'll go see what's keeping Mother."
Nanoha left Shiro peering at his watch and made her way upstairs to her mother's room. She found Momoko seated before her dressing table, dressed to go.
"Mother! Is something wrong? Are you ill?" Nanoha was frightened by the strange look on Momoko's face.
Momoko turned to Nanoha and smiled slightly.
"Frightened I think, Nanoha. You and your father have settled in so well, it's as if you've always lived here. We've been here for weeks and I still feel like a stranger. Oh, everyone is kind and helpful, but I feel out of place. Tonight, with the whole town there, I'm not sure I can manage!" She shook her head helplessly.
Nanoha went to her and put her hands on her mother's shoulders sympathetically.
"You expect too much of yourself, Mother. There's no hurry. You'll discover in time that these people are really no different than those we knew in Cranagan. You have to look past their clothes and their different ways, and see them for the honest, good people that they are."
She met her mother's eyes in the mirror.
"I don't expect you'll like all of them, but I think you'll find most of them can be friends. Some of them are quite extraordinary." She gave Momoko a little shake, laughing.
"Come on now, before Father explodes!"
Momoko followed her daughter downstairs, far from convinced, but determined to make the best of her situation since it was clear to her that her husband and her daughter had already made Altseim their home.
Fate packed her valise and stood it at the foot of the bed. She planned to leave in the morning and had already settled her accounts at the bank. She only stayed tonight because of the town gathering and dance. It was a town tradition to celebrate the end of roundup, and despite the fact that she didn't know most of the townspeople any more than to say hello, she had been raised to respect tradition. And she had promised Nanoha that she would be there.
Thinking of Nanoha made her smile. There was something so fresh and eager about Nanoha that when they were together everything seemed so much more exciting than it ever had before. No one had ever made her feel at once so comfortable and so alive. She knew there were other feelings Nanoha stirred in her, but, not knowing how to explain them, she set them aside. Soon she would be back at the ranch and she would probably never see Nanoha again, except to nod hello in the street when they might happen to meet. Unaccountably saddened by the realization, she turned to the mirror above the dresser and surveyed her reflection, determined not to think about anything except the evening ahead.
She wore a black shirt with silver trim at the pockets and cuffs tucked into close-fitting black pants. Her blond hair was tied loosely at the back of her neck with a black ribbon. The heavy beaten silver trim on her ornate holster matched the shimmering silver threads in her shirt.
'I look like a tenderfoot," she thought ruefully, but she was not displeased. She reached for her black hat and closed her door.
When Fate arrived she found the crowd already beginning to spill out into the street in front of the meeting hall. Music and the muted roar of many voices wafted out through the open double doors. She sidled her way through the crowd, nodding and exchanging hellos with wranglers she knew and townspeople she recognized. When she entered the large crowded room, she made her way slowly around the periphery toward tables in the rear where women offered food and drink. In the center of the space people jostled and talked and surrounded those couples dancing to the lively music of several fiddlers. Suddenly she was very hungry. A slender arm reached out for her, and she turned, meeting twinkling teal eyes and a broad smile.
"Fate Testarossa! You look mighty fine tonight," Lindy Harlaown bellowed to Fate above the roar.
"I heard that you did well at the auction this year. I'm pleased to hear it!"
Fate broke into a smile and shouted back, "Thank you, and your husband, too. I would say I'm pleased enough with how Al Hazard did!"
Lindy nodded again and began to pile food on a plate. As she handed it to Fate, she seemed to remember something and shouted again, "Fate, I forgot to introduce you two. This here is Mrs. Momoko Takamachi. She and her family are new in town! Momoko, this is Fate Testarossa, one of the ranchers from north of town."
Fate looked quickly at Momoko, who was staring at her intently, and doffed her hat. Now she could see the resemblance to Nanoha, in that auburn hair and penetrating sapphire gaze.
"Ma'am," Fate said politely. "I'm pleased to know you. I hope you're settling in well."
Momoko struggled to absorb the idea of a woman striding about in public dressed like a man, and carrying a weapon. Different, Nanoha had said? Indecent was more like it. Lord, what were people thinking of out here!
She answered stiffly, "How do you do, Miss Testarossa." She turned away gratefully when a new arrival extended a plate for her to fill. All she could think was how relieved she would be when all this roundup business was over and these cowboys would leave town.
Fate stared after her for a second, then nodded to Lindy and moved off to a quiet corner of the room to eat.
Nanoha had been watching for Fate to arrive all evening, and when she first saw her, she caught her breath sharply in surprise. She had not known what to expect, but certainly not this! Fate appeared neither as a dusty trail hand nor as another frontier woman in her best Sunday dress. Fate was just herself - striking in shimmering black and silver, confident and sure, she stood slightly apart from the crowd and in Nanoha's eyes was the most interesting person in the room. Nanoha stepped quietly away from the group of young women she was with and made her way through the crowd toward her.
Fate leaned back against a broad wooden pole a little away from the edge of the dance floor, listening to the music and trying to relax. A cool evening breeze drifted in from an open window nearby. She looked over the crowd, searching for Nanoha. She hadn't thought about much else all day except that she would see Nanoha that night, and she couldn't stop worrying over their strange lunch the day before. Something was troubling Nanoha, and that troubled her more than anything ever had.
Then Fate saw her and forgot completely what she had been fretting about. Nanoha was a vision in blue, easily the loveliest woman in the room, and the smile she sent Fate's way set her heart to pounding strangely.
"I thought you might not come!" Nanoha said breathlessly as she stopped in front of her, her eyes searching Fate's face.
"And what else would I do during the biggest gathering of the year?" Fate asked teasingly. She grinned a little shyly.
"Besides, I told you that I would be here."
"Yes, you did," Nanoha said softly. She knew somehow that Fate would always keep her word. Fate looked down at her, surprised by the wistful note in her voice.
"You look beautiful tonight. I like you in black." Nanoha said it quietly, realizing she really meant it. Odd, because ordinarily she didn't notice such things. Fate had a way of capturing her attention without doing anything more than smiling at her.
Fate blushed under her tan and looked away. When she spoke, her voice was thick and low.
"I'd say beautiful was more what you are tonight, Nanoha." She looked into Nanoha's face, her heart racing as her gaze traveled from Nanoha's eyes, blue and deep with feeling, to her full lips, curled into a faint smile. She was dimly aware of blood pounding in her ears as she watched the hypnotic rise and fall of Nanoha's breasts against the brilliant blue of the dress.
"You shine with it."
Nanoha couldn't look away from her. The sound of Fate's voice was all that she could hear, the deep wine-red of Fate's eyes was all that she could see. She took a step closer. Her head was even with Fate's shoulder; she watched the pulse beat quickly in Fate's neck.
Fate's right hand was curled tightly around her silver studded belt, so tightly her fingers ached. She drew her breath in sharply as she felt Nanoha's fingers, feather light on her own, but she didn't move. Nanoha's eyes were sparkling blue diamonds and her face was misted with a fine perspiration.
"Fate-" Nanoha said softly.
Fate jerked her head around as a male voice said beside them, "Why, Miss Takamachi, you look too pretty tonight to be standing off here all alone. I think you should be dancing. May I have that pleasure?" Yuuno Scrya, the town's only lawyer and a relative newcomer himself, was smiling confidently down at Nanoha, waiting expectantly.
"I'm not alone!" Nanoha retorted hotly, not bothering to hide her anger at his rude interruption. "I'm talking with..."
Fate quickly pulled her hand from under Nanoha's, took a step back, and added quietly, "He's quite right, Nanoha. This is a party, and you should be dancing. Please go ahead."
Nanoha glanced up at Fate, unable to decipher the distant expression in her eyes. She didn't know how to politely refuse Yuuno's request, although leaving Fate to dance with him was the last thing she wanted to do. She nodded silently to the man beside her and took his arm, letting him lead her to the floor. As she followed, she struggled with her anger and confusion. She had not wanted to dance with him, and she did not understand why Fate suggested that she should. As he placed his arm lightly around her waist Nanoha looked back to where Fate had been standing. Fate was gone.
Fate pushed through the swinging doors of the saloon and surveyed the empty room. Even Zest the bartender was at the dance. She walked behind the bar and poured a brandy, leaving a coin on the countertop. She pulled out a chair and sat at one of the tables, staring into the dark amber liquid swirling in her glass. She wasn't sure how long she'd been there when she heard footsteps on the stairs behind her.
"Well, Lightning," Shamal's softly called as she made her way behind the bar. "You're home early from the dance!"
"I don't much feel like it tonight, Shamal."
"Oh? And everyone's there, too." Shamal tried to read the thoughts behind Fate's smooth features and failed. She poured herself a whiskey and came around to sit down on Fate's right.
"Something happen tonight, Fate?" she asked casually, noting the hollow tone in Fate's voice. She sipped the whiskey and watched Fate's face. Fate was too honest to hide much.
"What?" Fate asked, as if from far away. She couldn't find the words to describe how she felt, even to herself. Empty, in a funny sort of way. "Oh, no. Just tired, I guess."
"Maybe you've had too much of this easy town living, Fate. Maybe you're just homesick for a rocky bed and cold food," Shamal teased lightly.
Fate looked fondly over at Shamal. "Maybe that's it, Shamal. Too much comfort can be bad for you." She stretched her legs out under the table and shrugged her tense shoulders.
"Maybe I just need to get back to the ranch where I belong."
Shamal got up and stood behind her, her hands resting lightly on Fate's shoulders. She gently kneaded the tight muscles, leaning close to murmur, "Tell you what I think you need, Lightning. A good old- fashioned bath. Finish your drink now. One of the girls was just drawing me a hot tub upstairs. The way these muscles are strung, you feel like you could use it more than me."
Fate sighed softly and leaned back, eyes closed. Shamal's hands felt good, and she was weary.
"You'll have me asleep here in a minute, Shamal."
Shamal stared down at Fate's finely chiseled features and stroked her fingers lightly over the silky smooth skin of her neck. Minutes passed and Fate remained motionless, her slender hands resting quietly on her thighs, her head resting gently against Shamal's body.
Shamal finally moved her hand and whispered with effort, "Come on, Lightning. I'll give you a hand with that bath."
Fate shuddered and roused herself. She followed Shamal slowly up the stairs, but her mind was still on the dance, and the way that Nanoha had looked in Yuuno Scrya's arms. She had no idea why it bothered her so much that she wouldn't get to say goodbye.
"Shed those duds," Shamal instructed as she tested the temperature of the water, and added a little more from a still steaming kettle sitting on the fireplace hearth in the far corner of the room. "And climb in here."
Fate stripped, laying her clothes over the chair next to the bed. She lowered herself into the tin tub, sighing. "That does feel good."
Shamal stood behind her, working up a lather with a bar of soap. "Dunk your head, Lightning."
Fate did, then shook the water from her eyes and rested her neck on the rim, stretching her arms out along the sides. The water came to just above her breasts. She closed her eyes as Shamal began to wash her hair, groaning softly in appreciation. She drifted with the heat and the soothing rhythm of Shamal's fingers on her scalp.
Shamal watched as Fate's limbs loosened and her breathing became slow and deep. Gently she rinsed the soap from Fate's thick sun-streaked hair, smoothing the stray strands off her face. Shamal rested her palms very lightly on Fate's shoulders, her fingers trailing over the edge of her collar bone, just brushing the pale skin of her upper chest. Fate shifted, sighing faintly. Shamal held her breath for a long moment, her hands trembling.
"Fate," Shamal murmured.
Fate heard the soft voice call to her from a long ways away. She smiled up into the face so close to hers, responding to the welcoming gaze with a swift rush of pleasure. She lifted her hand and caught the fingers that stroked her skin, turning the palm and pressing it to her lips. She was warm, warm and liquid deep within, and her limbs trembled with a sweet urgency that grew more insistent as she drew the hand she held onto her breast. She tilted her head, eager for a kiss from the lips so near her own. With the first gentle pressure on her mouth, she sighed again, the breath stealing from her body on the wings of desire.
"Wake up, Lightning," Shamal repeated, louder this time.
Fate came awake with a start, sitting up so suddenly that water splashed over the rim onto the floor.
"Lord," she muttered, looking wildly about. Shamal stood beside her, a towel in her hand. "What happened?"
"You fell asleep," Shamal said matter of factly.
"That's all?" Fate asked, trying to piece together the fragments of the dream. All she could clearly recall were wisps of color -blue skies, and white bits of clouds, and sapphire eyes that held her. Eyes that were very different from Shamal's deep maroon ones. Her body was quivering strangely and she thought her skin might catch fire from the inside. She drew a ragged breath, reaching for the towel, stepping from the tub on trembling legs.
"You sure?"
"What else?" Shamal said, heading for the door. She wasn't about to tell Fate whose name she had murmured in her sleep. There wasn't any point to giving her ideas if she didn't already have them. The one way Fate differed from the cowboys she rode with was that she was sweetly unschooled in matters of the flesh. Shamal loved Fate's innocence as much as it sometimes tried her.
"You were just dreaming, Fate."
Fate stared at the door as it closed behind her friend, the memory of the kiss still tingling on her lips.
A/N: So there, the next chapter will be exciting to write XD ! See you tomorrow.
