Day In The Life

Chapter 12

Support

Note: Warning, this chapter can be considered very controversial. Just a heads up.

Disclaimer: Neither RadiantBeam nor myself are making money off this, so suing isn't going to get you any money.

This is also the longest chapter to date.


"I'm glad..." Hayate smiled as she leaned back in her seat as she saw the landscape fly past her at quick pace.

"Hmm?" Vice was curious, he was just doing his job, why would she be glad about that?

"I'm glad that you're a friend to myself and my knights."

"Ah, I hardly know any of them." Vice commented with a chuckle. Sure, he talked to Vita and Signum from time to time, but he really didn't know all that much about them, now that he thought about it. Maybe he should at least strive to get to know some of them better. They were decent people to talk to at any rate.

Hayate shook her head. "No... Signum actually talks about you from time to time." Vice was surprised, Signum talked about him? "You're one of her few men that she knows that she would call a friend." Besides Yuuno and Chrono of course. "She rather likes hearing about different things. Plus she told me that you don't keep trying to ask her out on dates."

Vice blinked, but didn't ask about that last quip, since they were touching down at that moment. "Ah, thank you." Hayate smiled as she started to get out. "Sorry for asking you to fly me out here. I'm going to be here for the rest of the day, so feel free to leave." She giggled slightly as she got out of the helicopter and left, Sister Schach meeting her part way.

Vice shrugged as he watched Hayate walk into the Saint Church with the nun and took his helicopter and flew off. If Hayate didn't need him to wait, who was he to argue with her? Though he idly did wonder why she didn't drive herself over to the Saint Church.

That last comment Hayate made about Signum, well, he could see why men would ask her for dates, she was incredibly beautiful. If it wasn't for the fact that he really didn't know her too well, he might have tried himself. Wait, doesn't Verossa know Hayate pretty well? Maybe it was time to visit his old friend, maybe he knew something about the Wolkenritter?

Well, it was certainly worth checking out, wasn't it?

As they walked into the church, Schach turned to Hayate. "Why didn't you drive here?"

Hayate giggled. "My car is in the shop and Shamal and Signum both took their cars out today." Vita and Zafira didn't drive for various reasons and Agito and Rein just tagged along with whoever they wanted to. "I didn't feel like walking up here, so I asked Vice-kun to give me a lift.

"Ah." Schach nodded and opened the door to Knight Carim's inner sanctum. "Well, please enjoy your meeting today, General."

"Thank you."

Once the door was closed, Hayate moved forward to embrace Carim. "It's been a long time," she sighed. "I wish we were meeting for a different reason."

"So do I, but..." Carim shrugged. "The Admiral already filled me in on what's happened."

"Good, then I don't need to waste time explaining myself." Hayate said, her cheer leaving her.

"Hayate," Lindy spoke up, drawing attention to her, "just why do you want to do this, exactly? What you suggested..."

Hayate shook her head. "Lindy-san, I know what I suggested, but, I do think that it needs to happen." She sighed, rubbing her eyes. "I know, I know that my superiors have their hands in all sorts of things, that many times we have to do stuff for the safety of the people, but, when their dirty little secrets get out of hand... Information needs to be given out, especially when it comes to matters of security of the people."

Lindy blinked. "You mean things like what happened to Agito, and the pressure on mages now to have children, and putting Yuuno on the field?"

Hayate nodded. "Those and a few others." Her mind flashed to what Fate had told her about Erio. She didn't need to know that there were others that had suffered similar problems that those two had.

Chrono cleared his throat. "Even so, how would we go about this? We can't just go head-first into this."

"I know." Hayate sighed. Everything in politics was so dammed complicated. "But we need to do something."

"I agree." Carim spoke up as she looked at the two Admirals. "Stuff like this... It can't go on forever." Which it would, if things didn't change, and they all knew it.

(---)

Vice had a lunch break after landing, but even though he unwrapped his food he made no move to eat it. He was still lost in thought, pondering what Hayate had said.

Was it possible that what she said as true? It was hard to go by Signum's reactions; Signum treated pretty much everyone the same, with the exception of her small circle of friends and family.

"Well, you're thinking deeply about something." Verossa chuckled as he stepped outside.

"Why isn't Yuuno with you?"

Verossa chuckled as he sat down next to Vice. "He had to run to the Library, something about a new intern nearly getting killed by a falling bookshelf."

"Oh..." Vice chuckled softly. "I bet that was an interesting call."

"I've never seen Arf so frazzled before." Verossa chuckled as he remembered that video call.

"I bet... Hey, Verossa..."

"Yes?" The green-haired man blinked at Vice looked at him seriously.

"You know Hayate, right?"

"Well, yes. She's very close to myself and my sister."

"How well do you know her knights?"

Verossa shrugged. "Well... she's like a little sister to me. She reminds me a lot of Carim. And since she spends so much time with us, it's only natural that we get to know her Knights well."

"So... you're friends with them?"

Verossa chuckled. "In an odd way, yes, I suppose I am. Zafira and I have very entertaining conversations, Vita always wants tips on what Hayate likes, Shamal is constantly cooking food for me when she's over...."

Vice noticed he hadn't mentioned Signum.

Verossa blinked as Vice seemed to look at him expectantly. "Well, then there's Rein, cute as a million buttons, a little too technical at times." He chuckled, it was rather cute getting scolded by her sometimes. "Agito's pretty upbeat when she's not angry."

"And Signum?"

"Well..." Here Verossa leaned back and shook his head. "She's a little more difficult to figure out. She's always polite, but she tends to be a bit distant to myself, at least compared to how she is around Schach, Carim or even Fate."

Vice blinked. "So... you aren't friends with her?"

"Well, no... we're friends, in our own way, I guess. I know she holds me in high regard, even if at times she isn't very friendly to me. She's sought me out a time or two for conversation."

"Oh." Vice muttered, he had been hoping for a little more information than that.

"Something wrong?" Verossa blinked in confusion.

"Well... There was something that Hayate said that's been bugging me since I heard it."

"Oh?" Verossa held a drink in his hand and looked at Vice through one eye. "What would that be?"

"That she didn't have many male friends... I thought maybe you would know the reason for that."

There was a long pause.

"Vice."

"Yes?"

"Are you... looking to become closer to Signum?"

"Ah, well..." Vice scratched his head lightly. "Partly, but, when I was talking to Hayate earlier today, I found that I really didn't know Signum at all." Oh, he knew of her battle record, he knew she was a good fighter, but he really didn't know too much beyond that.

"I see..." Verossa took a sip of his drink, making Vice blink at him a few times in confusion. "That... It's a bit loaded."

"How so?" The brown-haired man blinked in confusion as Verossa stared at his drink seriously.

Verossa hesitated only a moment before he spoke again. "Vice, why do you want to get to know Signum better?"

Vice blinked at that. "Eh?"

"You already have a rather good relationship with her, much better than most. Why do you want to change it?"

Vice was silent for a moment before he took a breath. "Knowing more about Signum would cause me to look at her differently, wouldn't it?"

Verossa said nothing, his face surprisingly neutral from that.

"Well, it's just... Yeah, I have a good relationship with her, but, we never really talk about anything at all. I hear a few things, she thanks me for the lifts, but I still feel like she's got some sort of barrier up keeping me from really being close to her."

Verossa raised an eyebrow as Vice flushed.

"Ah, I meant being closer as a friend." He wouldn't mind being more than friends with Signum, but, he really just wanted to get to know her better.

Verossa sighed heavily.

Dammit, but Vice sounded sincere. And for all his flairs and faults, Vice never lied.

"If I tell you, Hayate will probably get mad at me."

Vice blinked before chuckling slightly. "Ah, guess that getting her mad at you wouldn't be a good thing." He was disappointed by it, but maybe it wasn't his place to know.

Verossa shook his head. "Nope." He rather liked not getting blown up by a tactical nuke... Or getting Vita after him, that girl was so over-protective of Hayate it wasn't funny sometimes. Idly, he wondered if maybe there was something more going on between them.

After a moment, Verossa took a deep breath. "They had other masters before Hayate," he said. "You know that, right, Vice?"

Vice nodded. "Well, yeah. I always figured. None of them talk about it much, but it's not a secret that they had other masters."

Verossa sighed. "Those masters... many of them didn't care about the Knights the way Hayate does. Some of them saw them as nothing more than tools, a means to an end. And some... some would look at Signum, or Shamal, and see more."

Vice looked at him weirdly, before his eyes widened as he figured out what was being implied. "You mean..." Verossa nodded as the weight of the situation just crashed down onto Vice like a ton of bricks. "...They were forced to do whatever the master told them to do, right?"

"Yes." Verossa said as he watched his friend for reactions.

"So... Even that?" Vice looked at the green-haired man, who nodded seriously. "...I see..."

"You aren't blind, Vice. You know how they both look."

Vice nodded slowly. He understood how the Book worked, but he couldn't imagine how horrible that had to have been.

"Is that why she's so distant?"

"Part of it. She's never had a truly healthy relationship with a man, not so far as I can tell. I imagine the closest she ever came was Zest, and he was our enemy. But she understood him very well; to an extent, she even respected him."

Vice nodded, he remembered hearing about Zest from Signum, it wasn't often that she talked without being asked a question, but when she talked about Zest, he could hear the respect she gave the man. Part of it might have been for Agito's sake, but Vice genuinely thought that Signum thought highly of the man.

"I don't know all the details." Verossa sighed and leaned back. "Even Hayate doesn't know all the details, but there was enough implied and inferred that we could piece together what happened." He took a deep breath and let it out.

"Verossa... Signum wouldn't like me if I treated her any different, would she?"

Verossa smirked lightly and shook his head. "She even told Hayate that she never wanted to be treated differently than she had before, just because Hayate knows a dirty secret doesn't mean that she should treat them any differently."

"Kind of hard though, isn't it?"

"Yes is it." Verossa shook his head. "It took me awhile to not look at them with pity when they weren't looking."

"They're a lot stronger than most are." Vice nodded, though it made sense why Signum didn't socialize very often. If she saw any sort of relationship with a man as one where she had no say, then it would be pretty easy to see why she didn't have too many male friends.

"Yes." Verossa sighed. "Sometimes, I don't think it's a good thing. I imagine they'll have quite a bit of trouble in the future, if they ever decide to pursue relationships."

Vice blinked. "Why?"

"They never had a choice. They aren't used to taking the first step in relationships, and they'd always be afraid that they're just being used."

"Are you guessing or..?"

"Partly guessing, but it's not hard to figure out." He sighed and shook his head. "Vice, just some advice from me to you."

"What?"

"If you do really want to get to know her and become her friend, don't bring up what we just talked about. If she ever brings it up, feel free to talk about it, but until then..."

"Until then, don't say anything, she might think that I'm just using what I know to force her to do something, huh?" Vice murmured softly, thinking about what he just heard.

Verossa nodded at him. "However it turns out, I do wish you luck though."

Vice nodded to himself.

After a moment, he smiled. "Hey, Verossa?"

"Yes?"

"Thanks."

"No problem." Verossa said as he stood up to leave. "I think that Signum was asked to help Vita show some of the recruits new moves today, if you want to head that way and talk to her."

Vice nodded as he got up and left the area.

Good luck, Vice. Signum needs someone that she can trust, even if it's just as a friend. Verossa thought to himself.

(---)

"Shamal-sensei, is that you?" Miyuki blinked as she saw the blond looking over some of the various food products in the grocery store, picking some up and putting them into her cart.

Blinking, the blond turned and smiled at Miyuki. "Hello, there, Miyuki. How are you? Your arm hurting still?"

She shook her head. "Nope, good as new thanks to you." She still couldn't believe she hurt her arm during practice that one day, oh well, that would teach her to practice a new move too much. "And I'm fine, just shopping for food with Nanoha-chan." She guestured to the cart of food that she had on her.

Shamal giggled. "Oh my, I bet that Nanoha-chan has to buy a lot, doesn't she?"

Miyuki laughed. "I practically live there these days. Hayate-chan's been busy arranging her meetings, so she hasn't been able to help Yuuno when Nanoha or Fate-chan get weird cravings."

At that, Shamal blinked. "I didn't know you cooked, Miyuki."

"I try." Miyuki shrugged sheepishly. "I've gotten better at it. You should have seen what I did when I was a teenager. I'm amazed Mom never lost faith in me."

Shamal laughed softly. "Oh, don't worry about that, I still can't really cook." She was thankful Agito and Rein could. It still irked her that she couldn't do anything more than the most simple of simple dishes and even then she screwed them up sometimes.

"Maybe you need more practice?"

Shamal shook her head. "After ten years, I don't think I'll ever get the hang of cooking... At least I don't set boiling water on fire anymore." Seeing the look on Miyuki's face, Shamal laughed. "Oh yes, one time I tried making pasta for Hayate when we first met her and the metal pot nearly exploded." She had felt so bad and had expected Hayate to scold her, the girl smiled, said that she needed to replace that one anyway and told Shamal not to worry about it.

Such a different master had really been a shocker to her. It was the reason that the Wolkenritter would do anything for Hayate, anything.

Deep down, Shamal was just glad to be a part of such a loving family.

Miyuki chuckled. "Well, that's still better than me. I set fire to cookies one time."

Shamal stared.

"I did!" She chuckled nervously.

"Don't they bake in the oven?" Shamal asked as Miyuki nodded. "Sounds like the time I accidentally burned ice-cream."

"How do you do that?"

"I have no clue." Shamal said, chuckling nervously.

Miyuki laughed. "Did I ever tell you what Nanoha did once when Mom was teaching her how to bake a cake?"

"What'd she do?"

"I don't know how she did this... I think she forgot a recipe or something... but the cake just melted. Right before we even pulled it out." She smiled at the memory. "We ate in anyway, just for the heck of it."

Shamal giggled. "Oh my, I bet she didn't feel good about that, did she?"

Miyuki shook her head. "Poor girl looked like she was about to run off to her room and cry. She tried really hard. Though, I have to admit, that was the best melted cake I ever ate in my life."

Shamal covered her mouth and nearly broke down laughing. "Oh my... Speaking of Nanoha, does she stick to my diet plan, or does she and Fate sneak a lot of sweets when no one's looking?" She'd ask them directly, but getting the truth out of Nanoha sometimes was like pulling teeth from a shark, only less painful.

Miyuki smiled. "They stick to it very well. Occasionally they sneak some sweets when they really can't stand not having them, or they have a strange food craving and walk halfway across town to find what they're looking for, but they've been following it."

If there was one thing Miyuki couldn't get used to, though, it was her sister's craving for her lovers. It was strange, and... incredibly awkward to walk in on.

"That's good." Shamal smiled softly. "I keep getting worried that they're not eating healthy."

"Other than maybe eating too much." Miyuki muttered, getting a soft laugh from Shamal.

"I bet... So, does Nanoha still get odd cravings for Fate and Yuuno?"

"How did you..?"

Shamal laughed so hard that she nearly doubled over, she was thankful for holding onto her cart. "I was mostly joking, but they were both commenting on it to me."

"Laugh all you want, but walking in on them by accident..." Miyuki went red, getting another peal of laughter from Shamal.

"Oh my... I think I better stop or I'll have people wondering what's wrong with me." The blond continued to giggle at Miyuki.

Miyuki shrugged, but it was a good-natured shrug. Even her grumblings were half hearted.

"I think you just enjoy teasing me, Shamal-sensei."

"Just a little." Shamal giggled. "It's not often I get to tease people like that."

"Miyuki-nee..." Nanoha called out, smiling as she waved at Miyuki. "Eh, Shamal? What are you doing here?"

"Nanoha, hi." Shamal gamely swallowed her laughter. "I'm sorry. I'm holding your sister up when she said she was shopping for you."

"I didn't mind, I had fun." Miyuki walked over to Nanoha, smirking at Shamal. "Though you enjoy teasing me just a little too much, for the record."

Shamal giggled again.

Nanoha looked between the pair curiously. "Just what were you talking about?"

"Bad cooking attempts and little sisters who embarrass their older sisters." Miyuki giggled and ruffled Nanoha's hair while her younger sister's face turned bright red.

"Well, it was nice seeing you, but I'm almost done shopping." Shamal said as she walked up to the register. "We should meet again, Miyuki, I had fun."

"We should, talk to you later, Shamal." Miyuki smiled brightly at the doctor, getting Nanoha to blink a few times.

Miyuki noticed Nanoha's confusion. "What?"

Nanoha blinked again and looked at her sister, then at Shamal, then back at her sister. "Onee-chan, I've never heard you talk to anyone like that before."

Miyuki shrugged and pushed up her glasses. "Eh, Shamal's pretty easy to talk to. That's all. Now, come on, we have to get you more stuff."

"Mouu... Onee-chan!" Nanoha followed her, but mentally, she noted how her sister had avoided the conversation, she never really did anything like that before. I wonder why? She thought to herself idly.

Nanoha had to trot to keep up with her sister's long strides, and upon noticing it, Miyuki slowed down. "Ne, Onee-chan..."

"Hmm?"

"When did you and Shamal get so close?"

Miyuki shrugged. "We aren't. She's just tended my injuries from time to time when I push myself too hard, and we ran into each other by chance."

Nanoha blinked and nodded and pulled a few things off the shelves. "Oh."

"Yeah, now let's hurry up before you start craving Fate or Yuuno."

"I'm not that bad!" Nanoha exclaimed, her face beet red as Miyuki laughed.

"Yesterday you got through the door after walking with me and pounced Fate-chan and couldn't even wait to get to the bedroom." Miyuki smirked as Nanoha turned more and more red.

"Okay, so maybe I am." She said in a soft, meek voice.

"Maybe? Nanoha, mom and dad might act like newlyweds at times, but I don't think I ever saw them get so... Well, randy like you three do." At least she couldn't recall it. Then again, her parents did do a lot of flirting together, even now, they never stopped flirting with each other all the time. "Though, you do take after dad when it comes to showing affection."

"I do?" Nanoha blinked as Miyuki smiled and nodded at her, putting more stuff into their baskets.

"Oh yes. Just the other day, I swear if I wasn't in the room that mom and dad would have tried to christen that couch we have and dad started it."

Nanoha hesitated. "Ne, Onee-chan..."

"What?"

"Do you ever feel... I don't know... lonely?"

Miyuki blinked, looking at her younger sister curiously. "Lonely?"

"Well... I have Yuuno-kun and Fate-chan, and Mom and Dad have each other. You chose to come to Mid-Childa with them, but... you never really had anyone to be with, did you?"

Miyuki shrugged. She'd never really thought about it before, at least not that way. "Never thought about it."

Nanoha frowned lightly, now that she thought about it, Miyuki spent a lot of time taking care of her, Fate and Vivio when Yuuno wasn't around. "You know that you don't need to play maid for Fate-chan and myself, Miyuki."

Her older sister smiled at her as they finished getting what they needed. "It's kind of fun, actually, Nanoha-chan." She didn't say it, but she had wished that she had spent more time with Nanoha when they were younger, instead of having her live alone for awhile when she was so little. Deep down, it was her way of making it up to her little sister.

Nanoha pouted. "Well yeah, maybe, but you should have your own life, Onee-chan! Go out, meet people, maybe date someone..."

Miyuki shrugged. "I've never been good at romantic relationships, Nanoha. You know that. I haven't had that many of them."

"... You think we inherited that from Dad, too? Being totally blind to the people who love us?"

"Well... Mom did say it took her awhile to win him over..."

Nanoha giggled softly. "I bet that must have been an interesting courtship..."

"Well, at least it didn't start with them waking up after getting drunk." Miyuki teased, she honestly didn't expect Nanoha to stop and start tearing up. "N...Nanoha-chan?"

"Do... Do you think that I shouldn't have? That I made a mistake?" She asked, trembling lightly.

Oh hell... Miyuki forgot how sharp her emotions could go out of control at times. "Nanoha."

With the ease of an older sister to her younger sister, Miyuki stepped closer and gently hugged Nanoha. "What brought this on, huh? I thought you were happy that it happened."

"I am..." Nanoha sniffled as she hugged Miyuki softly. "But what you said... It... It makes me think that maybe I'm not good enough for Fate-chan, for Yuuno-kun, that I couldn't see that they both loved me until we all got drunk and ended up sleeping together like we did." She trembled lightly.

"Nanoha..."

"I... I'm worried that they... That they aren't really happy with this... That they resent it on some level. Maybe they resent each other? Maybe they resent me?"

Miyuki hugged Nanoha tighter and rocked back and forth slowly, trying to get her to calm down. It was easy to forget that despite the fact that Nanoha was happy with them, and all that she had done, Nanoha was still a young woman, and she the relationship was still young. That and Nanoha was pregnant, those hormones wrecked havok on her mind.

It never helped that Miyuki did know that most relationships that were started like the way Nanoha did with Fate and Yuuno didn't always turn out so well.

Miyuki sighed, gently stroking Nanoha's hair.

"Nanoha, if you're really worried about this, you need to talk to Fate and Yuuno. I think that would help a lot. They wouldn't lie to you."

Nanoha sniffled and looked up at her sister. "Really?"

Nodding, Miyuki smiled at her softly. "Yeah. The two of them would never lie about that."

"Thanks, Onee-chan." Nanoha smiled softly as her sister let go of the hug. "Let's get this stuff home."

Miyuki chuckled and stepped back. "Sometimes I wonder what you would've done if I'd stayed on Earth," she teased.

"You'd probably be dating someone by now." Nanoha smiled at her softly.

Miyuki shrugged. "Maybe, maybe not. Who knows."

The two of them gathered everything together at the register and had it paid for before too long. "Ne, Onee-chan?" Nanoha asked as they put their groceries into the car.

"Yeah?" Miyuki looked at her, smiling.

"I'm glad you came to Midchilda... I don't know if I would have made it without you these last couple of weeks." Nanoha smiled at her sister, who shook her head.

"You give yourself too little credit, Nanoha. You're doing fine." Granted several days Miyuki did feel like a maid around Nanoha's place, but she didn't hate it.

Nanoha giggled. "Yeah, but you handle my crying jags a lot better than Mom or Dad."

Miyuki smiled and shrugged, happy to help in any way she could.

"I'll drive." Nanoha smiled as she got into the driver's seat, Miyuki taking shotgun next.

"Say, Nanoha..."

"Yeah?"

"Have you decided on names for your boys yet?"

The question had just the reaction Miyuki had been hoping for; Nanoha's face positively lit up, her past fears and sadness forgotten for at least the moment.

"Yuuno-kun and Fate-chan and I think it would be good to name them Isamu and Sora." She was quick to explain. "Isamu means courage, and Sora because of my love for the sky."

"Isamu and Sora, huh?" Miyuki smiled brightly. "Those sound like great names, Nanoha-chan!" Her sister was practically glowing with happiness with that remark, it was incredible to watch. "Better hope that they aren't identical twins, otherwise you'll never be able to tell them apart."

Nanoha laughed softly and rubbed her belly softly. "I think I'll be able to tell, hopefully."

"A mother's instinct, eh?" Miyuki chuckled. "I hope the same applies for their aunt. I'd be mortified if I couldn't tell my own nephews apart."

She smirked. "Those boys are going to keep Alicia busy, in any case. Did you tell Shamal yet?"

"Tell her the names?" Nanoha shook her head. "No, not yet. We just decided them last night and I forgot to tell Shamal when I saw her."

Miyuki nodded as they pulled up to Nanoha's house. "Well, I suppose I can go talk to her and let her know." She said as the two of them got out of the car.

"Really?" Nanoha blinked as they started taking out groceries from the car.

Miyuki nodded, partly because she had nothing better to do, and partly because she wanted to give Nanoha some time to talk to Fate, whose car was parked in front of the house when they drove up.

Nanoha smiled. "Thanks, Onee-chan." Even though she knew Miyuki meant well, Nanoha couldn't help feeling curious as her sister drove away. Since when had Miyuki become so interested in Shamal?

Pushing aside the thought, Nanoha took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Fate-chan? Yuuno-kun? Are you home?"

"In here, Nanoha!" Fate called out from the living room as Nanoha walked into the house with her groceries. Fate walked out a moment later, smiling at Nanoha as the other woman put the groceries onto the table and started to put them away.

"Hi, Fate-chan. Is Yuuno-kun home?"

Fate shook her head as she put away groceries. "He had to save some interns from evil books."

Nanoha giggled, that sounded so like him. "Fate-chan?" She blinked as Fate hugged her from behind, kissing her neck. "Mmmm... Feels good..." She moaned softly as she leaned into the kisses.

"Mmmhmm... I missed my Nanoha... And all the perishables are put away now... So..."

Nanoha blushed heavily as she felt Fate's hands rub all over her body. "Mouu... Fate-chan..." She gasped out as Fate nibbled on her ear.

"Yes?"

Nanoha knew she had something important, something she desperately needed to ask, but it was hard to think straight when Fate was nibbling on her like this. It was rare for Fate to be in such a mood. "I, uh..."

"Yes?"

Dammit, Fate needed to stop doing that. Nanoha's mind was starting to go cloudy.

But maybe it was okay? What if she waited for Yuuno to come home? That would be easier, right? Talking to both of them at once, instead of having to talk to one and then talk to the other later...

So it wasn't wrong that she wanted to just go along with Fate, was it?

When Fate's fingers slipped under her shirt, she really couldn't think straight. "Mmm... Fate-chan..." She gasped, feeling those fingers rub against her sensitive flesh.

"Nanoha... My Nanoha..." Fate bit Nanoha's neck lightly and suckled on it. "I've got my Nanoha, what am I going to do with her?" She asked, getting moans and whimpers from her lover as she slowed down her ministrations.

"If Fate-chan doesn't...mmm...Doesn't stop teasing me, I'm going to go crazy."

"Crazy Nanoha?" Fate's eyes seemed to light up as a grin settled across her face. "I think I like the thought of that."

"Mooouuuu..." Nanoha gasped, her eyes wide as Fate squeezed and caressed her breasts. "F...Fate-chan..."

"Just you and me right now, Nanoha..." She grinned and as Nanoha turned to look at her, she kissed her lover on the lips.

She was going to take every moment she could to enjoy the rest of this day with Nanoha.

(---)

Agito, in her help around the house mode, blinked as she opened the door. "Miyuki." She smiled. She rather liked Nanoha's older sister. It was too bad, in her opinion, that Miyuki didn't have any magical aptitude, it might have been interesting to unison with her just once. "How are you?"

"I'm fine." Miyuki smiled. "Is Shamal around? I have some news Nanoha wanted me to tell her."

"Oh?" Agito blinked curiously and stepped to the side, gesturing for Miyuki to come inside. "I think she's video conferencing with someone about moving up an appointment for an earlier date."

Miyuki winced. "Well, I can wait."

"I'll let her know." Agito sent out a mental message. "So, what's the news?"

The dark-haired girl smiled. "Nanoha chose names for her boys."

Agito's eyes widened. "Oh?" She grabbed Miyuki's hands. "Come on! Tell me, tell me, tell me!"

Miyuki laughed. "I will, I will. I'm just waiting for... Ah, Shamal... Zafira?" She blinked at the blue wolf who was padding along side the blond.

The wolf nodded at her and sat down as Shamal smiled at Miyuki. "Hello, what brings you here?"

"Well, Nanoha-chan just told me what names she picked out for her boys."

Zafira's ears swiveled forward. "Oh?" Shamal didn't respond, but she looked just as curious.

Miyuki nodded. "Isamu and Sora. Courage and the sky."

Agito frowned. "I've never heard of those names..."

"They're Japanese. I thought you'd want to know." Miyuki sighed. "Besides, I had a feeling Nanoha was going to get jumped, and I didn't want to see that."

Shamal giggled at hearing that. "Well, either she got jumped or she did the jumping."

Miyuki rolled her eyes. "Having sex is one thing, watching it when it's your sister is something else."

Miyuki blinked as Shamal lost traces of her humor, her face getting somber. "Um, sorry, I say something wrong?"

Shamal shook her head. "No, it's nothing." She didn't feel like reliving some of those memories at the moment.

Miyuki shrugged again. "It's stupid," she sighed. "I still look at her and see a little kid. And I think she might start playing matchmaker with me soon."

"Now why would she do that, I wonder?" Agito asked, scratching her head as the four of them went into the living room.

Miyuki shrugged. "I dunno, I think she just doesn't want me feeling lonely." Seeing Agito look at her curiously, Miyuki sighed. "It... It's something of a personal hang-up for her..."

"Personal hang-up?"

Miyuki shrugged again, looking awkward and uncomfortable. She didn't mind talking about her family, but the situation that had caused Nanoha to become so independent was still a bit of a sore spot.

Shamal noticed and smiled. "Ne, Miyuki, why don't I check that injury of yours? It should be bothering you right about now."

"Sure." Miyuki shrugged as Shamal went to work on her arm.

Agito frowned slightly as Shamal rolled up Miyuki's sleeve and used her devices to help her scan it for injuries.

She might have wanted to know, but... "Hey, Zafira, care to help me in the kitchen? Rein's a klutz sometimes."

"I heard that!" Rein's voice yelled out from the kitchen as Agito and Zafira walked in there. "I am not a klutz!"

"They always like that?" Miyuki asked Shamal, who nodded at her. "It almost sounds like Agito's flirting with Rein."

Shamal laughed lightly. "Possibly."

"You know, Shamal, my arm doesn't really hurt," Miyuki murmured. "What are you up to?"

Shamal smiled. "I'm curious, I guess."

"Curious...?"

"About why you're so protective of Nanoha." Finished scanning the injury, Shamal set about to changing the bandages. "I know it's natural for sisters to be that way with each other, but you and Nanoha are... very close."

Miyuki sighed and slumped into the couch. "I... It's because I abandoned her when she was four."

Shamal blinked, she didn't think Miyuki was the kind of person to do something like that. Wait a minute... "Miyuki, does this have to do with the time your father was injured?"

Miyuki nodded quietly.

"Yeah. When Dad was hurt, Mom needed Kyou-chan and I to help out around the house and the coffee shop, since we're the oldest. Nanoha was too small to do much of anything at the time, and we left her alone because we were trying so hard to keep things from falling apart." She sighed again. "By the time we realized what had happened, Nanoha was already completely independent and didn't need us. I guess... I know it's too late, but I guess I'm trying to make up for it."

Shamal nodded and patted her on the shoulder. "Mistakes of the past... they always come back to haunt us, don't they?"

Miyuki nodded, her eyes sad. "Yeah, I suppose you would know, huh?"

Shamal nodded and sighed, she had too many mistakes in her past. "I know... All too well."

Miyuki had a feeling there was more to this, but chose to keep her mouth shut. It wasn't her place to ask, not unless Shamal was willing to talk.

"Miyuki, have you ever tried talking to Nanoha about this?" Shamal asked.

"Uh... no." Miyuki shifted uncomfortable. "I never... no. And I really, really don't want to go back to her house right now."

Shamal couldn't help noticing that even though Miyuki practically lived at Nanoha's house these days, she never once referred to it as home.

Shamal sat down next to Miyuki and smiled softly. "Miyuki... Do you not feel at home here on Midchilda?"

Miyuki blinked in surprise at that question. "What?"

"Well, you never refer to Nanoha's house as home, and sometimes I get the feeling that you're just here because you feel like you need to be."

"...Did you take psychology? Because, right now, you sound like a psychologist talking to a patient."

Shamal shook her head. "Oh no. It's just a life-time of experience speaking here. And don't dodge the question."

If possible, Miyuki became even more uncomfortable than she'd been before. "I didn't mean to dodge the question," she muttered.

"Yes, dear, I'm sure." Shamal chuckled.

Miyuki shook her head. "I... I like Mid-Childa a lot. I like being close to Nanoha, and being close to Mom and Dad. It wasn't like I had anything or anyone on Earth. I guess I don't consider Mid home because... even though I have Mom and Dad and Nanoha, I don't... I don't really have much else."

Shamal sighed heavily, nodding. "I know that feeling. Until Hayate became our master... None of us ever felt at home anywhere. It just takes time and finding the right person to make you feel like you have a home."

Miyuki looked quietly at her hands. "I really don't want to tell Nanoha about any of this," she murmured. "She has enough problems as it is."

"You realize she'll worry until you tell her," Shamal replied gently. "She knows you well enough to know you're hiding something."

"I know. I'll think of something." Miyuki said as she smiled at Shamal. "Thanks for talking with me."

"No problem."

(---)

"Fate-chan..." Nanoha panted, her body covered in sweat from the last round that the two of them had. At least they had made it into the bedroom. "That was... Wow..."

Fate giggled and smiled at her. "Yeah... It was... So, what's wrong?"

Nanoha blinked at the blond, who giggled and squeezed her butt. "Eek! Fate-chan, just... what do you mean?"

"Nanoha... I know you... You were looking a little down when I saw you... And I needed you..." Her hands didn't stop squeezing and fondling Nanoha's rear, getting a soft moan from the brunette. "Please tell me what's wrong."

Nanoha sighed and slid down slightly, gently nuzzling into Fate's neck, closing her eyes. "It's stupid," she murmured.

"Nanoha?" Fate's arms came around Nanoha naturally, holding her close. She placed a light kiss on the brunette's forehead. "Please," she said. "It'll make me feel better. Either tell me now or I'll double-team you with Yuuno when he comes up."

Nanoha chuckled quietly and sighed again. "... Yuuno-kun... Fate-chan, do you love him? I mean, you know... really love him for who he is, and not just because of me?"

"Nanoha?" Fate blinked in confusion at the question. Did she love Yuuno? She thought she did. She loved being with him, spending time with him, and loved the way he made her feel.

"Please, Fate-chan... Do you love him? Or was it just because we ended up sleeping together and ended up pregnant?" She took a shuddering breath. "Can you say that you love me?"

Fate shifted so that Nanoha was on her back and Fate leaned on top of her, a serious look on her face. "Nanoha, what brought this on?"

"I... I was talking to Miyuki-nee today..." The naked brunette trembled lightly as Fate hugged her tightly. "We... We were talking about how mom and dad got together and she made a comment how we only got together because we ended up drunk together."

"Are you sure you didn't just misunderstand what she was saying?" Fate searched Nanoha's eyes. "You know she doesn't mean anything bad by it."

"I... I know, but then I started thinking... I mean, the only reason we did talk and get together was because we got drunk... and what if that had never happened? What then, Fate-chan? Would I still be with you, with Yuuno-kun? Would we have fallen in love like this? Or would we have just drifted apart?"

Fate sighed and closed her eyes. "I... I'll be honest, Nanoha, if... If we hadn't... I don't think... I don't think we would have ended up together... And, yes, maybe the three of us are only staying together out of convenience because there's babies on the way." She could see tears welling up in Nanoha's eyes, as well as pain and fear. "But..." She leaned in and kissed Nanoha on the forehead. "I'm happy."

"Fate...chan?" Nanoha was looking at her lover in confusion, even as Fate smiled at her.

"I'm happy because two of my best friends are here with me, caring for me and loving me, and, things would have been different, and we would have separated if we hadn't gotten drunk." Fate took a deep breath. "While it isn't how I would have wanted it to happen ideally, Nanoha... I am not unhappy about this situation we're in."

"You.. you aren't?"

"No. I can't speak for Yuuno, but I know I'm the happiest I've ever been." Fate lightly kissed Nanoha's forehead again. "Because I have both of you."

"Fate...chan?" Nanoha blinked, tears slowly falling down her face. "You... You mean that?" Seeing her nod, Nanoha hugged her tightly.

"If... If we hadn't gotten together, Nanoha... I think... I think I'd be alone, and wondering what could have been... And... Well... It would be tearing me apart inside." She sighed and kissed Nanoha on the lips softly. "And I think that Yuuno would be in the same position as me."

At the mention of Yuuno, Nanoha hugged Fate even tighter and buried her face into the blonde's neck. "I'm scared to ask him," she whispered. "I know he'll probably say the same thing, but... I'm scared, Fate-chan. I don't want to ask him, but I know I have to!"

"Nanoha... Nanoha, look at me." The brunette blinked and looked up at her, blinking in confusion and sadness. "Nanoha, I can't speak for Yuuno... But, I don't think he complains about the situation that we're in."

"Because of the sex..." She muttered, getting a soft laugh from Fate.

"Not just that. Nanoha, you couldn't make anyone feel as good as you make myself and Yuuno feel if you didn't feel strongly for them."

Nanoha was about to reply when she heard the door open, signalling Yuuno's return.

(---)

Yuuno was tired.

He was still sore from having to save that intern, and his ears rung from the speech Arf had given him about leaving her alone with newbies. Perhaps the only real highlight of his day so far had been seeing Miyuki; he never minded seeing his potential sister-in-law.

They'd talked for a bit, but Miyuki had seemed distracted by something.

On a better day, Yuuno might have been curious about it. But right now, he was just tired.

The only thing he wanted to do was to crawl into bed and relax the rest of the day away. At least Vivio wasn't going to be home until tomorrow, since she was spending the day with Nakajima sisters.

He honestly didn't know whether he should be surprised or not that he saw his two lovers, in bed, naked and holding each other. "Hello..." He smiled at them.

Fate was the first to react, sitting up; she frowned, concerned. "Are you all right? You seem tired."

Yuuno chuckled. "Rough day," he confessed. "We had a new kid working in the library, and I got a few scrapes from saving him... then Arf gave me the telling off of a lifetime for leaving her alone with him. She was pretty frazzled."

He smiled as he looked at them. "You two are so beautiful." He was happy when Fate smiled and blushed, but when he focused on Nanoha, he was surprised when she seemed slightly upset. "Nanoha? What's wrong?" He was in the bed in an instant, holding her gently to him in a soft hug.

Nanoha knew she should have asked right away, but the minute Yuuno put his arms around her she curled against him. She knew she had to ask, but she was still scared.

Understanding, Fate sighed and leaned against Yuuno slightly. "Nanoha's a little concerned," she said quietly. "She's afraid that there isn't much holding us together after Miyuki made a little joke about how we got together."

"Oh..." Yuuno said softly as he shifted so that he could hold her in his lap. "Nanoha..."

"Yuuno-kun...?" She sniffled and snuggled up to him. "I'm sorry. It's stupid, I know. But..."

"Nanoha..." He held her softly and rocked back and forth slowly. "I wasn't lying when we sat down and talked back then."

"Yuuno-kun?" She looked lost, confused and scared at that moment, her mind wasn't really able to understand it.

"Nanoha... I truly, deeply, love you. I love Fate. I love you both so much that some days it hurts to be away from you, and some days, it hurts to be near you, because I'm afraid that I'll ruin the love we share."

Nanoha shook her head and snuggled closer, even as the first tears started to fall. "You could never ruin anything, Yuuno-kun," she whispered. "Neither could Fate-chan. I'm sorry." Her voice cracked. "I just, I love you both so much, and when I started thinking about it I got scared that maybe I was forcing you into something you didn't want..."

"Nanoha... If... If I didn't want to be with you and Fate... I would have let Fate leave and slipped off on my own..."

"I thought you just wanted to talk about it?" Fate asked him, blinking in surprise.

"I did... But... I wanted to talk about it because I actually wanted to tell you both how I felt about you two." He sighed and closed his eyes. "If... If you two hadn't wanted this... I would have left you two alone and never had stuck with you. I would never force either of you into a situation that you didn't want."

"Yuuno..." Fate said softly, hugging him tightly.

Without even thinking about it, Yuuno drew Fate into his arms. The three stayed like that for awhile, just holding each other.

After several minutes, Nanoha laughed softly. "Nyahaha... it looks like we were thinking the same thing," she murmured. "None of us wanted to force each other into something we didn't want."

Yuuno shook his head and quirked a smiled at her. "Nope..." He shifted so that Nanoha was sitting up more. "We respect each other too much."

Fate smiled at the two of them. She could have said something to Nanoha about the situation, but she didn't, instead she leaned forward and kissed Nanoha on the lips softly, before breaking the kiss and kissing Yuuno on his lips.

"Fate-chan?" Nanoha blinked, she liked the kiss, but she could feel Fate's hands getting grabby and moving again.

"I still need you, Nanoha." She blushed heavily and kissed Yunno on the lips again. "And Yuuno. Please? Both of you, make love to me?"

Yuuno was slightly surprised, he thought Nanoha had started it. Oh well, he wasn't going to complain.

"Nyahahahaha... Naughty Fate-chan..." Nanoha gasped as she felt Yuuno's hands join Fate's in fondling her body.

"You love it." Fate and Yuuno both said at the same time, getting a blush from Nanoha.

"Guilty!" Nanoha smirked at Fate. "I think Yuuno-kun's over-dressed."

"I think so too." Fate smiled, getting a chuckle from Yuuno.

"Well then, I guess I need to dress for the occasion." Yuuno chuckled as he slipped his clothes off.

(---)

After talking to Shamal, Miyuki was lost as to where, exactly, she was supposed to go. Her first thought had been to head back to Nanoha's house, which she did, but she saw Yuuno had returned home and... she didn't want to walk in on that.

She thought about going to Momoko and Shiro's house, but her parents had been getting rowdy and fliratious ever since she'd spent more time away. She really, really didn't want to walk in on that.

So she didn't head anywhere, not for a good hour or so; she left her car at Nanoha's house and simply walked, going wherever her feet felt like taking her, and ended up at the tiny outdoor cafe by chance, sitting down and watching the people pass her by.

It wasn't much, Miyuki mused, but it was entertaining, in its own way.

Still, with how late it was getting, Miyuki was just glad that no one decided to bother her.

"Hello." She blinked as she heard the female voice speak to her. Turning, she blinked at the pink-haired woman dressed in a military uniform standing across the table from her. "Mind if I sit here?"

"Ah, Signum, sure." Miyuki smiled at her. "How have you been?"

"Decent." Signum shrugged slightly. "Just a little tired from today. I had to help Vita train while Yuuno got pulled to the library."

"I heard that he had to go there." Miyuki shook her head in amusement. "Poor guy has to do a lot."

"Well, he did take two of the best out of the field for awhile on his own." Signum said, getting a laugh from Miyuki. "The great Ace of Aces felled in such a way, the tabloids had a field day with that one." Finally Signum stopped trying to hide her amusement as she started chuckling lightly.

Miyuki raised a brow. "There were tabloids about that?"

Signum continued to chuckle. "You missed it," she said lightly. "There was so much speculaton flying back and forth for the longest time over who Nanoha would end up. It was quite hilarious to read about. It was evenly divided between Testarossa and Yuuno."

Miyuki snorted with laughter. "Then Nanoha turned around and ended up with both of them."

"Exactly." Signum's chuckles faded away, and she looked at Miyuki curiously. "Why are you still out, Miyuki? It's getting quite late. Shouldn't you be heading home?"

Miyuki blushed heavily. "I'd rather not walk in on my parents or my baby sister doing adult things together."

Signum blinked and nodded in understanding. "I see." Her eyes seemed to dull slightly.

"Signum?" Miyuki blinked, getting a shake of the pink-haired woman's head. "Are you okay?"

"Ah, yes. Just an old memory."

"Ahh." Miyuki had her fair share of bad memories, and knew better than to ask. After several minutes, she got up with a sigh. "Well, I'm off."

Signum smiled slightly. "Heading home?"

"Not yet." Miyuki shrugged. "Just going to walk around. I'll be back at Nanoha's house by nightfall."

Miyuki blinked as Signum got up as well. "Signum?"

"I only stopped here because I thought I saw someone familiar, I'm glad I was right. I was going to head home myself." She nodded at Miyuki as she started to leave. "Although, if you want some company..." She trailed off, leaving the invitation open.

Miyuki hesitated. As much as she didn't want to be alone--she couldn't explain why, but suddenly she was being swept away by a large surge of lonliness--she knew it wouldn't be fair to keep Signum away from home.

"No, I'll be fine. Thanks for asking, though." Miyuki smiled slightly. "Shamal was wondering where you'd gone."

Signum nodded and left, causing Miyuki to blink a couple of times before shrugging and walking off. It was still a peaceful day at least, the people out were friendly, the stores were starting to close and people seemed to be out enjoying the remainder of the day.

She spotted a young girl, couldn't be more than four or five, crying and standing by herself. "Hello..." She said softly as she crouched down near the little girl. "What's wrong?"

"Mama... I lost my mama..." The little redhead sniffled, tears falling down her face. "And I can't find her."

Miyuki looked around. She didn't think the girl's mother could have gone too far, if the child had just wandered out of a store or something. After a moment, she cleared her throat. "Do you want me to help?" she asked gently.

The girl sniffled, wiping at her eyes, and nodded.

Miyuki offered the girl her hand, which she took, squeezing tightly. "Where did you see your mama last?"

The girl sniffled and shook her head, and pointed at various stores. "I don't know."

Miyuki nodded. "I remember when I got lost from my mommy." She said soothingly. "I was really scared."

"Really?" The girl sniffled and looked at Miyuki. "But... You're really strong, aren't you?"

Miyuki chuckled. "I like to think I am," she said lightly. "But I used to be just as small as you."

The little girl looked at Miyuki with awe, and after a moment she tightened her grip on the dark-haired woman's hand. She wasn't so scared, not anymore.

"I have an idea." Miyuki gave the girl a quick smile. "Why don't we walk by the stores? I'm sure your mama has to be somewhere nearby."

The girl nodded as they walked into a clothing store. "How about we look around for your mama in here."

The girl sniffled and nodded. "Okay."

The two looked around, but it became more and more obvious that the girl's mother wasn't in the store, getting a dejected and sad look from the little girl.

"Come on, we'll look in another store."

"Okay..."

Miyuki's heart went out to the little girl as she heard how sad she was. It reminded her too much of another little girl that she had let down all too long ago.

The girl sniffled and wiped at her eyes, still tightly holding onto Miyuki's hand. "Hey, Miss?"

"Yeah?"

"What if we can't find my mama?" If possible, the girl looked even more dejected than before. "Will you leave?"

"Hey." Miyuki paused, kneeling down to the girl's level so they were eye to eye. "I won't leave you alone. I'll stay with you until we find your mama, even if it takes all night." She smiled.

The girl smiled timidly. "Promise?"

"Promise."

The two walked around, trying different stores, but with each failure, the girl got sadder and sadder.

Miyuki sighed, she was about to call it a night when the girl perked up. "Is everything okay?"

"Mama!" The girl cried happily as she saw a middle-aged redhead looking around, calling for a Mylene.

The woman suddenly turned around, her eyes sparkling as her daughter ran to her. "Mylene!"

"Mama!" She glomped her mother, tears falling out of her little eyes as she got back with her mother. "I was so scared and then this nice lady found me."

Holding onto her daughter tightly, the woman smiled shakily at Miyuki. "Thank you," she whispered. "I swear, I only looked away for a second, and she was..."

Miyuki slid her hands into her pockets and shrugged. "It's all right," she said. "I was happy to help. She's a sweet kid."

Mylene giggled and buried her face into her mother's shoulder.

"Thank you again." The woman smiled at her. "I was so worried."

"Don't mention it... She reminds me of my little sister when she was that age."

"Your sister?" The little girl blinked as Miyuki nodded and smiled.

"Yeah, my sister. Takamachi Nanoha."

Miyuki was just trying to be friendly, she honestly wasn't expecting the look of near worship to appear in the woman's eyes.

"You're... her sister?"

Miyuki nodded slowly, rocking back on her heels and wondering why she suddenly felt so uncomfortable. She was familiar with being admired by people, but the worshipping light in the woman's eyes freaked her out a little.

"Well... I'm glad she's back with her mom. I'll just go now. Bye."

"Mama?"

"That woman's sister is a legend." Miyuki heard the two talking as she quickly vacated the area.

Note to self, never mention Nanoha's name around people at random. She quickly thought to herself.

Realizing it was starting to dark, Miyuki looked up at the sky for a moment, watching the clouds, before she sighed.

"... Guess I'd better head back to Nanoha's." She smirked. "At least she should be done doing anything with Yuuno-kun and Fate-chan."

Shuddering slightly at the thought, Miyuki headed towards Nanoha's house.

(---)

Hayate sighed as she walked through the door to her house. It was late, it was night, the meeting with Chrono, Lindy, and Carim had taken an incredibly long time to finish. She blinked as she saw Agito floating in the air and looking at her. "Agito?"

"Hi, Meister..." She said softly and yawned.

Hayate frowned lightly and after kicking off her shoes, she walked over to Agito and ruffled her hair lightly. "Why aren't you in bed?"

"Couldn't sleep." Agito said after a moment. "I tried, but I had that dream again..."

Hayate didn't need to ask what dream she had before she grabbed Agito and rubbed her thumb over the unison device's back, getting a soft hum of appreciation from her. "It won't happen, I won't let anyone do that to you again."

"I know... It... It's just that this was the day that Zest and Lulu saved me."

Hayate nodded and sighed. "Agito... Never forget you're not alone anymore. I'll watch over you, Rein, Signum, Shamal, Vita, and Zafira for as long as I can."

Agito sniffled and nodded. "Uh huh..."

Hayate's eyes softened. "Did you talk to Lutecia-chan today?"

At the mention of the purple-haired girl, Agito perked up slightly. "Yeah, for a little bit," she said. "We were talking about the old days, you know... when it was just her, me, and Zest. It was nice."

Hayate smiled softly at her. "I bet it was." When Agito yawned, Hayate shook her head. "You should go back to bed."

Agito nodded and floated away. "Goodnight, Meister."

"Night, Agito." Hayate smiled, before blinking slightly. Isn't that Rein's room? She shrugged, maybe Agito didn't want to sleep alone tonight? Slipping off her jacket, Hayate yawned and walked to her room. "What a day..." She whispered to herself softly and blinked as she saw someone sleeping in her bed already. "Vita-chan..." A soft smile came to her lips as she stripped out of her clothing and into pajamas.

"Nnngh... Please...."

Hayate blinked as she pulled her pajama pants up. Walking to the bed, she was surprised to see tears in Vita's eyes.

"No more... No..."

The way she was twisting, tossing and groaning, Hayate wasted no time grabbing the redhead and waking her up. "Vita-chan!"

Her eyes snapped open, fear, confusion and sadness reflected in her blue orbs before she realized what was happening and clung to Hayate desperately.

It tore at her heart to see Vita hurting so much. Hugging Vita tightly, Hayate rubbed her back and made soothing noises to get her to calm down.

No one stays strong forever. Hayate thought to herself. We all need support. Rubbing Vita's back, Hayate re-affirmed the vow she made a long time ago, that she would take care of the Wolkenritter and make sure that they had a nice warm home to come back to.

(---)

It was late, the moon was out, the water was crashing against the rocks that over-looked the ocean and beach. Sitting on top of the rocks was a blue wolf, looking over the ocean with a serene gaze.

"Hello." He didn't even turn as a little girl, or at least she appeared to be, sat next to him, her tail sashaying behind her as she leaned next to him. "How are you, Zafira?"

"I'm okay, Arf." He said in a slightly gruff voice and whined softly as Arf scratched behind his ears.

"Be friendler," Arf scolded gently, still scratching. "You forget, I know your weak points. All of your weak points."

Zafira tried to growl, but it just came out as a whimper. "Playing dirty," he muttered.

"Oh, of course." Arf smirked. She paused. "Zafira, do you ever get tired of that wolf form?"

"Do you ever get tired of that child form?" Zafira shot back soundly.

"I could go to adult form, but I don't want to put any pressure on Fate."

"She would hardly notice it if you were in Adult form." Zafira said, blinking as Arf suddenly shifted, gaining height, curves, bust and a smirk on her face.

"Fine... I'm in adult form, now your turn, Zafira."

He sighed and closed his eyes, turning to his buff human form a moment later. "Why do I let you talk me into this?" He asked as she looked at him coyly.

"Because I'm a great friend?"

"More like you're stubborn," Zafira sighed.

"Oh, come on." With an easy laugh, Arf sat down on the rock, pulling her legs up to her chest as her tail curled around her. "You have to remember you're more than a wolf sometimes, Zafira."

Zafira raised a brow. "And you're the one who'll remind me?"

Arf smirked. "Oh, yeah. You won't listen to anyone else."

He rolled his eyes and sat down next to her. "Fine, fine..." He sighed.

"Oh, don't be like that." She punched him in the arm lightly. "I'm never in my adult form much anymore."

He looked at her curiously. "So why around me?" He was surprised as she started to blush.

"A-ah, no important reason." Arf cleared her throat awkwardly. "Most of the time it's just easier to move around in my child form, and it doesn't take as much mana from Fate."

Zafira blinked. "... Arf..."

"Yeah?"

"You just dodged the question."

Arf's blush deepened.

"I like you, okay?" She finally spat out after stammering and blushing a lot.

Zafira blinked a few times. "Well, I like you too, but..."

"No!" Arf shook her head, getting a blink from Zafira. "I like you a lot, okay? Like Fate likes Nanoha and Yuuno like!"

Zafira seemed rather stunned as Arf blushed as red as her hair. "Why... Why tell me?"

Arf grumbled, still blushing, and rested her chin on her knees. "I'm not one to beat around the bush," she muttered. "Besides, it's easier to just tell you instead of hiding it. Otherwise it'd end up like some dramatic soap opera with no resolution."

Zafira blinked again. "That's why you told me?"

"Yeah." Arf shrugged. "The worst you can do is reject me, anyway."

Zafira blinked and looked over the ocean, before sighing. "I'll admit... I never thought about a relationship, like that at all. I honestly don't have any idea what to do in a relationship like that."

"You... Don't?"

He shook his head. "No. My only relationships that I've ever had was one of being under the control of someone else. At least until Hayate."

Arf was silent and looked at him curiously. "To be honest, I don't have any idea what to do in a relationship either." Oh, she knew that there was a lot of physical stuff, and that it was better to go with someone that you knew and were attracted to, but other than that... "So, you've never..?"

Zafira shook his head. "Nope. I actually have no idea what two people who like each other do together."

Arf was dumbfounded, she honestly didn't know either. There had to be more to it than what Fate and Nanoha did with each other and Yuuno, didn't it?

"Well..." Arf thought about it deeply. "It doesn't have to be... just that, you know."

Zafira looked at her curiously. "What could it be, then?"

"I dunno, but... maybe.... just being happy whenever you're around that person? Going out on fun dates and laughing together? Holding hands just because you feel like it?" Arf shrugged. "That's what Fate always does with Nanoha and Yuuno, when they aren't doing the other thing."

Zafira blinked as he thought about it. "I guess... I never thought about doing anything like that."

"Hey, Zafira..."

"Yeah?" He looked at her, wondering why there was a confused look on her face.

"Something's been bothering me for a long time, why does Signum and Shamal not get upset ever when Hayate gropes them?"

"At first, I think it did." He admitted as he thought about it. "But Hayate never did more than grab a quick feel of their breasts, and the way she would giggle and compliment them on how they felt. I guess Signum and Shamal decided that it wasn't too bad." At least Hayate had never gone any further than just a simple feel of the two, nor had she forced anything more. "Plus, Hayate, the first thing she did was buy us clothes, gave us our own beds and rooms, fed us, kept us warm and safe." He closed his eyes, sighing heavily. "It was so different that..."

"I know." Arf interrupted him. "I know, you would do anything just to keep her alive." She smirked at him. "Even attack your future friends."

"At the time, you weren't a friend."

"Neither were you." Arf snorted. "We got off track, didn't we?"

"Yeah..."

"Zafira... Um... Do you want to meet here more often at night?"

Zafira blinked again, looking at Arf. She was asking an innocent, simple queston, but she looked so nervous and shy; gazing out quietly at the horizon, waiting for him to answer.

His lips twitched slightly even as he sighed.

"Well," he murmured, "I do enjoy the view here. It relaxes me."

She nodded and smiled as she looked out across the ocean. "Yeah, I can see why." She said as she yawned lightly.

"Tired?"

"A little..."

Zafira paused for a moment before he scooted closer to Arf. He tensed a little when she leaned on him, but relaxed when that was all she did. "Sorry."

"Don't be... You've had a bad life... Fate flinched every time that she got near an adult for awhile after the problems with Precia were over with. I'm glad Lindy helped her."

"So am I. She's a great friend for Hayate."

Arf nodded as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Yeah... Zafira?"

"Hmm?"

"Even if we never... Do that..." She said with a blush on her face, one that was mirrored by him. "I still just want to spend time with you."

He smiled lightly. "Thank you."


Like I said, chapter can be considered controversial.

Pregnancy hormones, hoo boy, fun stuff.