I know it has been a very long time but I am back with the new chapter and I hope you guys will enjoy despite the long wait.

*Same Disclaimer as before*

Waiting. Waiting. Waiting. That was all the technical support of the team was doing while on the moon base. After the fight, Saika was sitting by the launch bay, awaiting for his comrades to return from their mission. With the roar of engines getting closer and closer, Saika gets up from his seat and starts walking over to greet them.

From there, each of the ships all landed one by one and the doors opened allowing all three of the members to step out of the pods. The second in command sighed at the three.

"Everyone I am glad to see you have all come back but...I regret to say that the mission was a failure."

Drav scoffed at the other man with a steel glare. The very act made the second in command to stare back at the claw mage. "Look I understand why you are pissed Drav. But if you have not been noticed, we can't do anything in regards to your wanting to fight more. We had to retreat."

"Don't give me that crap Saika." the sandy haired man told the creamy brown haired man still with the glare on his face."I was this close to killing Fate. THIS close. And I would have done that if we were not told to retreat. Not even giving me a chance to continue that hunt."

Sighing, Saika rubs his hair, annoyed that Drav was still thinking about that. He spoke to him in an attempt to calm him down. "Which is why we had to run so we can think up a plan. Even you should know this. We can't just run blindly and fight them as we are!"

"So what we have to just wait until the bureau dogs come in and try to take us down!? I would rather continue the fight instead of running away again."

The two were staring at each other, itching to argue again. Anna was just about to break the two up and try to establish the peace between the two until someone beat her to the punch.

"Stop fighting both of you!" Ixia spoke with a brief harsher tone then usual. His eyes stared into the two arguing men, forcing the two to briefly look away from the other. Now that the 'fire' between them stopped, Anna clears her throat and with a sour look on her face spoke to Ixia.

"Well with what just happened, I am pretty sure the bureau will tail us by now. So what should we do?"

"...We prepare." the scientist said while clearing his throat to try and compose himself. "We need to get ourselves ready in the event that the bureau will catch us. So in that sense, for now do whatever you can to get ready. Saika, get as many drones up to speed as possible. And that includes the higher level ones since Admiral Haralown appeared. Meanwhile, Anna and Drav, you two get some rest."

"But doc..."

Then Ixia glared at Drav, immediately shutting the claw user up as he starts to walk away, most likely to his office. At this point now angry, Drav huffs himself and starts walking away but before Anna spoke to the man. "Sorry about your hunt failing beast." She would think that Drav would respond but as a shock, he didn't and just kept walking. The drill haired woman twists her left drill, surprised that the claw user did not explode like normal as was Saika.

However the creamy haired man walked away from Anna and crossed his arms deep in thought about what transpired. 'Ixia must have been really angry about losing Gaia. Otherwise why else would he not deal with what happened between me and Drav. The thing of losing his pride and joy must have hurt. Speaking of pride...'

He then thought back to the small event with Drav and Anna. 'Now Drav was always upset whenever he could not finish a battle but this time, even he had his pride hurt. More so then normal.' On that note, the other scientist walked further, understanding more why the two other men were so pissed off in the first place. One for his creation and the other for pride.

Currently on the Arthra, a couple of hours later, most of the personal staff were hard at work. However for two individuals, they had other plans. Yuuno and Chrono are walking in a hallway with their location being the medical bay. The reason for why was the fight between Ixia, Anna, Drav and a small yet increasing force of gadget drones.

"It was a good thing Nanoha and Hitoshi were not badly injured but the others..." Yuuno spoke trailing off leaving Chrono to nod in agreement.

"Yes. The blindside from Anna, Drav ruthlessly attacking Fate and the fight against Ixia...things did not go well for us." muttered Chrono. "But at least we were able to get the others out in time and with the info you have now, we can attack the base. In order to do that you have to tell them."

Yuuno smiled at the idea. "Right." as the two went on their way. From there, the walk was quiet with no talking coming from the two men. While this was going on, a thought popped up in Yuuno's mind. He was now intently thinking about something that bugged him. 'I know I felt something when I was on Earth. But what was it?'

Then his eyes were widen leaving Chrono to look at him. "What is it Yuuno? What were you thinking about?"

"Well just that during the fight with the drones, something was around in the air. Now I am not sure but I think the feeling I got was from a linker core."

Chrono was very confused about this reveal and so he asked. "What do you mean by that Yuuno that someone besides you and Nanoha has a linker core at the time?"

"Well it is only a hunch because the magic inside was very small and I can't really pinpoint who it was." Yuuno then raised his head and thought for a few seconds only for him to mutter. "Maybe it was... No it can't be..."

Before he could state what he was going to say, the two reach their destination and sees two people by the door. Nanoha was by the left side and Hitoshi was the right side arms crossed and waiting.

"Were you two waiting long?" Yuuno asked the two leaving the white mage to respond. "Only for a few minutes. After they brought them in, we were told to wait until you two came by. From there, me and Hitoshi just stood outside waiting."

"And now that you two are here, I think we should get going." Hitoshi spoke allowing both Yuuno to nod and Chrono to lead the way to the door, opening it. At that point, the group walked in to see what was inside the room. The contents were Fate was still asleep in her bed, Hayate was still awake with Rein sitting by the table and Shiro, who had his back turned but was still asleep with the soft breathing. Nanoha and Hitoshi could only look on because they saw how their friends prior to them in the beds while Chrono was just taking the atmosphere in.

The librarian decided to ask. "Hayate how you are feeling?"

"A ok Yuuno. " the brunette spoke with a grin. While still staring at them, Nanoha also asked a question. "But what about Fate and Shiro? What was up with them?"

Hayate then turns over to the two and spoke with a somber tone. "Fate took a lot of heavy hits from what I heard. Drav was very scary to fight due to the damage he did. Also it seems that he was not playing around which is to be excepted. But bright side, she is safe and the damage isn't anything the medical bay can't fix. As for Shiro, while the pain was not as bad as Fate, it was more..."

"Mentally draining." Rein spoke making the others even Chrono understand why. "It was obliviously due to Ixia's code which destroyed Gaia. The shock of that combined with the lost and the impact made him feel weak. Is that right Hayate?" Chrono asked leading to the brunette to nod.

As everyone was looking into the two people's resting states, all the resident red haired man could do was stretch and yawned a bit, also hoping for the two to wake up. At this act, he whispered to himself, "This really sucks." making him turn to the side. Just then Shiro's body starts to move and with a slow start up, everybody was standing still as he got up and rubs his eyes.

He turns to the others and spoke. "Hey guys. So I guess we are on the ship now huh?"

"Yes we are now Shiro." smiled the white devil which lead to her speak to the others. "Now all we need is Fate and we can discuss on what to do next."

Shiro tilts his head, thinking where did Fate go? All he remembered was she went to fight Drav while he fought Ixia. He was looking around the room, in a panic hoping that his friend was all right. Hitoshi on the other hand snickers at the sight leading to Rein to whisper. "Why are you snickering Hitoshi?"

"Oh you'll see." spoke the red haired male as the answer made it known. Shiro then turned to his right side and the sight shocked him. It was of Fate sleeping peacefully with some bandages on her arms and a towel over her head. Now the sight was enough to shock Shiro but it was also the face that he was almost near her which because of that caused him to jump out of his bed, a light pink tint on his face.

This made Hitoshi break down and start laughing which like a ripple effect, also made Nanoha, Yuuno, Hayate and Rein to join in. The swordmage looks at his friends and saw that they save for Chrono were laughing. So he points to Fate and asked. "Quick question why the hell is Fate about a good feet near me!?"

"Oh that? See I did that." smirked Hitoshi as he continued on with what he said. "After you were still sleeping, I asked some of the doctors if I could move your bed. Only for about a few feet. So I moved your bed an inch closer to Fate's bed."

In response to this, Shiro now channeled his glare at his best friend who with a grin, was having fun. However, before Shiro could say anything before more, a white devil entered the ring. "Oh come on Shiro it was just a joke."

"You were in on it too Nanoha!?" spoke Shiro making Nanoha to playfully tilt her head allowing Hayate to dive in for the kill. "You still have a lot to learn about being our friend Shi-chan." And just like that, Shiro broke down and looked at the floor all while muttering. "I hate that nickname."

Then as they were about to move on, Fate woke up from all of the noise everyone was making and turned to everyone's direction. "Oh Fate you're up." spoke Nanoha with a smile.

"Yeah it is good to be back. I am starting to feel a lot better." replied Fate with a practice movement of her right arm. "So what was up with the noise. I was hearing some laughing."

"Right about that..." and so Nanoha explained to Fate what happened leading to Hitoshi, Rein and Hayate to snicker a bit more. She then turned to Shiro's direction and raised her hand in front of him. "Shiro I am glad to see you are all right."

The man raised his head up and sees Fate with a smile offering to help him up. He replied back to the woman. "Same here. We were able to get out of the fight alive."

"Without some problems." muttered Fate who noticed something not on Shiro's arm but she focused on the current matter at hand. "And I think your nickname is very cute." Shiro has a shocked look on his face and thought 'Crap she knew about it too!? Oh man!' as he was trying to wonder how and why she knew. Then he remembered that Fate brought Vivio back home and she knew about the nickname meaning that of course Fate knows. But he grips Fate's hand and was helped up.

With that all done, Chrono clears his throat and everyone looked to the young admiral. "Well now that everyone is up, we will go to the meeting room to speak with Admiral Lindy on what to do next."

"Wait!" Hayate said leaving Chrono to look at her. "Before we do that, I am pretty sure everyone is hungry after the fights we had. Also I am starving myself so before we go, could I borrow the kitchen in the cafeteria to make lunch for everyone? Please Chrono?"

Chrono upon hearing this, was about to cancel the order until he saw that everyone had a hungry look on their faces. The battle from before was tiring them and combined with all of the waiting, getting everyone in beds and hospital like food Hayate must have eaten, it must have been Hell. And with that all in consideration, Chrono rubbed his hair and spoke to the mistress of the night sky.

"All right Hayate you have full access to the kitchen."

Hayate then smiles leading to Hitoshi and Shiro saying with a head tilt. "Hayate can cook?"

Then they look to the others, at least hoping to get answers but all they get for an answer was Nanoha, Fate and Rein each with a smile and from Yuuno, the only thing he said was "It is a surprise." which meant that for now, they had to wait and see.

A few minutes passed after the group all left the medical room and the end result of the 'surprise' was indeed surprising. Hayate, armed with a pink apron made a sizable lunch for everyone. The table had a spread of food of different types, chicken, pasta, salad the whole nine yards. At which point everyone ate in happiness including Shiro, who upon taking the first bite, he just kept eating all with light traces of a tear on his face. Afterward, he could not eat anymore and was full. The rest of the group had also enjoyed themselves but something unexpected happened.

Hitoshi raises an empty plate in the air and with a smile. "Seconds please!"

"Coming right up!" Hayate replied and within a few seconds, a new plate of food was in front of him and Hitoshi for a lack of a better word, began to eat more of it with the same raw power as last time.

Rein, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, Hayate to a certain extent and even Chrono were in shock at the amount of food Hitoshi ate in the span of a few minutes. The fact that they were full and even Shiro was something that made them one part scared and another almost admire in the resident friend. To that end, Rein uttered a question that needed to be asked.

"Uhh Hitoshi, where do you get that much energy to eat that much food?"

With one last bite, Hitoshi drank some water and looked at the mini unison device. "Well Rein that honor goes to all of the training I did with my old man. See, the training I did with him needed me to have a more tougher build which is why I can eat as much as I can."

"So you can eat this much...because of your training?" The auburn haired woman spoke with her eyes widen leading for Hitoshi to nod. With that, the group cleaned up and were now walking to the hallway to get in the main meeting. But not before everyone all thought as they saw Hitoshi with a smile now full: 'But that was his fifth plate and he STILL had room for more!?'

Yuuno turned to Shiro who only scratched his right cheek in embarrassment as he spoke to the chief librarian. "That is just the type of person he is. Trust me I know."

They finally reached their destination and the door opens, showing Lindy sitting by the middle of the table awaiting the group. "Oh you are all here. I hope everyone was well rested and ready for the discussion in hand."

"I apologize that we took so long." spoke Chrono as he and the others took a seat. "We were held up a bit."

Lindy instead smiles and replies back. "It is fine. A growing army needs to eat and after what went on a while ago, it was obvious that you would all be hungry. Now that is out of the way, we are ready to begin." and with the push of a button, dimmed a bit and behind Lindy are screens each of them detail something. She then motions Yuuno to begin the briefing and without question, he stands up and walks over to the screens.

"As you all know, we have been trying to locate Ixia's base of operations as well as his location ever since he and his followers left the bureau. However, we were unsuccessful for the most part. Any attempt to locate the base always came up cold or the trail being lost. That is until today."

Yuuno motions a few of the screens together and shows his findings while explaining to the group who were listening intently. "While looking over various hints and records of what he did along with patterns he may have left, I was able to determine where he and his group are."

"So where is he located Yuuno?" Nanoha asked her old friend leaving the man to push his glasses and smirk leading to a screen showing where the group is. The image showed the mages, Earth mage and his best friend the place that was all too familiar.

"The moon. That is where they are right now." spoke Yuuno still with a smirk. This made Nanoha, Fate, Shiro, Hayate, Rein and Hitoshi all had their jaws drop. The place they were hunting for Ixia, the area that the bureau was trying to storm was right under their noses the whole time. However Chrono, Lindy and Yuuno were not that shocked. While they were indeed in awe that the place was literally the moon, it did make sense and due to Ixia and his constant moving around, it was only a matter of time before someone found the trail. Luckily, Yuuno did.

Shaking the shock from her system, Hayate proceeds to ask the question that was most definitely on everyone's mind. "Well now that we know the whereabouts of Ixia and the rest of his team, I suppose we can attack the base?"

"We could but what about Shiro and Hitoshi?" Rein points out leading to her friend and the others to stare at the two. Chrono sighs and crossed his arms while saying this. "Gaia was destroyed in the last battle so whatever Shiro wants to do, it is all on him."

In response, the hazel eyed man looked on the ground and thought a bit. He was deeply thinking about what to do:could he run or could stay and fight? Last time this happened, he kept fighting but without Gaia, he can't. Before he even uttered a word, a thought reared his mind:

'Your usefulness is done.'

The words that Ixia hit a chord in his heart and mind. With a raise in hie head, he told the others the following. "I know that Gaia is gone, I know that I should just give up and stop fighting. But I...I don't want that. I refuse to give up now." He grips his fist and spoke with his heart. "I still want to see this though! To the very end!"

"Good answer." Lindy smiled allowing the other women to smile as well. Even Chrono, Hitoshi and Yuuno smirked indicting that he was serious about staying with the gang. Happy with what he did, Shiro bowed and was about to say something else until a thought came to his mind. He looks at Hitoshi and asked the others. "What about Hitoshi? I know that I decided to stay, but what about him?"

"About that Shiro, that is something that was bugging me." Yuuno spoke as he looked at the others with a stern look. "When I was helping Nanoha with the drones from earlier, I felt something familiar. It was very small, almost nonexistent but I had to look at it myself." He cupped his chin and continued. "Then the same feeling kept coming back and my suspicions are correct and are on point after looking at Hitoshi again. I have come to the conclusion that Hitoshi does indeed have magical potential just like the rest of us in this room!"

"...I am sorry WHAT!?" Hitoshi yelled as Shiro and the others looked in awe. Hitoshi had potential albit smaller. However confused by Hitoshi's response, the white devil looks towards the young man. "What is wrong Hitoshi. I thought you would be happy. Now that you can use magic, you can fight alongside us."

He blew a breath of air and crossed his arms, upset a bit. "I would if not for the fact that I already had plans for myself but now you are telling me that I can use magic? This means that I have to drop those plans because of this. It may sound pretty good but at that cost...it feels like a roadblock."

Nanoha was understanding bit by bit along with the rest on why he was this upset. She has been there before while the others can feel the same way, in spite of most of them never having that issue before. Despite this, they had to continue with the meeting and Fate points out to Chrono, obliviously concerned. "But brother, there is still one more thing to consider. Even though Shiro just said that he will still help and Hitoshi is revealed to have magical potential, there is still preparation to be done."

Shiro nearly fell out of his chair and Hitoshi points at Fate and then at Chrono. "Wait a minute hold on! Time out! Brother, Fate what do you mean by brother?"

"Oh Chrono is my brother and Lindy is my mother." the blond said with a giggle. "We are in the same family. Shiro knew that Lindy is my mother though."

The man in question slowly got up and spoke with a shake. "But that means that you and Chrono are...but...that..." And at that moment, Shiro crashed and sat down with a blush while Hitoshi raises his arms saying.

"Bullshit, he acts WAY different compared to you and your mom!"

"Ain't the truth Hitoshi." Yuuno inquired with a nod leading Chrono to clear his throat while the girls giggle at the antics of the two boys. Lindy decides to bring the conversion back to the main topic.

"Fate does have a point. We will need to prepare for our fight against Ixia which is why I am suggesting something." She closes her eyes and goes on with her plan. "We will take a trip get ready but before we do that, if any of you have loose ends you need tied up, I suggest you do them now."

Shiro raises his hand. "What about our classes Ma'am?"

"Already taken care of. Anything else?"

Nanoha stood up and brought up what she wanted to say. "I may as well go tell Vivio about what is going on. She may get worried if we are gone for too long."

"I better come with you." Fate said while also standing up. "Two heads should be enough to explain to her what is going on and to say our good byes."

"Thanks Fate." Nanoha said but not before Yuuno spoke with a smile. "Just in case, I am coming too. If it is all right with you Nanoha."

"Are you kidding? Of course it is all right, Yuuno. The more the merrier."

After that, Lindy turns to Shiro, Hayate and Hitoshi and asked them the same question. The brunette answered with a smirk. "I will just wait here until everyone comes back."

"If you don't mind, I would like you guys to teleport me to somewhere away from my house." Hitoshi replied with a faraway look leading the lime haired woman to ponder and ask "Why?"

The only answer he gave her was he puts his hands in his pockets and spoke to her. "It is a personal thing. What about you Shiro?"

At the question, he just looks to the ground and mutter with a whisper. "Well...I would like to go home for a bit." Now everyone was wondering why was he being so quiet about that question in general. Most were wondering what would have been the problem. That is most besides Hitoshi who knew full well why that is. To that end and with everyone's wishes in mind, Lindy told them all that when they were done, they can report back to the ship and the group all left one by one though Hayate stayed behind.

Uminari City: the place of many beginnings and Nanoha Takamachi's hometown. People were walking about and enjoying their free time. Some include Vivio who was busy with helping her grandmother with the dishes. The two were just cleaning after a recent lunch from some customers so the shop was quiet.

Just then a door was heard open which made the two to stop their cleaning and Vivio asked. "You think it is grandpa or aunt Miyuki?"

"No, they should not be from the store for at least a few more minutes. But who could it be?" Momoko questioned before the answer revealed itself. Nanoha peaked her head outside of the door way leading to the kitchen and the sight made Vivio drop her washing rag and like a bullet ran straight to her mom.

"It is nice to see you two again, Vivio, mom." the white devil spoke with a smile as Vivio continues to hug her mother.

Momoko walked to the two and she not wanting to feel left out also hugged her daughter. This very cute moment was only about to get even cuter when Vivio looks up at Nanoha. She asked her mother.

"So what are you doing back Nanoha-mama? I thought your mission was still ongoing?"

"Oh it is. It is just that miss Lindy is giving us some time off. We are about to leave soon before our time off though. Because of that, I am here to tell you about the update." the auburn haired woman told the two of them allowing Vivio to understand. However. Momoko sighs to say. "If your father and sister knew you were here, they would have a lot to talk with you about. But they are on an errand at the moment."

"So that explains why it is quiet when we walked in the shop." Nanoha replied leading Vivio to tilt her head and ask. "We? Who else is with you?"

Nanoha with a sly smile then motions her head to the door and out came Fate who waves hello and Yuuno with a bow. Vivio now very happy, breaks her hug with Nanoha and repeats the process.

"Hey Vivio." Fate spoke with a smile with Vivio replying back with a smile herself. "Fate-mama! Chief librarian Yuuno! Great to see you two again! Did you bring everybody else?"

Yuuno ruffles Vivio's hair and told her. "No just us. They had their own important things to do."

"Which is why we are here. We finally know where Ixia's base is and preparations are being made." Fate spoke while looking at Momoko. After that, Vivio splits herself away from the two as they began to talk about the mission and recent updates but not before Momoko spoke about something upon looking at Yuuno. She smiled and said to him, "You know your ferret form was really adorable Yuuno."

This made the chief librarian blush bright red while Nanoha and Fate both chuckled at the scene while Vivio was a tiny bit confused. She had heard about her mother's adventures in the past including how she met Yuuno and Fate but this whole ferret form thing was news to her. With that said, she decided that after this mission is over she will ask the three or maybe her grandmother about the ferret form. Meanwhile Nanoha in her mind couldn't agree more he was adorable as a ferret. From there, it took over a minute for Fate to recap what happened, leaving both Momoko and Vivio in shock. Momoko with her chin cupped, spoke up after being quiet for a while.

"So because of what happened, you guys are preparing to storm the base."

Yuuno nods and replied to the mother of his closest friend. "Yes definitely. We just have one more step before we can fight him though."

"Oh oh does this mean that I can fight too? I want to help you guys." Vivio stood up eager to want to help only to be shot down immediately when both her mother and grandmother said. "No!" This made the small girl in return to pout having like she is left out again.

To make the girl feel a bit better, Nanoha puts her hand on Viivo's head and with a warm smile tells her. "Vivio, I know you feel upset. Angry that you can't come with us but you have to understand this is dangerous and we can't take any risks." Vivio lifts her head showing tears but the white mage continues on. "But I promise we will come back and Hitoshi and Shi-chan will be here. So do you think you be good for my mom, dad and sister until then?"

Vivio looks at Fate, Yuuno and Momoko all awaiting for her choice in the matter. Fortunately, the young girl was reasonable and rubbed her eyes. While she was still sad, she had to be strong.

"Ok, I will try." And with that, the two hugged. Afterwards, it was time to the trio to go leaving Momoko to say. "Good luck out there." allowing the others to wave good bye back. Things were starting to look up until Momoko stopped Nanoha just before the teleport started.

"Yes mom?" the white mage asked which lead her mother to hug her one last time. "Good luck Nanoha. I miss you. As does Shirou and Miyuki."

"I know mother. I miss you guys too. But I promise I will be back."

With that, the two split and the teleport started to send the three mages away and within seconds, they were gone. All Vivio and Momoko could do was look at the sky, hoping that they will be all right.

Meanwhile at a city that was over by a few miles, lies a location about a short walk away. This area was the local graveyard and around it were the standard graves of people who have died, flowers on top of or in front of the graves and a couple of benches and trees. Hitoshi was walking along in the lone empty graveyard in the search of a certain tombstone since he knew that most of the people who were raised or born in this city were to be buried here so he spent the past three minutes searching. Now he was going to ask his mother about it but that would also mean going home which he did not want to do.

Sighing and hands in his pockets, he continued walking until he found what he was looking, a grave with some flowers spread around it.

"Damn I finally found it." the red haired man spoke with a grin and was about ready to clap his hands and begin to pray until he felt something. He blew a breath of air, groaned a good amount and rushes his hair all while speaking to who he thinks is sneaking up on him.

"Hayate I know you are out there so get out of that tree. You too Rein."

Right on cue, Hayate peeks her head out of the tree she was hiding in along with Rein who was still on her shoulder. Then the brunette sheepishly stepped out of the tree completely making herself known. All Hitoshi did was glare at the two clearly pissed that these two were here and so Hayate tried something.

"So Hitoshi what are you..."

"What the hell are you two doing here!? I said that this was a personal problem!" Hitoshi interrupted the brunette forcing her to stop with her plan of small talk. She had never heard Hitoshi be THIS mad before and by the grave, it definitely was something important. Although Hayate was terrified by Hitoshi's anger, she still wanted to speak with him and she stared at him with a serious tone in her speech.

"I just wanted to go see why you wanted to be alone. Can't a friend be worried about another?" Hitoshi was still in anger and was to scream at Hayate more before she stopped that by saying. "Besides I was curious and felt like if I went with you, I would know. I would have asked Shiro but he was already gone. So please Hitoshi."

"..." Hitoshi's response was nothing but silence. He wished to tell Hayate off and have her go back to the ship and wait with the others. Oh how he wanted to do that but he can't. The red haired man was a loss and with narrowed yellow eyes, he sighed heavily and turned away from the two girls. That was the indication that lead to Hayate and Rein walking or floating in Rein's case to the grave. And as they made it there, Rein flew over to the grave and got a better look at it. Confused she asked Hitoshi.

"So whose grave is this Hitoshi?"

Hitoshi rubbed his head and replied back with a growl. "It was my brother. Tsukasa Ichimoto."

"You had a brother?" Hayate asked leading Hitoshi to nod. She looks at the grave and then a new question formed. "If you don't mind, when and how did he die?"

"He died at around the time I was at the college with Shiro," Hitoshi spoke staring at the grave. "While he was busy training with Nanoha and Fate, my mom called and told me the news that he died from his illness. Afterwards, Shiro started lying about what he was doing and as such, I was pissed. And then when I did find out, I was upset that Nanoha and Fate dragged him into this magic world." Unconsciously, he grips his hands and continues. "But I was still not hoping to trust those two but shockingly, I saw Shiro change. Little by little, he was growing and I was happy. But that fear, the thought that Shiro would..."

"Oh I see." Rein cupped her chin and analyzed what was the young man was talking about. "You were afraid that what happened with your brother may very well end the same way with Shiro. Am I right?"

Hitoshi could only just look away, confirming Rein's thoughts. Upon hearing this, Hayate meanwhile was thinking back briefly on what had happened with Reinforce Eins and how she had to go away. The very thought of losing someone was truly an awful thing and so with no hesitation at all, Hayate puts her left hand on Hitoshi's shoulder surprising him. He turns around and see the brunette with a kind smile gracing her face.

"Hayate?" the red haired man spoke.

"It will be all right Hitoshi. You have seen the training bare fruit, you did see your best friend fight against Drav and beat him and like you said he is growing. So continue to put your trust in us."

The man lowered his eyes and spoke with a grin. "Yeah I can now. Though, since I can use magic, I may be able to help you someday. Maybe with your firing problem."

"Oh come on I am not that bad. I was able to fight Anna." Hayate pouted at the red haired man who was snickering at the girl while saying that it was only because Rein was there leading to the unison device to also giggle. Even though Hitoshi was angry that Hayate decided to play detective again like last time, for once, he felt happy and like that he felt an edge off of his shoulders. He was still upset about his brother dying but for now at this moment, he was happy.

"I never thought I would be back home this early." Shiro spoke to himself while standing in front of the door leading to his house.

The house was a standard four person house not at all like Nanoha's dojo/home. However it did get the job done as a house. Shiro was standing by the door for the past 15 seconds before deciding that he should get it over with. He knocks on the door and began to wait, his heart beating every single step. Just then, the door opens and to the surprise of the new mage, the person who answered the door was someone he was not excepting.

The person was a elder woman with the same color of hair as he only her hair was on a bun and the eyes were of the same color. She gasped and asked the young man. "Shiro? Is that you?"

"Yes mom, I am back home." Shiro spoke and before he could even utter another word, his mother immediately hugged him while bawlling her eyes out.

"Shi-chan you are home! I am so happy to see you back! I was so worried!" his mother cried making Shiro while still being crushed muttered. "Mom I am just fine. It is nice to see you again also. But can you please let me go. I have something I need to tell you."

Mrs. Nagase lets go of her son and the two start to walk inside the house and sat down on the kitchen table. Shiro looks around the house but notices that something was missing. Mrs. Nagase caught this and told Shiro. "So why are you back home?"

"Oh right about that." Shiro spoke now ready to explain. "Mother I will be leaving school for a while."

Mrs. Nagase asked though rightfully at a loss. "But why? Does it have something to do with your studies or are you just quitting?"

"No no I am not. It is just that I found something that I really like. While I was in school, I came across something I wished to do and I am happy with how that is going." He briefly looks at his right wrist no longer with Gaia as he spoke further. "I really do not want to give up and stop now. So because of that, I am leaving school but only for a bit. And..."

He grips his hand and said with passion. "I am doing this because it is something that I wish to do and not my father!"

Mrs. Nagase was in complete shock and Shiro was awaiting her to find her voice. He looks down thinking that his mother would act just like his father however he hears a voice. "Raise your head Shiro." When he did, he sees his mother, well happy. No not just happy but very proud. It took a very long while but her son had finally find something that HE wanted.

"Shiro, whatever it is that is very important and very dear to you, I suggest that you should go for it. I am behind you 100% and I am pretty sure Saeko would agree with me if she was here."

"...Really mom!?" the sword mage spoke with a surprised look on his face leading to his mom nodding. He puts his hand on his heart now happy that he told his mother and that he can continue with helping to stop Ixia. But Mrs. Nagase raised an eyebrow.

"Which begs the question of what is this super important thing that you love so much?" This made Shiro break and thought. 'Crap!' as he was struggling to think of something, anything to threw his mom off. Sadly, his brain came up with nothing. Not a damn thing was on his mind and lying was something he barely did due to his background. However, some help arrived. A knock was heard on the door, prompting Mrs. Nagase to get up and open it.

After opening the door, Lindy appeared with a warm smile making Shiro thought. 'What is the Admiral doing here!?' as the two women start to talk. What seemed like hours and days was only a few minutes as both Lindy and Mrs. Nagase stepped into the kitchen and with a grin, Mrs. Nagase said.

"So THAT is why you were being secretive. Shiro you could have told me you were training for a big off campus game. Well that is great! Good luck to you and your new friends!"

Shiro just looked at Lindy who grinned like a cat and then to his mother and with an embarrassed rub of his hair, he spoke. "I won't let you down."

Afterwards, the two left with Shiro still shocked that it happened. Lindy was able to craft a good lie to throw his mother off. He looks back at the house, now happy that he told his mother that he found something he loved even though it was a lie. But something still lingered inside his heart and Lindy, decides to ask. "So why were you so scarred to come back home in the first place?"

"It is something very important." Shiro muttered while looking away. "I can only say that much Ma'am. I am sorry."

Then Lindy pets Shiro's back and spoke to him. "It is fine. I understand. If it is too serious then I won't pry." Shiro replied with a thanks and the two are teleported back to the Arthra.

At this point everyone came back and was all at the main bridge. Now that they were done with their final wishes, it was now time to launch and ready to leave. Lindy was sitting on the captain's seat while the other officers were all awaiting their orders. Nanoha and the others waited behind the woman and then, it was time.

"Ma'am, all engines are normal now." one officer said while pushing buttons. Another officer turned to the lime haired woman. "Route is open. We are ready to leave at your command."

"All right everyone. Set a course for the main HQ of the TSAB. I want everyone to be the clock and be on guard while we launch. Ok people, let's go!" Lindy ordered allowing the other officers to say "Yes Ma'am!" and within the span of a few seconds, The Arthra launched leaving the Earth and moon behind.

And DONE! Whew I am so sorry guys that it has been a long ass time for me to update. It is just that things have been happening with life and gamer news but I am back and if said otherwise, I will continue working on the next few chapters. So now Shiro and Hitoshi both have their resolves in mind well except for Shiro but don't worry, later on more stuff will be revealed so I hope this small taste will be enough until we reach that point. Speaking of the next chapter, I will try to do something different with it in terms of the training so I hope you guys will be patient. As usual I hope you guys have enjoyed this chapter, thank you so much for waiting and if there are any issues in spelling or the like, feel free to tell me and I will respond as fast as I can and with that see you all next time!