Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha Crisis

Chapter 25: To Reach for Tomorrow

Xx~~*~~xX

"What's going on?" Fate asked, looking at the body of her mother and sister in the pods.

"They are part of the central aspect," the holographic program who looked just like Alicia, revealed.

Yuuno had accessed a computer, and was pulling up information. "Apparently, the main experiment of Alhazard was to create a large, advanced AI, designed to absorb the psyche, memories, emotions, and personalities of people. They hoped by combining the experiences of as many people as possible, the AI would become truly super-intelligent, and gain the secret to ascending. Sort of a big supercomputer to hold all the knowledge of the universe. It looks like they felt that the secret was just having enough information."

"Ascending?" Nanoha questioned, confused.

"Some cultures believe that a person can reach a state of being where they shed their physical body and become pure energy," Yuuno explained. "Such a being would be almost god-like, which is what the ancients who built this place, were hoping for.

He looked up at them. "In my initial studies in the library, I learned that the ancients had managed to greatly extend their lives and greatly lower their death rate. But their birth rate had also dropped to near zero, although I'm unclear why. Still, it troubled a certain faction of the ancients, whose technology had gone almost as far as they felt it could. In order to survive as a species, they felt they needed to push to another level of evolution."

"That is correct, Yuuno Scrya," Alicia added. "Another faction of the ancients, as you call them, were against that plan; feeling that it was unnatural to push evolution that way. Shortly after this city was created, that faction sought to destroy it, but the head scientists on the project managed to save it at the last moment by hiding it between dimensions. They planned to retrieve it later, but never did. Because very few found their way here since then, the central aspect searched for ways to free itself and acquire subjects. Then these two arrived and a deal was struck. The central aspect would give her a virtual reality where she could live out her life with a facsimile of the deceased biological entity, in exchange for helping the central aspect return to normal dimensional space."

A thought struck Nanoha. "Why do you keep calling it a central aspect?"

"It is the first, and main, section of the AI system," Alicia explained. "I am another aspect, created to oversee the Alhazard Library of Information. I assist knowledge-seekers who come, and then lead them here to share their thoughts with the main aspect. There are various other aspects, as well."

"Then why was it my mother, Precia, who appeared before us and attacked Mid-Childa?" Fate wondered aloud.

Alicia waved her hand and several holographic screens appeared, showcasing brain scans. "There was an anomaly within the being known as Precia Testarossa. A part of her mental state was unlike anything the central aspect had encountered. It rapidly took control of main functions, and manifested itself in the visage of your mother."

"I think I see what went on," Yuuno said, bringing up more screens and studying the information. "I'm not an expert in brain chemistry, but the conclusions shown here indicated that Precia had two personalities; or probably more accurately, a split personality. The descriptions of her behavior would seem to signify that one of them was sociopathic. Her current mental health readings are listed as normal, which means that other sociopathic part of her mind split from her and infected the AI system. I would guess that it was somewhat like how the Tome of the Night Sky was corrupted into the Book of Darkness."

"Part of my mother's mind infected the system?" Fate questioned, glancing over at Precia and Alicia in the pods again. The memories from the original Alicia Fate had been implanted with, showed her one side of her mother, while her own memories showed another side; could they really be split personalities? "They are in a virtual reality, you said? Can you bring them out?"

"The being known as Alicia Testarossa was already dead," Alicia told her. "Her mind was scanned and, when combined with the memories of Precia Testarossa, a virtual copy was created. Precia's own body was on the verge of death when she arrived, and is now dependent upon the life-support the pod provides. Her mind and body have been fully integrated with the machine, and thus she cannot be woken or removed without death."

Fate walked over to her mother's pod, of which mainly only her face and shoulders were visible, but there were wires and tubes coming out from below. "Can you hook me into her virtual reality without all this extra stuff?"

Nanoha looked up, concerned. "Fate-chan...."

"I'm not sure that is a good idea, Fate," Yuuno added.

"I have to talk to my mother," she told them, not looking up. "A few times now, I saw Alicia as a hologram, and not the version we see now. She kept telling me that she wanted to meet me. I think this is it."

"That is possible," Alicia stated. "The virtual reality environment is set within the central aspect. A program could reach out from there, but I do not have access to the details." She moved over to the machine and opened a particular compartment, revealing a headband. "If you wear this, you can enter the virtual reality. To exit, one would just need to concentrate on an interface in the virtual world and indicate that you wished to sever the connection. Or your friends could simply remove the headband."

Fate picked up the technological circlet and sat down in an empty pod, stopping for a moment to look at Nanoha and Yuuno who had come up on either side of her. "I know what I'm doing. I shouldn't be in too long, but I have to do this. I have to know who my mother really was."

Nanoha nodded in understanding, while Yuuno told her, "We'll be right out here monitoring. I'll pull you out if anything looks bad."

Fate smiled at him, then put on the headband and laid back, closing her eyes.

x~~*~~x

"[Hello, is anyone there?]" came Teana's telepathic voice.

"[Teana!]" Nanoha exclaimed, then looked up at Yuuno. "The telepathic communications block must have been cleared when that fake Precia shut down."

"[We just smashed up a missile bay]" Subaru told them proudly. "[But there's something else; the city is rising back into space! We won't be able to fly down at this height, and we just checked the shuttle; it's been destroyed!]"

Yuuno went back to the computer and looked up information. "Yes, the city is rising, slowly. We're apparently high enough already that the oxygen would be too thin to breathe; only the city's shield is keeping enough atmosphere in. I'm also detecting the missile firing systems coming online. One of the missile bays is down, but there is still one more. Those two aren't too far away from it."

"The anomalous aspect is still in control inside the central AI," Alicia told them. "I am still locked out of primary systems, which include the weapons."

"Yuuno-kun, send them the location," Nanoha ordered. "[Teana, Subaru, we're sending the coordinates of the other missile bay. Please destroy it before it can fire. We'll handle the city matters from here.]"

"[We're on it!]" Teana replied.

"[We're here, too!]" Caro sent. "[We just destroyed a robot factory. Where should we go now?]"

Yuuno opened up more status windows. "I'd suggest they take out the energy weapon systems located along the perimeter. The system seems to be prioritizing readying the weapons over self-repair. Already, it's begun firing the energy weapons at Clanagan's magic barrier."

Nanoha nodded and relayed that information. "[Once you have all accomplished your tasks, meet up in the central building.]" Once that was acknowledged, Nanoha added, "Now we need a way to stop this city for good."

"I wish Shari or Suzuka were here," Yuuno said, tapping away at the holographic keyboard. "I'm not a computer expert. I can mostly read the language now, thanks to Alicia, but I have no idea how to gain control of anything. And I can't teleport us out past the shield."

Yuuno sighed and looked up at Nanoha, both understanding that, for the moment, they were trapped.

x~~*~~x

It looked much like real life, she decided. And very much like the island retreat she had seen when she was in the Book of Darkness. Then again, that was based off her real memories of a place she had lived in her earlier years.

A child's laugh drew Fate's attention down the grassy slope, where a familiar woman sat, watching a young girl around the age of 7 or 8 play. For a moment, it felt like a dream, as she hadn't seen her mother looking like that for many years. She was even smiling and laughing!

Fate sighed, knowing she still had something to do, and thus stepped off the stone path and started down the green slope. Halfway down, Precia noticed her approach and her smile faded. Then her surprise seemed to turn to understanding; or was it merely resignation? Alicia noticed the change in her mother's face, and turned to look the same way. Her face lit up at seeing Fate, and she starting running her way, laughing and giggling.

Fate stopped, experiencing a flashback of a previous Alicia who had come towards her; a living bomb. But this wasn't real; it was a virtual reality. Could anything here actually harm her? She didn't think so.

"You came!" the little girl cheered, stopping at Fate's feet and smiling up at her. "Mama told me all about you, so I had just had to meet my big sister!" She paused. "You are my big sister, aren't you?"

Fate couldn't help smiling, and knelt down to her level. "I suppose I am, in a way." She reached out and ruffled the girl's hair.

"I had a feeling you would come sooner or later," Precia stated, coming up behind Alicia. Her face was carefully expressionless.

Fate stood up, keeping her face equally neutral, despite the whirlwind of emotions flooding through her. "Hello, mother. It's been awhile. I see you've found what you were looking for."

Alicia looked up. "Mama?"

Precia looked down and smiled. "Alicia, honey, I need to speak with your sister alone for a bit. Can you run along for now? You can play with her later, okay?"

"Awww, okay," Alicia accepted grudgingly. She gave Fate a big smile, then ran off down the grass slope.

"So you were expecting me to show up?" Fate questioned, studying her mother's face. There was none of the anger or ruthlessness that she remembered from the later days of her life.

Precia turned a bit, watching Alicia. "I wasn't sure, but I felt there might be a chance you would pursue me here." She paused, suddenly hesitant. "Have you come to take revenge and end my dream?"

"Don't you know what has been going on?" Fate asked. "Alhazard has been attacking Mid-Childa. Many people are being hurt."

Precia turned toward her, and Fate could swear the surprise was genuine. "I didn't think that was a possibility. The travel through dimensions was painful. My body, already damaged, was broken badly when I awoke here. Alicia's capsule had been shattered. Then the central computer found me and preserved my life, mending me. But it couldn't revive Alicia, so it scanned her mind and created this based on her personality. It was the best I could hope for. In return, my deal with it was to help it return to normal space."

Fate was struck by the note of sadness in her mother's voice. "So you know this isn't real?"

Precia rubbed her eye on her sleeve. "Yes. But it's close enough. It's all I have." She turned to stare pleadingly at Fate, her eyes beginning to leak more. "Please don't take it away from me! I'm sorry for what I did to you. I know I was a horrible mother to you, and you probably can't ever forgive me. But please, don't take away Alicia!"

Fate wasn't expecting this; anger, more cruelty, fierceness, but not this pleading, sad woman. "Who is Alicia's father?"

"Her what?" Precia repeated, clearly not expecting that question. "Why are you asking me that?"

"Who is Alicia's father?" Fate repeated, a bit more demanding. "You never told me who my father was, but now that I know I'm a clone, I want to know who Alicia's father is."

Precia looked away. "I'm sorry, I can't tell you that."

"Why?" Fate asked, feeling exasperated. Would she get no answer to this, even after having traveled all this way?

"It was a promise I made to him," she replied simply. "In exchange for helping him, he gave me a daughter. Even after all I've done, I've never broken that promise, and I want it to be one of few things in my life I can hold true to. I don't expect you to understand. I hadn't even planned on telling Alicia that."

Fate took a deep breath. "Is it... Jail Scaglietti?"

Precia remained silent.

"Damn it, mother!" Fate nearly shouted at her. "I should hate you! Everyone would probably tell me it was okay to. You were hardly a real mother to me, you abandoned me for Alicia, you won't tell me who my father is, and now your city is attacking the new home I made for myself!" She took a deep breath. "Yet, even despite all that, you're my mother, and... all I've ever wanted was to make you happy. To get a smile and be told I was a good girl." Her own eyes began to water; this virtual reality was quite advanced.

Precia turned to stare at her, then took a hesitant step forward and held out her arms. Fate embraced her, hugging and being held tight for several long moments.

"I'm so sorry, Fate," Precia whispered. "My anger and pain blinded me for the longest time. But ever since I've been here, it's like all of that is gone. You were always a good girl, and I'm sorry I never valued you for who you were, instead of a who you weren't. If... if you want, you can stay here with me, and allow me a second chance to be a proper mother to you?"

Fate sighed and pulled back, knowing there was other business to attend to, and time was short. "I'm sorry, I can't. Mother, did you know you had a split personality disorder?"

Precia stared at her, slack-jawed.

x~~*~~x

The number of robots gradually dwindled to nothing. The city had stopped dropping them, and now looked very small as it slowly rose into the upper atmosphere. In moments, it would leave it entirely.

Vivio stared at it. "My mamas are up there, I just know it!" She hadn't heard them at all in the communications or telepathic channels, but had heard of a team that had infiltrated it earlier. She turned toward Miyuki. "Can you teleport me up there?"

The short white-haired woman considering it, looking up. "I think so."

"Wait, are you crazy?" Kyoya asked in disbelief. "We just got done protecting the shelters. That's all we need to do."

Miyuki turned her glare on him again. "That's all, hmm? We can't take a girl to see her mother, can we?"

He sighed and threw up his hands. "Fine, we might as well all go."

She nodded in satisfaction, activating her magic. "That's better. Vivio, come stand close to me and think of your mother. I'll try to take us right to her."

Her pentagram began to spin, then her eyes went semi-blank as she looked up, noting the two visible moons on either side of the distant floating city. White light enveloped them all.

x~~*~~x

"Wait, is there more back here?" Nanoha said, going around the machine and gazing into the darkness beyond.

Arf looked up from her vigil on Fate, having just arrived a short time ago and been brought up to speed. Yuuno was helping to heal her wounds.

Alicia turned on the lights to the rest of the chamber. "Yes, more minds were recently added to the central aspect."

Nanoha gazed out at the large chamber, filled with many more pods, a large central pillar in the center of the room. The middle of the pillar held a large oval-shaped transparent bubble, and within, a green-tinged mass that almost looked like a big brain.

She pointed. "Is that...?"

"The central aspect," Alicia confirmed. "The source of the artificial intelligence for the city."

"So if we destroy that...," Yuuno started to say.

"I would vanish as well, and all city systems would shut down, including the shield holding the atmosphere in," Alicia answered for him. "There's also a chance the core could overload."

The archeologist backtracked from that idea. "Right, we'll keep that as Plan C."

Nanoha stepped down the stairs and began to examine them all, recognizing the uniforms. "There are Bureau personnel in these pods!"

"They were teleported aboard from the damaged ships before they exploded," Alicia explained. "The central aspect desired more minds to complete it's programmed task. There was an attempt to procure more from the surface below, but that seems to have failed. You can still add your own knowledge and experience if you wish."

Yuuno shook his head as he finished healing Arf's major wounds. "I'm sorry, Alicia, but we humans tend to value our individuality and freedom. I'd be glad to talk and share knowledge, but only after this is over. And not hooked up to a machine."

"Humans are very strange," she noted.

"Yuuno-kun!" Nanoha called in surprise, looking up to meet his gaze from where he now stood at the top of the steps. "I found Lucino!"

x~~*~~x

"W-what do you mean?" Precia asked, a hint of fear in her eyes as she backed up a step.

"The city has analyzed your brain," Fate told her. "You were suffering from split personality disorder. That other part of your mind has taken control of the city."

"P-please s-stop...." the older woman pleaded, looking genuinely terrified now.

"Mother, you can stop this," Fate told her. "If you really want a second chance to be my mother, then please, stop the city. Take control."

"You don't know what you're asking!" the frightened Precia stated. "I just want to be left alone here! Destroy the city if you must, but please, don't ask anymore!"

Fate held out her hand. "I told you once that I am your daughter, and that I would protect you from anything because of that. That promise still stands. Please, mother, help me to do this."

Her face dropped, her shoulders shaking for a moment, but eventually they grew still. "Don't make me laugh."

The voice had changed, Fate noted. "I take it you are the other personality."

Precia's head came back up, a sinister look on her face. "That would be correct, you miserable failure. Everything was fine until you came along. I was the one who kept Precia together when she lost her daughter. I was the one who gave her the strength to keep going. And I was the one who finally got her here, to have some semblance of happiness with her daughter. What right do you have to come here and interrupt all of that?"

"The same right you took when you attacked my home!" Fate shot back. "Relinquish control of Alhazard."

She barked a laugh as the scenery suddenly became dark and stormy. "Ha! As if I'd do that. This city represents real power. The power to protect Alicia. And if the experiment is completed by adding the experiences from billions of humans, I would become a goddess and really revive Alicia. I'll have my revenge by adding all the humans in Mid-Childa and the Bureau to it. You may be taking out my weapons for now, but I can self-heal. I'll repair myself and come back to finish what I started!"

Fate brought out Bardiche in Zanbar form. "Not if I stop you here."

"You'd really strike at your own mother?" Precia taunted. "The one you just hugged? And make no mistake; our minds are linked. You destroy me here, and you'll destroy her as well."

Fate's golden magic circle flared to life as she waved her enlarged sword from right to left. "Hurricane Thunderclap."

Precia took a step back as purple lightning began strike around the area. "If you're so bent on your own destruction, allow me to give it to you. I'm not so helpless here!" She grew in size and grabbed Fate, squeezing with her hands. "I've had years to master this reality."

Fate could actually feel herself being squeezed. "Mother... I know you're in there... urgh! Is... Is this what you really want? A fake life?" A near-voiceless scream escaped her lips as the pressure increased.

"What do you know?" Precia spat. "What is real? Isn't it our thoughts and feelings? The pursuit of what makes us happy, that determines our life?"

"What... is a life... without someone real to share it with?" Fate managed to retort. "My mother... spent her life... trying to make a life with Alicia. She may not have that but... she has me! I am real... and together, we have Alicia... in our memories!"

The pressure stopped as Precia paused, and then slowly the hands let up. "What are you doing!? Stop it, or she'll destroy us! We can have Alicia if we just get rid of her!"

The face seemed to shift a bit, the anger draining away. "But she's right... I've been hiding in here too long. I stopped living a long time ago. I may never get Alicia back... but I can save the one I have left! Fate, strike now!"

"Mother!" Fate called, hesitating, tears beginning to leak from her eyes. The moment she had suspected might come, had finally arrived. But now she didn't know if she could actually follow through; she didn't think she'd actually be feeling this way.

"Do it!" Precia yelled. "I can't hold her forever. This is something... I can do as your mother! Please!"

"Mother..." Precia's daughter whispered, then nodded, tears running down her face. She raised her sword high and swung. "Sprite Zanber!"

The entire virtual reality around them shattered into hundreds of pieces, leaving only a black void. Her mother convulsed, trying to resist as the cracks spread along her body and she began to dissolve.

"I'll still... have my revenge!" she snarled. "You'll die here!"

The figure finally vanished and Fate closed her eyes against the pain; white light consumed her.

x~~*~~x

"Are you alright?" Nanoha asked, raising the girl from the pod.

"I-I'm fine, I think," Lucino told her.

All around them, stood the several dozen members of the TSAB, whom Nanoha and Yuuno had been waking. Teana, Subaru, Erio, and Caro had also arrived, having finished their tasks. Alhazard couldn't threaten anyone for the moment.

All of a sudden, red lights started to flash and an alarm sounded.

"Alicia, what's going on?" Yuuno asked, running back up to the computer station.

"The self-destruct has been activated," she intoned. "I am still unable to access those systems. Five minutes until the core overloads with exotic particles."

"Sounds like we need to get out of here!" Subaru stated the obvious. "Anyone got a plan?"

Arf looked down nervously at Fate, as the room suddenly flashed white. When it faded, three more people were present.

"We made it!" Vivio shouted in glee while looking around.

"Vivio!?" Nanoha said in disbelief, running up to her with Lucino, as the rest of the TSAB personnel gathered around. "What are you doing here!?"

She smiled. "Miyuki teleported us up. She's a nice person!"

Nanoha recognized the two other people, feeling the same twinge of familiarity, as if she was looking at her brother and sister. "You two.... wait, if you teleported up, past the shield, can you teleport everyone down? This city is about to explode!"

Miyuki took a glance around the room, and swallowed. "I-I think so, I'm not sure. I've never teleported so many. But I think I can make a few trips." She gathered the first group and activated her magic, disappearing with them in a flash, and then reappearing alone after 30 seconds. "Okay, I can do this. Let me grab most everyone else now."

Kyoya stepped up to steady her, as she appeared a bit woozy. Strange looks appeared on both their faces as he did so.

"I think we have another problem," Yuuno told them, after going through several screens. "Alicia, am I reading this right? Can you tell me the blast radius we can expect?"

"Everything within approximately 2 million kilometers will be vaporized," Alicia intoned, then tilted her head. "There has been a disruption. The anomalous aspect is gone. I am beginning to regain control of the system."

"Fate!" Arf exclaimed as the girl woke up. "Are you alright?"

The golden-haired woman rubbed her eyes. "I'll tell you later. We need to get out of here. What's going on?"

"The city is going to explode!" Arf told her, helping her out of the pod.

"2 million kilometers!?" Teana spouted in disbelief. "Wait, at this distance, that will take out Mid-childa and its moons!"

"Can you stop it, Alicia?" Nanoha asked.

"Processing..." Alicia responded, her eyes flickering, then shook her head. "I am sorry, the core overload has already passed the fail-safe point."

There was a another flash as Miyuki had gathered the rest of the TSAB personnel, including Lucino, and teleported them down.

"Can you take the city far enough away?" Yuuno inquired, glancing nervously as the timer hit 3 minutes.

"I am truly sorry, Yuuna Scrya," Alicia told him. "Alhazard wasn't meant for space travel; it is unable to accelerate very fast, and thus unable to reach a safe minimum distance. I cannot think of a way to save your planet. I regret this, Yuuno Scrya, as I had wished to get to know you better."

Miyuki appeared again, catching her breath. "I think I have a way to save Mid-childa. I can teleport the city far enough away if I draw some magic off the moons. After I take you guys down, I'll do it."

"You can do that?" Caro asked in awe.

"There's something she's not telling you," Kyoya told them. "It would be a one-way trip."

"Miyuki-chan?" Nanoha questioned, distressed at the thought of losing someone who looked so much like her sister, except for the white hair. "You can't get back?"

She shook her head. "It will take me a few jumps, so I won't be able to come back." Her face softened as she noted Nanoha's face. "It's okay, I can already sense it. My life wouldn't have lasted too much longer anyway. At least this way, I can do something to repay you for what you've done for me."

Tears appeared in Nanoha's eyes, as she jumped forward and hugged the other woman. Miyuki looked up, nodding and gesturing for everyone else to come closer.

"Wait," Yuuno said. "Alicia, is there a way you can come with us? Can you download yourself into something we can carry?"

"There is too much information in my data banks," she replied. "I could not take it all."

"I'm not talking about the combined knowledge of Alhazard, just you," he told her, then quickly added: "And Alicia's memories and personality data, too, if you can. If you truly want to understand humans, you'll need it."

Fate looked at him in surprise, eyes wavering. "Yuuno...."

"That should be possible, one moment," Alicia responded, her entire body flickering as things were processed. Something slid out of the computer. "I've transferred my data to that crystal. I added a few data files from the archive as well."

Yuuno plucked the blue dodecahedron jewel from the slot and joined the others. Miyuki started her teleport. There was a flash of white light again, and everyone discovered that they were back in Clanagan, but in the abandoned outskirts of ruined buildings. Nanoha found herself unable to let go of the woman, even though she knew logically that this Miyuki wasn't her sister.

Kyoya put a hand on her shoulder. "I know how you feel. I wouldn't want her to do this, either. But she can be pretty stubborn about this." He smiled ruefully. "But I'll be with her."

Nanoha looked up, tears in her eyes. "Kyoya...? You're going too? Why?"

He nodded, glancing at the white-haired woman. "You felt it, too. I transferred some of my magic to you after that first teleport. I can help you do those last few transfers."

The TSAB ace hugged him as well, her face wet. "I haven't even gotten to know you two very well!"

"Hey, we did know that our lives would be short," he told her softly, patting her shoulders. "At least this way they'll mean something. Just promise me something."

She looked up at him. "Of course, anything."

"Promise me that you'll take care of your real brother and sister for us," he replied. "I would have liked to meet them, but I suppose it would have been awkward, heh." He laughed.

"It's time," Miyuki said. "We need to go now in order to get the city far enough away in time."

Nanoha put an arm around them both, unwilling to let go. Fate and Yuuno came up on either side of her, nodding to each other as they pulled her away. She resisted a bit, but they held her tight as Kyoya took Miyuki's hand and she activated her magic.

"Goodbye, and thank you..." they both said as they vanished.

Nanoha tried to reach out to them, then turned back to Fate and Yuuno as they both hugged her.

"Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno!" Hayate called, landing next to them, along with the rest of the Wolkenritter. "You guys are alright! What happened? We received reports of people being teleported here. Lucino is back and told me the city was about to explode!"

"It's... being taken care of," Yuuno told her.

Alicia appeared next to them, announcing a countdown. All of them looked to the sky as she reached zero, but nothing happened.

"I thought we'd be able to see the explosion," Fate stated.

"Due to the limitations of the speed of light, we won't see anything for approximately 7 seconds," Alicia told them.

She was close. 10 seconds after the count reached zero, there was a bright flash in the sky as if a new star had been born... or had just gone nova.

Alhazard was gone.

x~~*~~x

In the week that followed, the rebuilding had begun. The city of Clanagan had sustained major damage, and there had been some loss of life, most notably the much-beloved Mizetto Kurooberu and Ralgo Kiil. A ceremony was held to pay tribute to those two, but it also served to honor all the others that had passed away in the line of duty. But with that knowledge came a note of hope; because the sacrifices that were made had allowed the rest to survive. They would rebuild their city, and make it as prosperous as as possible, in memory of the those that fought and paid the ultimate price.

There were four other tombstones that were arranged to be placed in the same cemetery. For various reasons, not many other people would know of them. But to a few select individuals, they were heroes just as much. After the main ceremony, Nanoha, Fate, Yuuno, and Arf paid their respects to these mostly unmarked headstones.

Nanoha stepped up to place flowers on the first two, that simply read: "K. T." and "M. T." Their lives had begun in unnatural and cruel ways, and were condemned to be far too short. Their circumstances wouldn't be considered fair by any stretch of imagination, yet they had proved themselves to be full human, more than most.

Next, Fate moved up to place her own flowers at the graves marked with "P.T." and "A.T." It was probably an act that she should have done years ago, to pay homage to the two people who were responsible for giving her life. Their full story may be able to be told someday, but for now, they would always be remembered by the four that stood here today.

Yet as the sun peeked through the clouds, so too did hope find it's way through the sadness. The planet, and all it's inhabitants, had been saved.

The crisis had ended.

Xx~~*~~xX

Author's notes:

Being a sci-fi nerd, one of my favorite shows was Stargate: Atlantis. If you're familiar with the series, I pulled a couple of ideas out of there; namely, ascending and the exotic particles from the power core. In one episode, McKay finds an ancient power experiment, where they were attempting to pull energy from our galaxy but the process created exotic particles (in laymen's terms, simply particles we've never seen before) which were nearly impossible to contain. He eventually screwed it up, and the resulting explosion took out a solar system (Boom!). I recommend watching Stargate: SG-1, Atlantis, and the new SG: Universe if you're a sci-fi person. You'll get more info on ascension as well.

Stay tuned for the epilogue!