Second Awakening II

With a blissful sigh, I slowly immersed myself in hot water. The shower alone did wonders to my mood but, considering all the weirdness from just ago, a proper bath was in order.

Finding myself positively spooked after my previous "encounter", I didn't let Bardiche leave my side, even though the reports were still coming out negative.

I took another glance at my silent device and laid back in the bathtub, closing my eyes and letting the water come almost up to my ears. The gentle waves caressed my neck warmly and the hot, steam-saturated air made me feel pleasantly dizzy.

Giving the water another swirl with my hand, I let my mind drift away with the movement.

The quiet sound of the bathroom door opening roused me from my dream-like state before a towel-clad figure sauntered inside. My vision swam from the heat.

"Nano-"

"Shh," she put a finger to her lips. "Fate-chan should just keep on relaxing."

"But why-" I was cut off by her mouth pressing softly against mine.

"No more questions," she whispered into my ear, sending shivers down my spine.

Mesmerised, I obeyed and settled on watching her wash her body. My eyes followed the sponge in her hand as it glided across her smooth skin in slow, hypnotising motions. The sweet, flowery scent of her soap reached my nose.

All too soon, or maybe not soon enough, she was done and stepping into the bathtub. Her body rested on top of mine.

"I must be dreaming," I mumbled when her lips started caressing my neck.

"This is not a dream," Nanoha's voice sounded in my mind.

"Good. I'd hate to wake up now."

She worked her way up to my left ear.

"Fate-chan was gone for far too long."

My hands travelled up and down her slick back. She trembled ever so slightly under my touch.

I sat up and wrapped my arms around her, gathering her in my lap before kissing her. "Let me make my absence up to you."

Nanoha purred with joy in reply.


Having a heated bathtub was both a blessing and a curse, as Nanoha and I left the bathroom flat out dizzy. The coolness of our bedroom air and the satin bed sheets brought us somewhat back to our senses and, after another round of lovemaking, we finally lied still and out of breath.

With Nanoha resting on her back, I curled by her side, placing my cheek on her bare chest. Her heart was drumming in my ear.

"Fate-chan must have been really homesick."

"You have no idea," I said, drawing circles lazily on her stomach with my fingertip. Then, I propped myself up on one arm, leaning down to give her a gentle kiss. "I missed you."

Her eyes had the deepest shade of blue in the afternoon sun when she reached out to kiss me again.

"I missed you, too," her telepathic voice replied. When she pulled back, she said out loud, "We should really thank Lindy. She always takes care of Vivio and I when you're… working."

I winced at the way she stressed the last word. "Speaking of Mom, where is she? She was still here when I went to take a bath."

"She said she had something to take care of. She called me shortly before picking you up."

Sneaky. "And you just couldn't wait to see me, hm?"

"Fate-chan is hard to resist," Nanoha said, unabashed. "But we should probably get dressed. Vivio will be home soon."

Before I could reply, she brought her lips to my ear and whispered, "If Fate-chan wants to, we can continue in the evening."

Oh, the little devil.

With that, she slid off the bed, reaching into her side of the wardrobe.

I watched her rummaging naked through the drawers, feeling a familiar urge building up again in the pit of my stomach.

"Ah, mou," she grumbled suddenly. "I forgot about the laundry."

With a playful wink in my direction, she quickly wrapped a towel around herself, slipping out of the room.

Deciding to follow suit, I grabbed a pair of jeans and a black blouse for myself. I was done putting the underwear on when my eyes rested on the pendant lying on Nanoha's nightstand.

I couldn't shake off the feeling that the silver eye seemed to be staring back at me.

Feeling like I was doing something forbidden, I stepped closer and reached out for the pendant. The chain it was attached onto felt cold to the touch.

Bringing it closer to my face, I studied its smooth curves, and a black stone in place of the pupil, as it rotated lazily on the chain.

Next to our bedroom, the door to Nanoha's office creaked.

Frowning all the while, I placed the pendant in my other hand.

As soon as the metal touched my open palm, a surge of blinding pain went through my head. Shutting my eyes tightly (as if it would help the pain), I clutched at my forehead. My back hit the bed.

Suddenly, I was on a spaceship, walking through its tight corridors, watching, as if through smudged lenses, as white-clad members of the crew went about their tasks. The door to the last room in the corridor opened, revealing a glass showcase in its centre, with a rusty, eye-shaped item resting underneath.

Before I knew it, it was over. I found myself lying on the hard floor and staring at our bedroom ceiling, the vision but a blurry memory.

Somewhere in the distance, another door opened.

"Fate-chan, have you seen- Fate-chan?!"

Nanoha's panicked face appeared upside down above mine suddenly.

"I'm fine, don't worry," I said. At least I wanted to think I was fine.

Nanoha did not look any calmer after my assurance. "What happened?" Her fingers caressed my head.

"I picked up your pendant and-"

"My pendant?"

"Here. I just felt a little dizzy. Really. I thought I fell on the bed, but I must have slid off." I reached out to her with my fingers still clasped around the chain.

She pried it away from me and carefully fixed it back around her neck. It slid down her white-clad chest, fitting snugly right above her breasts.

Gazing at the pendant, she muttered, "Fate-chan really should be more careful about touching things which don't belong to her…"

"Huh? But was I just- Nanoha?"

Her eyes looked out of focus. The moment I stroked her cheek with my palm, she started.

"Sorry, I think I kinda lost myself in thoughts, hahaha," she chuckled nervously before giving me a once-over. "You shouldn't be lying on the floor naked like that, Fate-chan, you'll catch a cold."

With that, she stood up, offering her hand to me. The other one rested protectively on her chest.

I dressed up properly and followed her down to the kitchen, still uneasy about what just happened.

It wasn't like Nanoha. No, I thought, staring at the back of my humming wife walking in front of me. It almost felt like it wasn't Nanoha at all.

My mind wandered back to the freshly-regained memories, the earlier living room incident, and the apprehension that had never really left my side since I regained consciousness two days ago.

None of those were good omens. Something definitely was going on and I wanted to figure out just what exactly. That pendant felt like the best place to start.


Vivio came back home when we were in the middle of cooking, surprising me with a hug from behind while I was pouring hot water. I scolded her first (Nanoha still said I went easy on her), then hugged her back. According to Mom, not even a week passed since we last saw each other but it felt like she got at least an inch taller. Amazing how fast teenagers can grow.

All the while Nanoha acted like nothing happened, confirming my suspicions that maybe she wasn't quite aware of herself back in our bedroom. Not that it made things any better really. Just in case, I decided against telling her about it, or about the "ghost" in our living room, at least for now.

Mom finally relented to our insisting that she come over for dinner ("Oh, but I would hate to interrupt anything!" was her excuse). Vivio was the one to convince her, and it made me happy that she did. It'd been a while since the four of us could eat together.

Throughout the dinner, neither of the other three gave any signs of noticing anything out of place. Vivio talked mainly about her school, friends, and training, while Nanoha and Mom at one point engaged in a conversation about Nanoha's job.

Some time after, Vivio chimed in, "I gotta go soon, my shift at the Library's in an hour." She hopped off her seat, gathering the dishes.

"I can take you there," I said. "There's something I wanted to do there anyway."

"Ara, Fate, working so soon?"

"Ah, no, I just-"

"Fate-chan, you should stay home and rest."

"It's okay, Nanoha, I'm feeling fine-"

"What if you faint while you're driving?" Nanoha said. "You just left the hospital," she crossed her arms for good measure.

Frankly, she had a point. And I did faint earlier, even if she didn't seem to remember.

To my relief, Mom came to the rescue. "Should I give you two a ride?."

Nanoha pouted at that suggestion. "But Lindy, Fate-chan really should be-"

Mom interrupted her gently, "She's not a child any more, Nanoha." Glancing at me with a sly smile, she added, "Although I still buy her clothes all the same-"

I groaned. "Mom, you're embarrassing me…"

With a sigh, Nanoha turned to me. "Sorry. Of course, you're free to go wherever you want." She looked away, although the grimace never really left her face.

"I won't take too long, okay?" Telepathically, I added, "And when I'm back, we could spend the rest of the evening… together?"

The implication only made keeping a straight face all the more difficult but, to my relief, Nanoha's expression relaxed.

"Okay," she nodded. "Fate-chan knows how to take care of herself." With that, she escaped from the table to the kitchen.

"I guess that settles it then," I said, deciding to make it up to her later. Then, turning to Mom, "Give us, say, 15 minutes to get ready?"

"Ara, so nostalgic. Remember, Fate? I drove you to your first date with Nanoha, too."

Vivio, who watched our whole exchange with open mouth, asked innocently, "How old were Fate-mama and Nanoha-mama back then?"

"Huh? They couldn't have been older than 15…" Mom mused with a finger pressed to her lips. "Fate was still so shy and bashful back then."

"Mom!"

"Nanoha-mama, you heard that? And you said I'm too young to go on dates!"


It had gotten dark by the time we left home. Winter clearly was upon Midchilda.

"A date, huh?" I turned to Vivio who was sitting in the back behind the driver's seat. "Who's the lucky one?"

She averted her eyes before muttering, "E- Einhard."

Breathing easier, I decided I could live with that answer. Not that I had much to say about my daughter's love life. It was just another downside to spending so much time away from home, and each time it happened I found myself more and more regretful. Maybe Mom was right… Maybe career and family did not mix in our line of work.

At night, the towers of Midchilda Ground Headquarters looked even more menacing. I gave Mom another word of thanks when we arrived before Vivio and I headed inside.

"Ma'am!" One of the crew members operating the teleportation pods saluted me, before reciting, "We are under orders by Dr. Yagami to ensure that Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown does not perform any on-duty teleportations!"

I blinked in astonishment. "That works out perfectly, as I am not on duty."

"... Yes, Ma'am!"

"That was sooo cool, Fate-mama," Vivio said when the two of us exited the pod, finding ourselves in the TSAB Main HQ. My face felt annoyingly hot at her comment.

I was about to take the left turn in the nearby T-intersection when she tugged my sleeve questioningly.

"Fate-mama? The library's this way."

"Sorry. Force of habit," I said, smiling at her, before casting another glance back at the corridor which led to my main office.

Sure, I could override Shamal's orders, if I wanted to, but I had no intention of getting on her bad side for now.

I let Vivio lead the way instead.

Lower-ranked mages halted in their steps to salute at the sight of me as we strode across the halls, some of them gaping at my civil get-up.

"Fate-mama sure gets a lotta attention," Vivio mouthed to me after we passed one of such groups.

"Testarossa!" right on cue, Signum's harsh voice made both of us come to a halt. "Good to see that you're resting, just like the doctor ordered." She smirked when I spun around to face her.

"I'll explain later, please don't tell Shamal," I said, raising my hand in apology.

She examined me from head to toe, her brow shooting up questioningly when our eyes met.

I sighed. "It's not work-related, there's something I need to check."

"Ah, sounds like a great reason to be running around as soon as one is discharged from the hospital."

"Look, it's-" I stopped before I said too much with Vivio around.

This could be tough to get out of. Signum was already opening her mouth when Vivio said, "Um, Fate-mama, I'm gonna be late for my shift…"

"I'll tell you later," I communicated mentally to Signum.

She scoffed loudly. "If something happens to you, Testarossa, Shamal will have my head rolling."

I muttered a quick apology to her retreating back before we went on our way again.

"Thanks, you saved me back there, Vivio."

Vivio beamed at the compliment. "Fate-mama, whaddya need to do here anyway?"

"Just a little bit of research." And everybody seemed to be worrying too much.

"If you need help just lemme know!"

I ruffled her hair playfully. "I sure will."

The Infinity Library was no less intimidating than during my last visit. We took off soon after stepping through the door, hovering above the abyss of books.

Another familiar voice called out to us, "Vivio! You're here, good. I've left you a list of titles we need to extract some data from. You're going to send the results to Officer Lanster. Hello, Fate."

"Hello, Yuuno," I greeted him back and waved to Vivio before she soared off to do her work. While out of loop, it was also good to hear that Teana was managing without my supervision.

"I heard you were hospitalised. Is it really okay for you to be here?"

"T'was just a scratch."

He raised his eyebrow.

"Anyway, I'm looking for information, I'd rather it didn't wait."

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

I considered his offer for a second. Of all the people I knew, Yuuno was the most likely to have the knowledge I needed…

"Yes, in fact," I said. "I'm looking for a symbol." I described Nanoha's pendant to him.

He pondered for a moment before bringing up a floating screen. "I have seen something similar to what you're describing when I was reading up on Earthly history. Give me a second." He opened a couple images presenting eyes much like the one on the pendant. "Which one is it?"

"This one," I pointed at one of them. "Definitely the right eye."

"It is an ancient Egyptian symbol. Well-known on Earth as the Eye of Horus, apparently. Why are you looking for it?"

I told him about the pendant I supposedly gave to Nanoha, as well as the incident in our bedroom (save for the circumstances leading up to it).

"Maybe Shamal could help with the memories part," he suggested after listening to my story.

"We're working on it."

"So, aside from that one image on that spaceship, you have never seen this pendant?"

I nodded. "I'm not even sure if it's the pendant that I remember. It was the same symbol for sure, and it looked much older, but nothing more than that."

"And you got it while on a mission?"

"Nanoha said I brought it as a souvenir about a month ago. But I don't recall going to Earth on the TSAB business- give me a second."

I brought up the screen of my personal computer and navigated to the mission log. Then stared at the red "Access Denied" glaring back at me. Groaning, I shut the device down.

"Looks like I'll have to get on Shamal's bad side after all," I muttered to no one in particular.

"Trouble?" Yuuno asked from behind many of his own screens.

"I got my remote access to the system revoked." It looked like someone really didn't want me to do any sort of work for the time being. "I'll be right back, I have to go to my office. Pray that Hayate doesn't see me." ... Although it was strange that I actually hadn't heard from Hayate since regaining my consciousness.

I was making my way toward the exit from the Library when Shamal's face popped up on another screen next to me.

"Fate, you were supposed to be resting!"

"Shamal, I-"

"No discussion. You're going back home this instant, or I'll have Signum drag you there by force."

"Look, Shamal, I can take care of myself, and I'm not even working-"

"And I am responsible for your health," she interrupted. "Both you as a friend, and as one of the best mages in this organisation. You were exposed to insane amounts of cosmic radiation, for heaven's sake, take this seriously."

Her glare and tone unnerved me.

"Okay, I'll go home."

"Good. I'd hate to have someone following you just to make sure you take care of your own health."

"By the way, you really didn't have to lock me out of the system."

"What are you talking about? I didn't-"

Before she finished, Yuuno flew closer, saying, "Don't worry, Fate, I'll keep looking and let you know if I find anything."

"Thanks. And… sorry, Shamal."

She nodded in acknowledgement and disconnected.

Thinking back to that moment now, I should have pressed on. I should have gone to my office then and there. But all too caught up in my own frustration, I missed another chance to prevent the disaster about to happen.


The house was dark and quiet when I came back.

"Nanoha?" I called out, turning the lights on.

She was resting on the couch in the living room, shielding her eyes.

Stepping closer, I asked, "Why the long face?"

"Hahaha, it's nothing. I just felt like lying down. Where's Vivio? I thought she'd come back with you."

I sat down next to her and she shifted to rest her head on my lap. My fingers ran idly through her hair, now freed from the ponytail.

"She's still at the Library. I had to… leave a little earlier."

"Fate-chan sounds like someone chased her out after all."

"Shamal didn't appreciate me reading so much right after being discharged."

She chuckled. "Did Fate-chan find what she was looking for?"

"More or less," I said. My palms were growing sweaty so I took them off her head, then added, "I was looking for something on that pendant of yours."

Her reply was as casual as it could get. "About my pendant? But what for?"

"I… think I remembered something. I thought maybe digging more into it would help me with getting my memories back." Technically, it wasn't a lie.

"Fate-chan, you remembered?" she perked up. "When?"

"After we… you know."

"Oh," a blush crept on her face.

So she really didn't know what happened. "You left to get your clothes and I, sort of…"

"Uh huh?"

"... looked at your pendant, and…" With her sitting up, my fingers now played nervously with the hem of my blouse. I was circling around the topic and hated it. "I had a flashback after touching it."

"But that's great, Fate-chan!"

"What? Oh, I guess, yes."

"Tell me more?"

"There wasn't much," I said and gave her a quick summary of whatever few things I remembered, thinking that maybe I was worrying for nothing. With her head back on my lap, I was once again twirling her hair between my fingers.

"So Fate-chan thinks that researching this symbol can help with remembering the rest?"

I nodded. "Something like that, yes."

"If you need any help, you know that I'm here for you, right?"

Her hand reached out to touch my cheek and I leaned into the warmth of her palm, closing my eyes.

Maybe I was just seeing things earlier. Everything seemed normal after all.

Nanoha stirred in my lap, prodding at my lower belly.

"You know, we still have at least two hours before Vivio is back," I whispered. My fingers ran lazily from her hair down to her chest.

"Why, is Fate-chan suggesting something?"

She slowly moved her palm to the back of my neck, tugging me closer. I leaned in and pressed my lips onto hers.

She was acting just fine. I could continue my research tomorrow. With telepathy, I said, "I was just thinking that maybe we could continue our… reunion?"

"I like that idea," she replied in kind and wrapped her other hand around my neck.

The sound of shattering glass jolted us both. We scrambled off the couch. Bardiche was already in my hand.

The area scan came out negative.

"The bathroom," I communicated, keeping our comm link up. "Stay here. I'll check."

"Fate-chan, maybe something just slipped off the shelf," Nanoha crooned, but her hand was also clasped around Raising Heart.

"No, something similar already happened earlier." With my Barrier Jacket on, I crept toward the bathroom door.

Nanoha wordlessly followed suit, also combat-ready.

I positioned myself on the hinge-side. "On your signal."

She turned the knob and, with a push from my shoulder, I burst inside the empty bathroom.

A strong scent of perfumes hit my nose, so much so that I reeled after taking the first breath.

Nanoha turned the light on.

The bottles lay broken and scattered around the room, glass grinding under my boots with each step.

"Fate-chan, the mirror!"

My reflection showed through the red smears on the otherwise-clean surface. The smears were formed into letters, a bloody "WAKE UP" written clumsily on the mirror.

"Nanoha, you didn't-" I turned just in time to see her sinking to her knees. "Nanoha?!"

"I… don't feel so well, Fate-chan," she stammered, clutching her head.

I rushed behind her and dragged her out of the perfume-saturated bathroom. "Hang in there, Nanoha, it's just the air. There, breathe."

"Fate-chan, I think I'm gonna faint…"

Suddenly, my own vision started swimming. My stomach dropped, and cold sweat crept all over my body.

Something wasn't right and it wasn't the perfumes. The air in the corridor grew stale, tasteless. Then my own lungs felt tighter and taking another breath became a struggle. Everything started drowning as if in thick fog, but I couldn't tell what happened next as I slid down next to Nanoha before the world faded away.


A/N: Eye of Horus is an actual symbol from the Ancient Egypt, representing wellbeing and protection. You can see it on the cover image of this story.