Third Session
"Come on Fate-chan. Last time you said that next time you would go first. So, the stage is yours now." Hayate all but pushed a sheepishly blushing Fate to the center of the bar.
The place was jam-packed and some people had already tried their luck on the stage. Some duets, but mainly single singers had found the courage to step on the stage and sang, if some of that could be called singing, to the top of their lungs, and laughed as they finished, cheered by their friends and the rest of the potential singers.
"I-I don't even know what to sing," Fate replied as she was being pushed, trying to push back her weight against Hayate.
"Leave that to me."
With that said, Hayate gave her the final push with which Fate leaped the three steps up to the stage in one stride. Hayate, approached the hostess and whispered a few things. She nodded and Hayate clapped effusively. A few seconds later Hayate was back in the booth again. She got Nanoha off her seat and sat in the middle, forcing Nanoha to sit on the right most part of the booth. On the other side of the booth Suzuka and Arisa were deciding what drinks to order. It was girls night out.
Fate stood in the middle of the stage. She dressed simply and yet she looked absolutely ravishing on stage. Her golden hair flowing back untamed, her wine eyes showing a bit of fear, a bit of excitement and her particular glint, which to the unfamiliar eyes might seem like a melancholic almost indecipherable look. Black high-heeled boots, dark black jeans that showed off her long well-formed legs, a striped yellow top and her black leather jacket completed her look. Her colors, her style. She looked anxiously at the people on the tables and with her fingers toyed anxiously with Bardiche hanging in her golden necklace. Most of them were enjoying their drinks, but they all had their eyes on her. Her hands then clutched to the microphone as if her life depended on it. The lights dimmed and the first strings of the extremely familiar song were heard.
Fate breathed in deeply. This was a song she knew a lot too well. She wouldn't even need to look at the screen to follow the lyrics at all. Hayate had gotten her hands on her iPod for sure. During the first seconds of the song as the soft strings started playing voicelessly, she looked for the slate blue eyes that filled her mind every time she sang to this song. Her palms were sweaty as she felt the thrill of being the center of attention and yet with one look at those blue eyes that were the world to her, her voice started to flow, soft and beautiful, directed to the only girl in her world.
No one ever saw me like you do
All the things that I could add up too
I never knew just what a smile was worth
But your eyes say everything without a single word
Countless images of them appeared before her.
The first time they met.
The first time Nanoha held her and carried her in her arms and flew into the sky.
Nanoha extending her hand for her to take.
All about Nanoha.
Each and every time she introduced herself to her.
Everytime she repeated her name, and every time it got deeper in her mind.
The moment they met on the bridge and exchanged ribbons.
The first time she felt the warmth of her hands.
The transition of awkward moments that led to comforting hugs to waking up together sharing the same bed.
'Cause there's somethin' in the way you look at me
It's as if my heart knows you're the missing piece
You make me believe that there's nothing in this world I can't be
I never know what you see
But there's somethin' in the way you look at me
For Fate it was as if everybody in the bar had disappeared. Her eyes were set and her heart led her voice.
With each strophe she walked a step closer to those eyes that had stolen her heart.
She sang and her voice poured out her feelings. Her voice was soft and arose from her soul, as pure and beautiful.
Because every word of that song reflected her feelings, and because in her eyes she found everything she needed.
Because up to this day sometimes she still wondered what exactly had Nanoha seen in her.
If I could freeze a moment in my mind
It'll be the second that you touch your lips to mine
I'd like to stop the clock, make time stand still
'cause, baby, this is just the way I always wanna feel
Because she remembered that exact moment all too well.
The desire.
The fear.
The love.
The sighs.
The first kiss that sealed what they already knew in her hearts for so long.
The relief.
The love.
The dreams.
The way the air became warmer.
The way their mind and their heart conspired together.
Because sometimes words were not needed when hearts understood each other.
When in the eyes you could read everything the heart insisted on shouting.
'cause there's somethin' in the way you look at me
It's as if my heart knows you're the missing piece
You make me believe that there's nothing in this world I can't be
I never know what you see
But there's somethin' in the way you look at me
And she walked towards her, knowing that she was her reason to be.
The woman she'd never stop falling in love with.
And her voice dropped a little, because she was singing to her and to her alone.
And the distance between them grew smaller with every step.
I don't know how or why I feel different in your eyes
All I know is it happens every time
And this time she extended her hand for Nanoha to take, and she did without hesitation. Fate closed the distance between them and forgot about the song in the back while she looked for those lips and melted with hers into a deep kiss as the music for the last chorus continued. In her mind she could follow the lyrics, but her lips were much too busy to focus on that.
'cause there's somethin' in the way you look at me
It's as if my heart knows you're the missing piece
You make me believe that there's nothing in this world i can't be
I never know what you see
But there's somethin' in the way you look at me
Not only Arisa, Suzuka and Hayate, but also the other customers turned into an attentive audience erupted into applause, whistles and cheers as the music stopped and the lights were lit up again and Fate hid her face in Nanoha's neck, her face reaching the limits of human redness.
"Whoa, Fate. I didn't know you had that in you," Hayate bursted.
Fate still was hiding in Nanoha as she shared her blush.
The whistles and claps faded eventually and the host called for the next singer.
"The next round of drinks are one the house ladies," a curvy waitress informed them and winked at Hayate.
"Hey Hayate, I think you scored again," Arisa teased her.
"Hehehe, let's not forget who to thank for, for our next round of drinks," Hayate answered them but her eyes were following the waiter.
"Why would I need a drink now? I already did that, and sober!" Fate said, who was leaning against Nanoha who had her arms protectively crossed over Fate's shoulders and crossed over her chest.
"And you were just amazing!" Nanoha told her beaming. "I love you so much," she whispered to Fate's ear.
Fate took Nanoha's hands and kissed her wrists and then her palms.
"I love you more."
"Geez girls, I'm starting to feel like I've played some sort of role in your relationship."
"Well.. maybe indirectly, you have pushed us on the right track..." Fate answered with a warm look on her eyes.
"...at the right moments."
They seem to have some sort of natural sync to end each other's sentences. Maybe they always have and I just hadn't noticed, or maybe it's something they developed over the course of time.
"I like your story girls, but you see, I'm starting to think you are not quite reliable when you tell your stories."
"What? Why would you think so, Hayate?"
"Well... you see I was with you that day, wasn't I?"
"Yeah, you chose my song. How can I ever forget that?"
"Well I differ from your recollection of that night's events."
"Okay, maybe my description of Fate is a little biased. But she did look amazing that night," Nanoha replied, slightly coloring her cheeks.
"No, Nanoha, I don't mean that. You exaggerated the whole thing about the waitress."
"Really? Are you daring to contest that part of our story?"
The way Nanoha asked seemed almost as if she were challenging me. How bold of her!
"Now that I push my memory a bit harder, I seem to remember you actually disappeared for a while Hayate. And you never go to the bathroom alone." Fate added.
"Certainly not when the free rounds of drinks turned into another and another."
Oh, that had been that time... I shouldn't have opened my mouth.
"Okay, okay, back to our main topic. Forget about the waitress."
"Did you ever call her?"
"There was no waitress."
"You never called her?"
"Stop with the questions already. The therapy is about you two, not me!"
"Come on, Hayate. She looked nice..."
"Focus girls!"
I don't think these two are going to let this thing rest now.
Song is "The Way you Look at me" from, the version from Kassie de Paiva (original version from Christian Bautista).
