Amount of Hugs needed: 16,149

Amount of Hugs found: 10,529

AN: Changed a few things between Chrono and Lindy's conversations with one another, mostly just how Chrono addresses Lindy in a conversation.

Disclaimer: I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha nor any of the various seasons made after the original.

Three days passed, Harlaown-sama refused to let her out to fight again and so they simply passed the time in whatever way they knew how.

Chrono-san sparred with Onee-sama, and always lost even with Onee-sama taking it easy on him, constantly getting slightly better after being beat into the ground. He made a second arm for some reason on his benches, left slightly mutilated and alone for the most part… maybe it was missing something? Other than that, he worked on his Device and spent time with Onee-chan outside of sparring, they seemed to enjoy one another's company, which was good since Onee-sama… wasn't as great with people as herself…

That said a lot.

Onee-sama indulged herself in the spars, she didn't get to have many since Okaa-sama died, and it must get boring after several years of just practicing. Other than that, she cooked, she took Chrono-san with her to the city to get food, basic supplies and other simpler things, like a new bow for her hair, a light blue like the morning sea, that she'd taken to wearing. She seemed slightly happier than before Harlaown-sama and her crew arrived, though she could have been imagining it.

Harlaown-sama… she did seemingly random things at random times without any rhyme or reason. One moment she would just be sitting and enjoying her tea while looking at the clouds, the next she would get up and start exercising with her Device, then the next she would just lay down and go to sleep… It was really strange… At least she had taught her a few things… and healed her when she went too far with her newest spells.

Those spells… they were dangerous and could only be handled for a short time before they'd do a lot of damage to her body… but the sheer ability that they had for those precious moments were incredible. She went faster than she could perceive, not that her instincts failed from the sheer speed, she hit hard enough to send Harlaown-sama flying, and she could take a single hit from the hammer without any injury.

Unfortunately, she could only hold it for just above four seconds before her body could take the sheer amount of mana reinforcing and changing it. The only good thing to know was apparently she didn't feel pain anymore… somehow, after the first time trying Sternekicht-Tanz and having her injuries dealt with, Harlaown-sama had promised that she'd get that looked at when they went off to the Bureau to see what was up with that. While convenient, it made it much harder to know if something was wrong if she didn't have Razing Heart with her.

Today was to be a… strange day.

For one, Harlaown-sama and Chrono-san were going to visit Hayate-chan during the mid-day, strange really as Harlaown-sama aside from taking a tour of the city earlier in the month didn't go out at all… they did enjoy Hayate-chan's presence that one day on the tour. Alongside that, Otou-sama had gone out somewhere, where to she didn't know nor did she even ask him before he left, Otou-sama's business was his own and she had no reason to ask or know what he was doing.

So yes… today was strange compared to every other one that had happened so far, at least she understood her new spells, and had made an... surprise for her foes. It'd be a surprise, one they wouldn't expect after her usage of the base and its general worthlessness.

"My Seraph, pay attention. Or else-" Her leg gave out on her and she fell to the grass, blood welling out of fissures made from her spell… the leaves looked nice with the sun behind them. "- that will happen. Haa… Your pain receptors aren't working anymore, that's all I can tell."

Absently she nodded her head… Razing Heart would see it and she didn't really feel like speaking in the wake of that. All she'd been doing for today, beyond the necessities, had been finding limits of her new spells, and asking Razing Heart to help her find out why she wasn't feeling much anymore, both of which she'd learned… Now that they were over though, she was stuck with nothing to do, aside from more training… which she didn't want to do yet, it was fine to do it as part of a daily routine, but doing so every waking moment of a day did get tiring after a while.

Which left finding something to do that wasn't training or making no spells…

… This would take a while… may as well find a tree branch that was 'comfortable' to ponder in since she wouldn't find her answer quickly. "Is that all my Seraph, or may I go back to sleep?" … She would still need a tree, but she did have a solution to what to do, as she got to her feet, ignoring her wounds, and started walking through the forest, looking up for a branch that would hold her. "Razing Heart? Can you teach me something?"

She barely had to wait before Razing Heart replied back, something that always was nice since barely any time was wasted. "Oh? And what would you want to learn, my Seraph?" What drowsiness had been there in Razing Heart's voice was gone, replaced with curiosity and a hint of amusement, the latter she didn't understand why, but it probably didn't matter.

"Anything that you want to teach. Science, History, Math, Philosophy, Construction, anything that you know and think I would benefit from learning." When Razing Heart's voice came next, the curiosity was gone as well, and left only with amusement, a light laughter echoing in her head that mixed with the words in a pleasant way. "I see." The amusement remained, and she could feel it emanating from Razing Heart's jewel, strange but surprisingly… nice to feel.

"Well, find a place to lie down and rest. I'll have something for you when you reach it. It's been far too long since I got to teach." She didn't say anything more in response, it wasn't needed anymore since a gesture was all that was needed to give agreement. "Do make sure you bandage your leg when we get there. They may not be bleeding profusely, but I'd rather not have to heal you just because of a little blood loss."

This time she did reply, after looking down at her leg and seeing that the blood was flowing slowly from the injuries still, "Alright, I'll do that before I jump up." More amusement was her reply… not that she'd understand why Razing Heart was amused.

Sister came back eventually, and aside from a few quirks and a wardrobe change, she looked mostly the same.

Sahar came strolling into the village, axe lazily draped onto her shoulder and a… 'bottle' in her left hand that was periodically brought up to her lips. She was dressed quite differently from when she was last here, some weird clothing that wasn't made of metallic leather, had rips in tears across the entire thing and was black like the night and red like blood. She also had several more of those 'bottle' things with her… whatever they were.

She was the same though, still smiling, lively and wasting little time coming to see her and Father.

Back then, she was sitting at the campfire, enjoying a meal of meat and gems when Sister arrived, having earned the latter after killing an Anzen… that had been an ordeal that even now was a crowning achievement of her life. She'd heard the commotion being made but aside from a cursory glance and seeing hunters gathered in a group, she paid it no mind and just continued eating… pensive and thoughtful over everything to happen in her life.

Then came the voice of the one person who meant the world to her at the time alongside a chuckle, making her whirl on instinct and recognition. "You've grown quite a bit Lindy. You're what, my height now?" There was joy and amusement making up those words, and she felt herself smile for the first time since the last hunt, leaving her meal for a moment to turn and look Sahar in the face. "And gems? What'd you kill that let you have those to eat?

"Sister!" Without warning she bolted up from her spot and barreled into Sahar, laughter coming out as she hugged her wayward kin and tackled both of them to the ground, "You're home, you're home!" While the sudden tackle-hug caught her off-guard, Sister didn't budge a millimeter, taking the 'blow' in stride and spinning her around laughing just as brightly as she herself was.

The contact lasted for a single spin before they separated, both her and Sister radiating happiness before she went back to her spot at the fire, beckoning excitedly for Sahar to join her, which happened with a chuckle. "So, back to my question, what'd you kill that let you have those delicacies?" There was curiosity and excitement in those words, something that was a rare combination here, excitement of the hunt was normally accompanied by hunger and blood-lust usually, while curiosity usually stood alone.

Regardless of that tidbit, she beamed with pride and her own excitement, she didn't think Sahar had ever done what she did, even if it was a youngling of its kind, she had still done something that most of the Hunters never were able to do. "I killed an Anzen on a Hunt!" Curiosity quickly became surprise, then again to pride and joy, before another laugh was let out and Sister decided to also pat her on the back.

"Of course you would, little Lindy! I bet that thing has kept you fed for months now." She kept smiling and nodded, turning back to her food, grabbing one crystal of a light blue and offering it to Sahar, which was taken readily and greedily, before grabbing herself a bite of meat. There was comfortable silence beside the crackling fire, interrupted only by the sounds of children playing somewhere else in the camp, in which they ate the rest of their meal, Sahar drank more of that 'bottle' and she drank from her water canteen.

The silence lasted until she was full, she packed up the gems still around, Sahar really liked them but then again, they were rare and were only harvested from the greater beasts of the world, it would be strange if they weren't, and got up, Sahar quickly rising with her. After that they walked side by side to Father's tent, exchanging a bit of small talk until their home came into view, where Sister asked her a question. "How has my old man been since I left?

She just shrugged, and answered briefly with an answer that should satisfy her. "It's Father, he's alive." Sister took a moment to think on the answer before shrugging in turn and letting the silence sink in, at least she was giving a smile, even if it was a sad and exasperated one.

Father had… issues. That was always the simple way to state them.

She let Sahar into the tent, and then she waited outside, immediately sighing in relief as she almost didn't hear Father and Sister throw barbs at one another… it would have been uncomfortable in there, she knew that well. Still that was who those two showed their affection… probably… and no matter what, it was alright for them to engage in it.

As long as Father didn't go off on his Hunts and get himself killed, it was fine.

"Admiral? Snap out of your daydream, we're here."

… Mmm, the memories were becoming quite annoying if she was getting them in the middle of the day… then again it was near time for her to sleep… she'd have to do that after they returned to Nanoha-chan's home. Hopefully she would manage to keep the tiredness out of her voice and thoughts, otherwise she'd disrespect Hayate-chan and Signum by association.

As was normal in this city, she got looked at strangely for her appearance on their walk to the hospital, which she shrugged off with ease since she'd dealt with it since the moment she left Calnarog. Given the rather easy, only a few turns and crossings over streets, if long walk, it wasn't hard to just lose herself in a memory or thoughts. Besides, actually talking with Chrono usually ended in an argument, and unless they really had to talk with one another about something, it was often times better to be quiet and not say anything whatsoever.

Either way she smiled gently and nodded absently, looking up to see they were at their destination, some hospital that she didn't care to know the name of since she wouldn't be here after the coming Spring when the cherry blossoms were in bloom. Nor did she care about the details of it, since frankly, the structure didn't matter at all to her, only two to five people that currently resided inside. "Ah, thank you Chrono-kun. I got lost in a memory for a while."

Chrono didn't say anything to her, barely acknowledging that she even replied before walking through some sliding glass doors… those should at least be solid things with a window at head level rather than fully glass. Anyway, she strolled in after Chrono before quickly overtaking him and made her way to a counter where a receptionist sat, the man looking up and looking at her strangely just like the rest before asking what she was here for in a somewhat bored tone.

"I'm here to see Yagami Hayate if she's well enough." The man nodded absently at her reply before turning to a computer behind his desk, looking through for a few minutes before finally looking back up.

"She's available to be seen, I'll need you to write your name done on the register before then." She did so with a small clipboard and paper, her writing barely legible in the local script unfortunately, then motioned for Chrono to follow suit, which he did without complaint in a much clearer writing. Then they both waited as the receptionist took the board and looked it over, raising an eye at their names even as he looked affronted by the butchery that was her writing, before speaking again. "Room 209."

She thanked him with a smile, which was returned with an absently said 'you're welcome', before she led Chrono to the stairs, and walked up to the second floor. Hopefully, if they had a layout even remotely like Mid-Childa's hospitals, the first number determined the floor number, while the other two determined the actual room's number. If it wasn't… they would be walking for a while.

Thankfully for them, the hospital had the numbering somewhat like Mid-Childa's, floor number in front, and the room number after, which made things easier… if there hadn't been some seventy rooms, with closets having their own designations. It took around twelve minutes of wandering before they found the room, after asking for directions from a nurse when they somehow went from the 220s to 260s, whereupon she knocked on the door with her knuckle.

Clamoring came from inside the room, voices, objects moving and someone coming to answer the door barely heard over the din of the background occurring behind her and Chrono. A smile worked its way onto her face, a small, gentle one, as the door opened to reveal Signum, passive as she normally was, though with a hint of melancholy peeking through.

"Lindy."

"Signum."

A quick exchange of names for a greeting between them before Signum looked over at Chrono, blank face meeting mostly blank face before the older woman inclined her head, once more giving a single name as a greeting in the same near happy tone she herself had been given. "Chrono." He didn't say anything, just giving a respectful nod of his head, but Signum paid it little attention, turning and continued on speaking. "It is only me and Hayate inside, you don't have to worry about the others making things… difficult."

She smiled lightly, something that wasn't given in return, though that was expected since Signum didn't really show emotion on her face outside of her Masters, the only time she'd heard emotion coming to light outside of those times was when Clyde had asked her and his brother the question. Of course, she hadn't had time to appreciate it since she was… busy on Faurus at the time.

Signum moved out of the doorway, allowing them to enter the room without anything else said or done. The first thought that crossed her mind was how sparse it was, there was practically nothing beyond medical equipment, a bed with a curious Hayate who quickly lit up in joy at the sight of them, and a window. Somehow a kind girl that managed to get along with them of all people didn't have a single 'get well' card or similar…

That was… saddening.

Her smile dipped slightly on the realization, but she kept moving to the wall where Signum had decided to occupy and let Chrono walk in behind her, a small smile on his face as he moved over to the bedside and sat down on the chair there. Once he was situated, Hayate-chan asked him about something, some story or explanation that she wanted to know and hoped he would be able to answer, and so they just started talking. That warmed her heart a bit to see Chrono actually interacting with someone around his age, if barely, normally, as well as seeing Hayate-chan so animated despite her frailty.

Between her and her old friend, there was a long stretch of silence as they just watched two children interact happily, both victims of some tragic incident that shouldn't be put upon a child their age. There wasn't a need to talk to one another, not when they didn't have anything to say that was for those two to overhear while they were happy for once.

The only other time she'd ever seen Chrono this happy was when he was making some random contraption out of scrap, every other time he was cold and acted far older than he was. He deserved this moment of carefree joy, just as much as Hayate-chan did.

Finally, after several minutes of just watching them talk about things, she finally decided to talk to Signum, quietly so as to not disturb Hayate-chan or Chrono in their talking. "It's both warming and sad to see them like this." She received a nod from her friend when she looked out of the corner of her eye, a hint of sadness appearing in Signum's eyes before it was gone just after she saw it.

"Indeed." For a while they just watched the two children interact with one another happily, never really reacting to any of the stories Chrono told, or the questions Hayate-chan asked him. Eventually though, Signum let out a sigh, and when she looked over, the older woman had a near visible aura of exhaustion emanating from her body, that same exhaustion buried in a few short words. "I am far too old to be doing this duty now."

Her mouth slowly turned tired and sad as she looked back to the other two, nodding her head slowly and agreeing with a much smaller amount of tiredness. "Yes… you more than me, but we're both too old for this." There was no humor, just another low, tired sigh from Signum, until her body froze on her next words.

"Unless Hayate gets treatment for her illness, she will die in a few days, two weeks at most." … Two weeks? Her head looked over to Signum, barely noticing that Signum barely even reacted to what she'd even said, instead just going over the statement over and over. Her smile was hollow, her eyes full of sadness… knowing that Hayate-chan would die soon was… even more heartbreaking than just watching her and Chrono have a happy time…

What she was about to say in reply to Signum was cut off when Hayate-chan decided to speak up as best as she could. "E-exc-us-se m-me, Li-in-dy-s-sa-n." Her head turned to face Hayate-chan, a question in her eyes even as her smile turned soft and happy from the change from her and Signum's prior topic, though she would still remember what Signum had said. "U-um-m, c-co-u-ld yo-ou, te-tel-ll me-e a-abo-ut yo-u-rs-se-lf?"

Her eyes blinked for a moment, then a second before finally she spoke again. "Talk about myself?" She got a slow, wavering nod in reply, a moment passing by slowly as she processed the question before finally shrugging. "Alright I guess." Now how to actually do this… the way she tried with Clyde had worked well enough, even though she didn't know a few concrete things… "I'm… according to Mid-Childan calendars… I think around thirty-five years old, I became an Ace at… twelve years old, I get drunk on tea, I have an adopted Father and Sister, and my full name if Lindy Harlaown. Other than that, there's not much to me."

"Ad-o-op-ted-?" Of all the things to focus on, Hayate-chan decided to focus on what was probably the least strange, then again she probably didn't know what an Ace was and the name wasn't that important if a person didn't know the story behind it, so it was somewhat expected. She was curious why the 'drunk on tea' wasn't the question, but less said about that and the reasons for it were welcome.

"Birth Mother died in childbirth, Birth Father died a couple months later on a hunting trip. Got raised by the tribe until I was adopted by my Sister and Father after I called her pretty when I was around five or six... I think. Got taught how to use magic a few years after." She shrugged again despite Hayate-chan looking down in response to her answer, she never knew them so it wasn't that much of a deal to her, besides, "They died a long time ago, and I never knew them. Can't miss what I never had."

The conversation came to a lull as the other three processed that information, well, Hayate-chan and Chrono did, Signum already knew from past talks, and while they gathered their bearings she racked her brain for anything else that was 'important' to the conversation. Considering she stopped all talk and made the silence, it was probably up to her to get rid of it before the uneasy silence become oppressive and put a depressing atmosphere. "Hayate-chan, you have any more questions you want to ask me about?"

A weak nod was given from the girl, her voice shaky and wavering but still continuing strong. Hayate-chan was either very strong in will or really stubborn, probably both. "Ca-an y-yo-u t-te-ell m-me a-a bi-it a-bo-ou-t t-th-e wo-orl-ld-s a-an-d pe-opl-e ou-t t-the-re-e, Li-ind-y-sa-n?" Planets huh? So Hayate-chan was curious about everything the Bureau had in its place, as well as the worlds not under its protection, still she gave a smile and shrugged, and began about the two she knew.

"Well… at length, I can tell you about two planets, though one I know only a bit about in terms of culture, and that's it. There's a lot of worlds out there, and my job forces me to not spend much time in one place unfortunately. Is that alright?" She nodded excitedly, or as best as she could do of that as she could given her condition, and seemed eager to learn of the universe... she wouldn't talk about the events happening, that'd make the eagerness fall apart quickly. "Well, then let's begin with the one I don't know much about.

"Faurus… the people there are mostly scholars, traders and the occasional mage, they've been around for a long time, and have a lot of history recorded. Aside from that it's like a giant savannah, mostly grass with the occasional rock outcropping, lakes and trees, and for the most part they leave the menial stuff to these robots they build. They speak their own language, have their own culture, and they make some stuff you won't find anywhere else. Like mass-produced trees… which are really strange honestly."

"Other than that general information all I know is that it was the home planet of my husband." Sadness welled in her heart at her own mention of Clyde, though she didn't let it show since that would just make things worse for the mood. Chrono didn't react at all to that, not surprising since he had never actually met his father before Clyde died… haa… she was looking forward to retiring just so Chrono wouldn't lose another parent.

"W-wa-s?" … Wonderful, this is going to end up just like the question about her Birth parents… only Chrono would also be affected instead of just Hayate-chan, even if they had never once met in person… or seen one another at all across a video or picture.

With that thought in her head, she took a drawn-out breath that had Hayate-chan become nervous, and shortly after stated the simple truth and prepared herself for what was to come. "He died several years ago."

"… I-I'm-m so-or-r-y…" Hayate-chan bowed her head, sadness and slight shame etched across her face, Chrono looked away at the wall and a lull was made again that only she and Signum weren't apart of. She gave a gentle smile that held its own trace of sadness before, reaching out and placing her hand on Hayate-chan's head for a single moment, enough to get her to look up, before pulling back her hand.

"It's fine. It's been a long time since then." Hayate-chan looked up, still slightly saddened but at least she was looking her back in the eye, and the genuine smile, sad and happy as it was, put away the last bits of her shame, and soon enough her next words made Hayate turn back to curious and excited. "Anyway, I was about to start on my home, don't expect me to say how any of it actually works, because I'm not a scientist, nor have any been there since the planet was discovered."

"Calnarog is the name of my home planet. It's much bigger than any other world in Bureau, at least the ones I've seen, it has no mountain ranges, oceans or forests… doesn't even have lakes if I remember." An unspoken question was asked in curious eyes, and she felt her smile grow slightly before answering, amusement bubbling underneath a calm voice. "Only water sources come from 'islands' that float above the surface for several kilometers and drop rivers on the ground. And somehow the things float."

Receiving a look of confusion and what seemed like wonder mixed with deep thought from Hayate-chan, alongside one of just skepticism from Chrono, shortly after she stopped made her shrug minutely, she didn't know how or why the things floated, they just did. "Other than that, the only thing you'll see to the horizon is a cloudless sky of yellow or black, depending on the time of day, and an endless sea of lavender grass. Sometimes you'll see a mineral deposit sticking out of the ground, but aside from that, it's just a sea of grass and sky."

Calnarog was a simple place, besides the islands, it was one giant, near-flat plainscape. It was home… where memories of love and cheer were, regardless of anything that happened that was tragic or saddening. Her eyes went soft and her smile gentle and happy as she recalled pieces of the past, before ending her part happily. "Despite that simple description, it's quite a sight to see, and I'd show it to you if I could."

Merriment quickly encompassed her being as she saw Hayate-chan's mind try and create a picture of what she described of home, quickly gaining both awe and wonder as she did. "I-It s-s-so-un-ds-s pr-pr-ett-y…"

"It really is… and I'm not saying that because I'm from there and am biased…" She got a laugh from that out of Hayate, sickly excuse that it was, a snort of amusement from Chrono, and a tiny amount of amusement out of Signum. "Let's see what else… we live in tribes that follow the islands and water, we hunt rather large beasts that will feed us for weeks at a time, and we make tools and supplies out of natural metal and rock." A hand was put to her lower face as she looked up at the ceiling in thought, "Not much in the way of culture or buildings, we don't like cities, we live in camps of up to around three hundred people, and we do simple things. Not much else."

"W-wh-at a-a-bo-ou-t tec-" Hayate-chan descended into a coughing fit trying to ask her question, which had her worried for a moment, same for Chrono though he looked around to see if he could somehow help, and Signum looking on with a hint of sadness in her posture. She waited until the coughing fit faded to nothing and Hayate-chan looked back up with a pained expression that quickly faded to curiosity again before replying to what she supposed was Hayate-chan's question.

"We never got past hunting and gathering, since trying to do agriculture when there's no plants beyond grass and a water source that constantly moves is impossible, didn't matter that much to us though." … She needed something to drink, too much talking in a short time without having anything, let alone tea, left her throat parched, which wouldn't actually affect her talking, but it would be discomforting.

Beside her, Signum let out a quiet noise at her side, exactly what it was, she didn't know due to how silent it was, on top of Signum not reacting visibly. Her attention being drawn to the Knight caused both of the younger individuals in the room to look over at her, whereupon Signum gave a sigh before finally speaking her mind. "Out of all the worlds that are known to your civilization, your homeworld truly is the most dangerous Lindy."

A smile reached her face, before a chuckle was let out. She couldn't refute that, since while several planets were rather inhospitable, Calnarog was far more treacherous, given the lack of resources staying in a single spot, alongside long stretches of time when rationing was necessary and every creature capable of or made for killing. "I can agree with that statement, what with the animals and conditions." Her smile turned wistful, remembering her hunts through never-ending fields of lavender and coming up on rivers dropping from the sky. "Though, you have to admit it's beautiful despite its… issues."

"I would admit that much to you, if I had set foot there." Signum's amusement faded away after that statement as she looked straight at her, eyes narrowing just enough to be noticeable as the knight studied something about her before finally speaking. "You look tired Lindy, when was the last time you slept?" Right on que, she gave a stifled yawn that had amusement come to life in Signum's eyes and a miniscule smile appear, the other two individuals in the room just looked confused, though Chrono quickly sobered up and shook his head with a quiet sigh.

… What even was the time? She'd gone to bed at roughly five a.m. … yesterday, and judging by the clock that was glanced at, it was now a bit past six p.m., could be worse, dragging the Anzen back to camp, alongside the other bodies, had taken three days of no sleep. Good times though. Anyway… now to answer the question. "I'm an hour past when I should've slept… internal clock still isn't used to twenty-four hours days."

"I see." Signum shifted slightly, not nodding her head in acknowledgement butt instead looking over to Hayate-chan, her posture becoming more relaxed, albeit marginally, and her voice and expression becoming slightly softer. "Hayate. Do you have any more questions that you want answered from Lindy or Chrono?"

Hayate-chan started slightly, immediately moving her head to see Signum, then looking over at her, and then to Chrono before finally looking down and dejectedly letting out two weak, despondent words in response. "A-ah-h… N-no-o…"

Despite her tiredness, she managed to give off gentle smile, probably tinged with a lot of tiredness, but it probably didn't matter, slowly making her way over to Hayate-chan's side while Chrono started to try and cheer her up. As she reached the bedside, she started speaking out-loud just as Chrono finished saying whatever it was he was 'whispering', "Well, it's been nice talking with you Hayate-chan. I'll see if Chrono and I can come again some other time this week with Chrono-kun."

She paused for a moment out of hesitation as Hayate-chan perked up immediately on hearing they'd come back, a bright expression on her face quickly forming and a wide smile conveying all the joy she felt. A moment later, after breaking her hesitation apart, she moved her hand forward and lightly ruffled Hayate-chan's hair, just enough force to move the hair without pressing down since that wouldn't be… a good idea just because of how sickly the girl was as well as her own strength.

Still, she got a smile out of Hayate-chan on top of getting her out of the 'depression' she was in, that alone made the action worth it.

There was a small silence as Chrono moved around the bed, and Signum pushed herself off the wall and moved silently behind him, before Hayate-chan broke it just as she herself turned and walked after Chrono. "B-by-e L-Lin-d-dy-s-sa-n! On-on-ii-c-ha-n!"

'Onii-chan?' Her mouth quirked up at that, amusement and happiness bubbling up inside her that reached her face, thankfully with no one to actually see it since Chrono was ahead of her and looking forward, and both Hayate-chan and Signum were behind them both. She was sure she'd frighten someone, given that whenever she usually had those two seen on her face was when Bob and her were having 'fun' with the enforcers from her original group.

Regardless, both her and Chrono made their way through the halls, a thought forming in her head slowly as she watched Chrono fall back to her side and just behind her. Once she'd stewed over the idea for a good bit of time, having just made it to the stairwell that would take them back to the ground floor when she decided to talk out loud. "Chrono. How adverse would you be to having a little sister?"

Her question caught him off guard, given that he looked over at her in confusion without slowing his stride down, before finally working out a single word after a several seconds of silence. "… Why?" She smiled with amusement before turning to Chrono with a glint in her eye, sing-songing her next words with all the amusement that came from it.

"Answer my question and I'll answer yours~. Is that fair Chrono-kun?" Her question still tinged with amusement made Chrono twitch as he heard it, in turn making her barely shake with restrained chuckling.

"… Fine. I'm not adverse to having a sister, as long as you don't run off on them like me." Oh? Bringing that up was he? Well, he would given that it affected him deeply, and she actually hadn't yet shared that she was going to retire after this with him.

Either way, she decided to 'play along' with him, though her earlier amusement was diminished greatly by now, and what was a sing-song was now nothing more than normal speech. "I resent that slightly. Work was more important… and would you really have wanted me to actually take care of you?"

"Yes." His answer, simple and quick bit into her and held, her amusement fully gone now and replaced with a hint of self-loathing and depression… no matter how much she tried to justify it, leaving him with Graham and Lotte was a terrible decision as a parent. Regardless of whatever happened, she would never really be Chrono's mother, Lotte deserved that title more than her. "And is work really that important compared to your only son?"

Regardless of the decision she made, regardless of all the things she gave up for that decision, she stuck with it, for the sake of a dream and her Chrono. Even if it had made him hate her, it would have been worth it not to see him like this. "… If it had made sure you didn't have to be an Ace," There a miniscule flinch at the title, one she didn't blame him for considering how he got the moniker in the first place, just because one was a child of two Aces didn't make them automatically an Ace. Still she continued without pause, Chrono would still listen to her, regardless of the memory dredged up. "I would do it every single time."

Silence greeted her words, and if the seriousness of the matter wasn't enough, her posture losing every bit of levity and relaxation that had accumulated over the course of the visit and hardening instead was there to reinforce it. The Bureau wasn't in a time of peace currently, and from that came conflict, death and devastation. Both of them had seen parts of the conflict first hand, and she knew Chrono never wanted to go back, that alongside the diminished numbers her ship had, made her choose to do 'peacekeeping' around the Bureau instead of going into the 'hotspots' like Faurus.

It's why she tried so hard to end it alongside many others, but it wasn't like a single person could save an entire nation.

The hardness left her, replaced by a relaxed posture before she sighed and got Chrono's attention, smiling sadly at him as she nudged him along with a few words, getting him out of darker times. "Well, let's get going before the other three decide to show up. I'd rather not have a confrontation in the middle of the day at a hospital of all places." He didn't jump or startle, merely nod before furrowing his brow and locking her with what probably would be a withering glare, had it not come from him after that conversation.

"You never answered my question." Her smile went from sad to full of mischief, and she hummed a little before deciding to just walk on, tossing behind a few words to him before looking back to see his response.

"I want it to be a surprise Chrono-kun." She let a quiet, light-hearted chuckle out after that, smiling widely as Chrono sighed and shook his head before moving after her.

No matter what, she would actually be a mother this time… she was getting too old and tired for work, and it would allow her to actually be a mother this time instead of running around and leaving her child with Lotte and Graham. This would be her last time fighting and leading, and she was completely fine with it, maybe one day she could show Hayate-chan Calnarog, from the safety of the City anyway.

That would be a nice dream to look forward to, now to make sure they all lived to see that day. But first she needed sleep, or else she wouldn't do a thing.

Harlaown-sama and Chrono-san came back later in the day, one deep in thought over something, while the other seemed confused about something. Chrono-san immediately went over to his work area, greeted by Onee-sama as she left the dojo next-door, before continuing whatever it was that he was working on. Meanwhile, Harlaown-sama set down a few things she had apparently come home with, collected her teacup after doing so while looking around, and finally after looking in her direction, Harlaown-sama walked over to her.

The time between when the two had left and now hadn't been spent lazing around, besides the teaching of some sciences pertaining to magic and machinery, she'd also done some more training, another trial of the third level of her augments alongside basic swordsmanship, and done some random cleaning around the home. It wasn't really hard to pass the time given things to do, even if some of them were mundane and without any form of want, though nothing was worth remembering beyond the lessons.

Harlaown-sama sat down on porch near her, and just watched her with a strange look, less looking at her and more thoughtful on something else. She left Harlaown-sama to whatever thoughts she was in and continued to kneel in the grass and lightly think on the enemies they faced, seeing as she had nothing occupying her now and finally saw fit to give them notice.

There was the pink-haired Traitor, the green-clad woman, the wolf-man, and the Hammer-Knight that broke Okaa-sama's sword. Out of the four, the only one she didn't know anything about was the green-clad woman, considering she had no discernable weapon, it made sense that she was either a healer or some other kind of support, a trapmaster or a specialist in barriers. Aside from that vague support role guess, she knew nothing about her, and that made her slightly dangerous.

The other three were those she knew of, if only slightly, and could predict because of that. The wolf-man was a brawler, just like Arf-san was, hitting hard at close range and likely being able to take several hits as well, it would be wishful thinking to think that he would be exactly the same as Arf-san, but a rough comparison was best. Likely he would be a bit stronger, based solely on his build, and a bit slower than Arf-san, and he probably had some ranged spells to supplement his approach, but aside from that, he was largely unknown.

Hammer-Knight was the only one she had extensive knowledge of, courtesy of the several fights they'd had. She tried to overwhelm the defenses with high speed and power, more fragile than Harlaown-sama's own form of fighting but far faster. Beyond that, she had a few ranged attacks that weren't useful anymore, and had a problem with being polite.

Out of the four, the Traitor, was the most dangerous, toying with her even though she had taken Raising Heart's advice and calmed down into a cold rage, fighting with all her ability and experience. And she'd been toyed with, taken seriously for a single moment and utterly demolished in that one moment. A sword and sheathe was all she had needed to beat her, no magic, no tricks, no other weapons, just a sword and sheathe…

It infuriated and shamed her to be that outclasses by one person, regardless of who it was.

Sure, she had no pride in herself or her abilities, but to fight and be treated like nothing ground on her in a way that she was sure any other Takamachi would share if placed in this situation, if they weren't dead. And then to top that off, to be shown that the skills and swordplay she'd been taught and used was nothing compared to her made her feel… insignificant. Still, it was only a small part of her that felt that and she could quash it without much effort, it would be gone whenever she needed it to.

Silently she continued to think about those four, idly imagining fighting any of them again, simulating everything that was likely to happen, then adding in random variables at points, all up to the point that Harlaown-sama finally spoke softly, asking a question. "What are you thinking about, Nanoha-chan?" A few moments were taken to hear and properly think up a response as her 'fantasies' shut down, turning her head to face Harlaown-sama the moment she finished with both minor things.

"Fighting the four individuals from before in my head. I keep losing to the pink-haired one, though the other three are easy." Harlaown-sama took a moment to register that before breaking into a smile and bursting out in laughter at that, she didn't understand why, but let her slight confusion go to wait on the woman to calm and explain herself. It didn't happen after a minute, though it had lessened to chuckling, and to actually get an answer she decided to ask her own question in turn. "Why are you laughing at me?"

The chuckling took a few more seconds to die down, though she was still doing it a little under her breath as she proceeded to answer her question, humor in her eyes and smile as she did. "I'm not laughing at you really. I'm laughing at the fact that even in your thoughts, Signum is beating you up." Her head tilted in reply to Harlaown-sama's question, quickly identifying Signum to the Traitor, but not understanding really why her getting defeated was worth laughter, though that thought quickly left to die as she decided it wasn't worth knowing.

Eventually Harlaown-sama fully stopped chuckling after a few more minutes, giving a happy sigh before again asking her a random question, completely different from the last one. "Nanoha-chan? What was your mother like?" It wasn't a hard question to answer after taking the time to remember Okaa-sama, her smile neither growing or fading as she reminisced in the past, before nodding and beginning.

"Okaa-sama was kind and strict, she ran the household and clan shortly before I was born after an accident and continued until she passed away." She didn't feel anything really talking about Okaa-sama beyond an initial sadness that came from the normal loss of a person, and it never bothered her to talk about Okaa-sama, not like it did with Otou-sama or Onii-sama. "Onee-sama told me that I'm starting to look like her more and more every day, though I wear less color. She was patient and nurturing, teaching me some things with Otou-sama alongside some practical skills outside of combat."

"Okaa-sama was Okaa-sama, and she was the best Okaa-sama I could have hoped to every have."

Harlaown-sama looked to be digesting what she'd said when she looked over, face slightly scrunched up in concentration and the smile remade into a thin line before she shook her head and went back to normal for her. It took a while for Harlaown-sama to give a verbal reply, and in that time she'd decided to take out the remnants of Okaa-sama's blade and look over them, continuing to do so even as words reached her. "I see... So I should be more strict and a bit more kind for her then?"

It was a whispered, wistful question to herself, the part Harlaown-sama asked after a pause, and yet her hearing heard it and her smile lessened slightly in response. "Harlaown-sama." Harlaown-sama looked at her in slight surprise when her name was called from what she saw from the corner of her eye… she'd need to do a bit of maintenance on her blade and Okaa-sama's later. Regardless of that thought, and her planning of the night, she continued with her 'advice'. "You are you, just because Okaa-sama's way worked for her, doesn't mean that it will work for you."

She didn't say any more to that, mostly because there wasn't anything more that needed to be added, so she set about looking over Okaa-sama's ruined blade more thoroughly. It needed a bit of cleaning along the remains of the blade, especially where the metal had broken, and given the lack of oiling she'd done on it, it would need some or else it would start to gain bits of rust. "… Hmm… Alright." She didn't react at all to Harlaown-sama's voice, focusing intently on the blade in her hand as she was, though she was paying attention. "Thank you, Nanoha-chan."

Again, she said nothing, though she acknowledged the thanks with a slight nod, and finished her inspection of her weapons, placing Okaa-sama's blade back into the sheathe, before getting up from the grass and brushing off her kimono with her free hand.

Nothing else was said as she walked past Harlaown-sama and into the house, off to clean, repair and find some last thing to do before the night came. Tonight she'd go out and look around for any of the four, and from that she'd let Okaa-sama's blade taste blood one last time, before allowing it to rest.

A few more hours, just a few more.