Amount of Hugs needed: 17,622

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

Today was the day!

He was finally going to the academy to learn more about magic, and become an officer of TSAB! But mostly just learn more magic. TSAB didn't interest him that much, sure it was the organization his entire family had been employed in, and still were for everyone alive, but he just wanted to learn more about magic, how it worked and what it could do. Honestly if he wasn't forced to be employed in the TSAB by going here to learn, at least for a while, he'd probably just have become a crafter or Devicemaker.

It was so much fun to turn junk into functioning pieces of equipment!

Auntie Lotte was taking him there, and while she put on a smile, her entire posture showed only sadness for some reason. He didn't understand why, it wasn't like he was going to go off and kill people.

Regardless, Auntie brought him to the entrance of the academy after a walk, Grandpa was busy with work like usual, being an Admiral was exhausting work for him, seeing as he was constantly away for almost all day. They went inside a rather modest hallway, the usual kind of thing for TSAB-owned buildings, went up to the desk past kids older than him and their parents, where Auntie Lotte handed over a piece of paper to the person behind the table.

He had a bit of nervousness run through him that he didn't show as the man read over it, before the secretary looked up and made a small gesture of his head. Auntie gave a small nod in return before leading him away from the other kids and through a door, a question came to him as he looked back, wondering why those kids were waiting and he was just allowed to come in.

He didn't get an answer, and the question eventually faded away as Auntie led him up some stairs, down another hallway before opening a door at the hallway's end and leading him inside. It was an office of assorted clutter, no junk or anything like he had in his room, instead it was papers, books and a woman behind the desk looking over sheet after sheet of paper.

The woman didn't look special at all, she had brown hair, brown eyes and had a regular ranged Device propped against her shoulder as she worked, her attire was a lesser version of what Grandpa wore… Really all that stood out was she had what looked like a burn scar peeking out from her neck, she must have been involved in something dangerous to get that.

Both he and Auntie were quiet as they waited for the woman to notice them and begin whatever was going to happen… Which took a while since the woman would take one paper, look it over meticulously, set it down and write something on it before placing it on one of two piles and picking up another. So, they waited… and waited… and waited, with seemingly no end in sight to the woman's work…

He tried his best to remain still like Auntie was doing, not moving his arms or letting his gaze wander, the latter was hard since he was in a new room and despite being… boring clutter, new things were interesting. The only thing that managed to keep his attention to the woman was Grandpa's lessons on etiquette, and the fact that this was his future… fear was helpful today.

Finally, after what felt like an hour, the woman looked up at them, glassy, blank eyes taking him in before moving to Auntie Lotte, inclining her head respectfully after a moment. "Lieutenant Commander Graham." Her voice was as blank as her eyes, and he felt a chill run through his spine at the cold, again, only fear and Grandpa's lessons kept him from moving too much, though he was certain he was shivering without his knowledge.

Auntie gave a respectful nod in turn, her sad expression gone and replaced with passiveness, voice void of all emotion as well as she replied back. "Major Limietta."

And with those pleasantries done, Major Limietta returned to her paperwork, not even glancing back at them as she continued the conversation, whatever it was even about. "I take it that this is the Chrono the Fleet Admiral spoke highly of?" He gave a nod alongside Auntie, though he didn't speak up yet, he wasn't being addressed by the woman directly, he would whenever she did… if she did…

The Major continued without delay, setting aside a few papers as she did. "He's rather young, though given his family, that's not unexpected. It's not like he's skipping a decade or anything, so the students won't react too negatively." She paused in her work, setting down the current paper, steepling her hands and looking straight at him.

He stared back, unwavering even as the chill amplified under her blank gaze, holding her attention up until she spoke directly at him for the first time since coming here. "I expect you to live up to the Fleet Admiral's recommendation, Chrono Harlaown. I doubt highly that the man would play favorites, but you have a high expectations set on you both from your age, and the recommendation." Her eyes didn't narrow, her voice didn't harden or make a threat, she was just dispassionate and cold and told him what she expected.

Still, he gave a heavy nod and spoke a simple, "Yes Ma'am."

Major Limietta didn't take much notice to his reply, instead turning back to her papers like she had been doing for the majority of this meeting. After a while she looked back up, seemingly noticing they were still there before turning her gaze to the door. Then she startled him by shouting without any warning.

"Amy! I need you here now!"

There was a muffled sound… then numerous crashing sounds behind him to the point that he was compelled to look behind, just due to how out of place it sounded… It honestly sounded like someone was startled from something and hit everything around them in a panic. Even Auntie had turned in response to the noise, though she didn't show any curiosity or anything... just tenseness. "That girl… one of these days that's going to get her in trouble." A sigh had him turn back to the woman, eyes closed and a hand cradling her face.

The door opened behind them, yet again catching his attention…

It was a girl a few years older than him, almost the same as the Major in appearance, with the only real difference being she had more life to her than the Major and she wore a uniform that he guessed was the training uniform here. The girl snapped a salute… a very clumsy one, before exclaiming with a loud voice. "Private Amy Limietta here Major!"

… That explained the reaction at least.

Major Limietta removed her hand and stared at the girl, who he presumed was her daughter, or at least a close family member, waiting for a while before giving a command to the girl. "Take Mrs. Graham and her charge around the building, show him where classes are held and the library."

Amy took one look at the two of them, her eyes widening on recognizing Auntie Lotte, nodding as a slight tremor went through her body and she shakily replied, "Yes Ma-"

A harsh, painful kick in his side woke him from one of the 'better' memories of his life.

"Chrono-kun~ Time to wake up~." The Admiral's voice drifted down in a sing-song as he opened his eyes with annoyance rife in his body. He grumbled as he blinked the sleep out of his eyes, shook off whatever it was on him and stumbled to his feet, a stifled yawn made before he looked around for S2U. Right where he left her on the table, she gave several angry chirps after 'seeing' Admiral Harlaown kick him awake, but he shushed her with a touch.

Another yawn came unbidden before he turned to face the Admiral, seeing her yawn in turn… why was she even awake? "Why are you waking me up…" He paused as he looked over at S2U, rubbing the rest of the sleep out of his eyes as he brought up the clock just above S2U's form, taking it in before finishing his sentence. "At one A.M. Admiral?"

She took a drink of her tea before inclining her head in the direction of the city, and immediately upon looking that way, he felt it. A groan tried to fight its way out of his throat as he stretched to get the kinks out from sleeping on the grass… again. Said groan died without a sound though as he looked longingly at the patchwork mess of a limb spread out across the table he'd set up… and the trinket for Miyuki for her help.

A small smile spread across his face at that, it was nice to have someone help him continually with his hobby, it was only right to give her something in return.

His smile disappeared just as quickly as it arrived, his gaze returning to the mess as a sigh came unbidden, he needed one more part and the arm would be working perfectly for combat. But until then, he was stuck with just an arm… an arm that was on par with Nanoha when she was slightly stronger than normal, but still just an arm.

He was looking forward to those Cartridge parts and what he could make of them.

Daydream aside, he turned back to the Admiral and gave a tired nod, the woman acknowledging it before turning and flying into the air, another yawn attacking him before he started after her. The Admiral… wasn't the fastest mage, the only reason why he managed to catch up to and hear her as she was speaking to her Device.

"-ect Enforcer Harlaown. Be ready to send that when I call for it, alright Bob." "Understood ladyship, all three messages are ready to send."

Messages? His curiosity piqued, "What are you doing Admiral?" She flipped mid-air about to look back at him instead of what was in front of them, smiling like normal and closing her eyes with a laugh.

"Oh nothing, just getting messages prepared for when we're finally ready to leave back to the Bureau. Wouldn't want to leave someone behind by accident because they slept in or were outside the city after all~." … While he could believe that from any other Admiral or General, the Admiral didn't do anything like that, mostly because the other Enforcers, and even the crew to a lesser extent, wouldn't need a message to realize it was time to leave.

He was certain it had something to do with Faurus, the place his 'Father' hailed from, but aside from that… there wasn't much he knew or could even guess. He just knew that what the Admiral said wasn't what she had done.

He wasn't about to call her out on it though, considering they were now hearing explosions, and one of the magic signatures from the Wolkenritter, the one that felt… weaker than all the others heading straight for them. The Admiral started moving down towards a rooftop just as the Knight Signum showed up, the one the Admiral compared to the Reaper, and that was Terrifying.

The Reaper, the Monster that slaughtered Armies and Cities without exerting effort at all, was the person the Admiral compared her to. He was rightly both apprehensive and dubious of that comparison, you don't compare someone alive to a living Legend.

And after a brief conversation that he tried to tune out in order to just focus on what's to come, somewhat successfully, the fight began.

A Fight, yeah, he had to rephrase that after the past few minutes.

This wasn't a fight at all, this was a slaughter.

Nothing he shot at Signum came close to hitting her, sure it looked like he was close, but both he and the Knight knew better. She dodged each shot with a minimum of movement while barely paying attention to his attacks, while keeping Lindy pressured and unable to connect any real hit.

All of this, with only the sheath of her blade. The Admiral was correct in comparing Signum to the Reaper, and what terrified him was this was her when she was weak, apparently. She was stronger the last time they met than she was now, well, her magic signature was anyway.

Lindy was incapable of landing a single hit, he was unable to land a hit even with the distraction the Admiral provided by constantly chasing after the woman through buildings, the air, and even into the sewers for a while. It was like Signum wasn't even trying, or she was just humoring their attempts to harm her, regardless of whichever reason she wasn't taking this seriously and that made it even more like what he'd heard of the Reaper.

A monster that you couldn't damage, and effortlessly massacre even the most-experienced Aces before moving onto the regular soldiers who didn't stand a chance. The fact that Nanoha managed to hold Signum back during the last fight when the Knight was stronger said enough about where the girl was going to end up if she was given more time to train and grow. As it was…

The girl needed to learn some Saintdamned patience and how to follow a fucking order!

Breathe, just… breathe. Now was not the time to get angry or anything like that, there was a knight fighting with Lindy below, Nanoha was doing something to the other three judging by the explosions of rubble and magic, and he was just sitting in the air doing nothing. 'Not like I'm of any use anyway.'

Shaking that thought out, both the negativity and the distraction wouldn't help him at all, even if it was true, he gripped S2U in his hands, hearing it chirp and whistle angrily before loosing a salvo of Stinger Rays towards Signum. Predictably the Knight dodged them without any issue, and with a click of annoyance, the Admiral brought up a Round Shield to block his wayward attack, blue bolts pinging off without a dent in the shield as she kept rushing after Signum. He doubted they would even do anything to Lindy, she could take a ton of those things before even showing discomfort, let alone damage.

The entire thing just reinforced how useless he was right now.

Gritting his teeth and shaking away the negativity again, he aimed S2U into the air, and fired some Stinger Snipes. Would it take a while for them to reach the Knight? Yes. Would it have a better chance of hitting her? No. Would it hit the Admiral by accident? It was less likely than the other way, which was why he went for it.

If there was anything good about his position, it was that he wasn't getting hurt… which honestly made him feel worse, since he wasn't even taking any blows. It was in fights like this that he hated being weak. Oh sure, he was ranked S on the Ace scale, that meant nothing when the scale was on how dangerous someone was, rather than actual strength they had.

… He'd rather not recall how he had earned that rank despite only being nine… That way led to bad memories and too much pain… far, far too much pain…

An explosion cast him back to reality, just in time to see one of the other three fighting Nanoha, the familiar-like one, get sent flying through the side of a building, shattering every window in his path, before nearly hitting him if he hadn't been paying attention. And to think, Nanoha had just learned how to change her mana into elemental-typing…

That girl's learning growth was ridiculous, it had taken a month before he could get Durandal to work properly, let alone use him well.

He darted off before the man could see him, sure he could hold his own, but he wouldn't make a difference, especially seeing as how Nanoha was manhandling three other people without even going into that Transformation of hers. The Admiral needed his aid more, pitiful as it was.

Another explosion marred the skies, then another, and another. Black, green, pink, red, white. None of the others backed down, using all their will, all of their skill, all of their strength

… And here he was, a mostly normal Mage in the middle of a battlefield of giants. He was named an Ace, but he wasn't really… he lacked the drive and will these people had for violence and killing.

That was just reality…

But…

S2U leveled itself in the direction Signum was, mana coursing through it before firing even more Stinger Snipes in her direction. They would do nothing, but maybe they'd distract for a second enough for Lindy to hit Signum.

He'd still try his damnedest, for no other sake than to make sure no one else ended up like him.

A building shattered as the Admiral missed the Knight, his projectiles being dodged with ease yet again by Signum even as she focused on Lindy and her hammer. A thought formed in his head, a stupid one, but as with many ideas that happened to work that he'd learned about, it should work even slightly better than what he was currently doing.

Gritting his teeth and praying that this would work, he wouldn't get cut to pieces and several other things, he burst into motion, rocketing straight toward Signum and the Admiral. Pulling S2U back just before he reached them, he swung as hard as he could as mana coursed through the metal yet again. Predictably, she blocked it, without even looking at him, and didn't budge an inch, he was nowhere near as strong as Lindy, or even Nanoha, even with the added strength of a prosthetic.

It wasn't immediate, but Lindy did see the opening he gave her, and swung with all her might at the Knight, green fire seeming to crackle with excitement. Yet he couldn't help but feel anxious at the lack of emotion on the woman's face, the way she calmly drew her blade from her sheathe and swung it straight into the hammer's path.

There was yet another explosion, and for the first time in a long time, he was hit with the full brunt of one, getting sent careening towards the ground before slamming into a little building.

… That… really… sucked…

Pushing himself up, and managing to toss off some of the rubble that got on him, before he immediately winced as he put pressure on his leg. Just great, yet another thing that went wrong. Gritting his teeth, in pain and annoyance both, he quickly cast Physical Heal on himself with a few chirps from S2U before flying out of the damaged building, listening to the clangs of metal nearby to find Lindy and Signum quickly.

He got out and looked at the road below him, the scene slowing to a stop as his mind struggled to take in the details of what was happening. The Knight and Admiral were both on the ground, the latter mid-swing with her flaming hammer, while the other crouched and held a bow… with an arrow of fire nocked back.

Signum's lips moved, and the arrow was released.

A roar of magic and flame shot out, straight into Lindy's chest, and straight through with ease. His breath hitched, before a scream tore from his throat.

"ADMIRAL!"

…

…

"Is that it?"

Her hammer continued its swing, Signum's eyes widening marginally in surprise before Bob connected with the hastily created shield. Infernal Impact wreaked havoc for a moment, shattering the shield like glass and sending Signum into a building, then further and further.

Bob propped her against the ground, her free hand moving to the gaping hole in her gut, heh… felt just like back when she was facing that little Anzen back on Calnarog… Only there was no one here to patch her up directly afterward…

This changed everything now… One more time, and never again.

"Bob?" "Yes, your Ladyship?" "… It's time."

A pause between them, before her Device responded, resignation in its voice.

"… Understood Lindy. Sending messages."

… Haa… she would never get to be a mother, would she? … It was getting hard to focus on peaceful thoughts, dreams and aspirations and all that… She was like Father in a way, it was why she stuck to fighting alone most of the time when it mattered. …It was hard to see right… everything going muted red…

It was best to get her Chrono and Nanoha-chan out of here… she didn't want to kill them while she wasn't right…

"Chrono! Nanoha!"

She didn't have the willpower to spare to look at either of them, but the shout got their attention considering the sounds from Nanoha and her opponents stopped… Shaking couldn't be quelled, yet she continued, even as her voice slowly lost itself.

"Get back to Nanoha's home. I-I'll be back when I deal with them.

"Bu-"

"That is an order!"

She hated having to pull that on her Chrono… It made them strained even more as Mother and Son than they already were, and Chrono would hold it against her until she made up for it.

"… Please. I don't want to hurt you."

She smiled, closing her eyes even as her body shook with all the pent-up rage welling inside her… She just wanted her Chrono safe, that was why she left him alone, that was why she was never there for him. Outside was a dangerous place, full of death and violence. She tried to end it, and she failed.

The dream of Peace had to pass on, someone would come along someday and end all the conflict in the worlds. She just hoped it wouldn't be her Chrono, he deserved better.

"Wai- Put me- ADMIRAL!"

… Nanoha-chan… thank you… Keep him safe… please? It was getting… hard to concentrate.

Everything was red.

…

"Bob… prepare memory wipe."

"Understood. I will be waiting for you."

"… I'm sorry."

The rage came slavering like a pissed off Turalen.

"Releasing all Restraints. Data destruction at 1%."

… That was the single most painful thing she'd ever experienced, even compared to having an Anzen rip a hole in her stomach.

But it was worth it to be here, sitting on a hospital bed, holding her and Clyde's little one, a boy that hopefully would look a bit like her when he grew up. It was a naïve hope, but she'd like to hold out hope that her little boy would inherit from her more than Clyde, even if that was selfish.

Around her and her little Chrono, there was a whirlwind of activity as doctors and nurses went around and around doing whatever it was they were supposed to do, and through it all, Chrono was happily sleeping in her arms. Her eyes were softer than they had ever been, full of love at the little bundle, and a gentle smile came up unbidden as he yawned. He was so little… she wondered if these feelings she had looking down at him were the ones that her Birth Mother had with her.

"My little Chrono…" Her smile grew ever so slightly upon him moving into her body more, seemingly wanting to get closer to her. "… I won't be here when you finally can talk, walk… I won't be here for any of it."

Her eyes drooped slightly as sadness entered them, even as the gentle smile never left her face. "Mommy has a lot of work to do to make this place safe for you, and Daddy does to… so you'll be living with your Aunt Lotte and Grandfather until the conflict is finally done." As gently as she could, she caressed her son's face, smiling brighter as he leaned into the touch before she leaned down and kissed him on the forehead.

"Mommy promises. Nothing will ever hurt you so long as she's here. Even if you come to hate me for being away, even if you want nothing to do with me or don't see me as your Mommy. I'll be there to protect you." The whirlwind of activity died down soon enough, no one hearing her as she whispered all those words. "Mommy's sorry. She's so very sorry." A tear slid down her face, one of the first she'd ever had, as she continued to look down at her Chrono, yet her smile still stayed at seeing her son's peaceful form.

"Just know, my little Chrono. No matter what happens, Mommy will always love you, even if she doesn't know how to show it."

… The haze lifted… She couldn't feel anything…

Dripping… something was dripping…

… Oh… it was just her…

People didn't… understand… the rage… As if you'd… actually… remember doing… anything in it…

She was… standing… Bob was… a teacup… Everything… felt numb…

… Oh… There was… another hole… in her chest…

Signum… must've hit her… again…

She couldn't… move… from her… spot…

"Lindy. I prepared you a drink."

Bob was so… thoughtful… knowing this… was her… last drink… He was… always… thoughtful…

"Thank… you…"

Her hands… drew Bob to… her lips… Tilting him… back just a… bit… Ahh…

"… It's… perfect… Can you… remember…?"

"… Yes, Lindy… Data destruction at ninety-eight percent."

"… Time… to go home...?"

… Everything… was blurry…

"Alright… that's finally fucking over. Shit that sucked worse than the crazy girl."

… Vita...? She must… have not killed… her… She wondered… did she… kill anyone… this time…?

"I-I still can't find the core!"

"Wh- What do you mean you can't find it! She's standing still! It has to be in her somewhere!"

There was… Shamal...? Core…?

They were… talking… Still looking… for her core...? Ha… ha…

Like she'd… let them… take it… and hurt her… Chrono…

She knew… what… it did…

… Remilia… her brother… in-law… was the last… Master…

"Data destruction at ninety-nine percent. Goodnight, my Ladyship. Your Teahammer will be waiting for you."

"Thank… you… Bob… I'll see… you soon…"

… Everything… was numb… Everything… was blurry…

Her foot… slid forward… her hand… opened…

"No… No! Don't you fucking dare!"

Her… Linker Core… dull and… sputtering… rested… there…

Her hand… started… closing…

"Stop!"

"Vita no!"

Vita… was afraid… Her hand… closed…

Her Core… was… crushed…

…

"Data destruction complete. Device designated Bob terminated."

…

Bob… slipped from… her fingers…

…

… She… fell… Eyes… closed…

…

'… Chrono…I'm… Sorry…'

… No… more… fighting…

…

'… Clyde… I'm… home…'

…

Rain fell, mourning for someone, showing the tears that couldn't be shed by that person.

The mood at home was as somber as the rain, even she could tell, Chrono-san had retreated into himself and was just sitting next to the forge he set up, disregarding the rain, Harlaown-sama's crew meanwhile were just going through the motions of life. Chrono-san had ripped himself out of her grasp when they landed, even she could tell he was pissed, certainly at her and probably at Harlaown-sama as well. Not that she blamed him…

Harlaown-sama hadn't come back yet… it was almost an hour now. She should have been back by now.

"Hmm?"

Razing Heart's voice sounded in her head, making her look down at the little black jewel at her neck instead of out into the dreary weather from her Dojo. Her head tilted slightly for a moment before she pulled Razing Heart off from around her neck and asked for her curiosity. "What's happened?" There was a chime and another note of deliberation from her Device, before

"It's a message from someone that doesn't want to be messaged back, considering I tried to find where the Device was. Shall I play it for you, my Seraph?"

Her head tilted to the side in confusion… messages could be sent between Devices? Granted she knew it was possible to talk between two Devices… so it kind of made sense that messages could be sent, but it was still a bit strange. Regardless… not like a single message could hurt her in anyway.

"Ohayo Gozaimasu Nanoha-chan! … I think that's how it's supposed to be said anyway." Her smile brightened at Lindy's voice, her mind immediately jumping to a conclusion as words were about to be made, up until Harlaown-sama continued. "Whatever, if you're getting this message, it means I'm dead~."

Words died, her thoughts halted, and the rain went quiet to her at the cheerful tone announcing that. "Now, it's a bit of my fault for not keeping you on a shorter leash, or however you want to word it, but pretty much you're the reason I'm dead." She killed Harlaown-sama? "Honestly, was it worth so much to you try and kill Vita?" … She killed Harlaown-sama with her vendetta against the Hammer Knight…

"Well whatever, I guess. You did what you did, and nobody can change what happened." … Nothing changes the past… even if they wanted to… She understood that now… "Honestly, I'm just surprised I lived this long. It was nice being able to enjoy some peace and quiet for a while… haven't gotten to do that since… I can't even remember!" Why was Lindy-san so… cheerful about this? It was like she had met her Hero as a Monster and was content with the result of the fight. And why was she surprised to even be alive at this point?

"Nanoha-chan… Even though I'm dead, can I ask a favor of you?" … For everything Lindy-san gave her with only Room and Board as the price, and the fact that she was responsible for killing her employer… there was nothing that she wouldn't do to pay her back. "… Make sure my Chrono survives. Make sure he can have a Wife and some kids, and… make sure he doesn't go too far. The blood of Aces is in him, and possibly a bit of me..."

She would, Lindy-san… until they were safe and nothing else was going to happen, she would protect him, reign him in, anything to ensure his protection until it was over. "Ah, I'm rambling now, sorry about that." It was fine… It was fine Lindy-san. "Oh yeah… there's a girl who's… 'in charge' of Signum and the rest. She's not aware of anything going on between us and them so… keep it away from her if you can. If it's possible… make sure she survives this. Don't make any promises about that though, just try your hardest alright."

… She couldn't promise anything, not after the night's events… but for Lindy-san, she'd try, even if it led to death. Anything for the woman she failed. Regardless of every thought she'd had, Lindy continued on, cheerful again after the morose parts. "Well, almost to the battlefield where you are now, and Chrono's almost caught up. Hopefully this message doesn't get sent… but I doubt it. If this is the last time you hear my voice… Goodbye, Nanoha-chan, take care!" Goodbye… Lindy-san. Take care.

With the end of the message, she brought her legs up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them while her head pressed down. She didn't move, she didn't speak, she just… wallowed. It was her fault. All her fault, and no one would convince her otherwise.

Her Device's voice cut through her melancholy, not having an ounce of negativity in it, nor any positivity either. "That was the end of the message my Seraph. Shall I delete it?" She didn't even spend a moment thinking about it, immediately having known what she was going to do with it after the reason of the message was shown.

"No… Keep it." Razing Heart sounded off an agreement before going quiet and leaving her alone for the time being. The message would be a reminder of failure, one to always remember and attempt to grow from. Now was the time to beat herself over with that fact… Tomorrow she wouldn't let herself be consumed by it, nor the many days after…

She had been wrong. A message could hurt her, much worse than having her heart torn out or breaking everything in her body... There was no description she could give that accurately showed the pain, so she wouldn't try. She'd just sit her, wallowing until someone came and got her…

She failed… She got Lindy-san killed…

The rain continued to fall, harder than before.

The rain started as they arrived to Nanoha's home.

He wrenched himself out of Nanoha's grasp the moment they landed, stalking over to his forge without a word and tried to start the thing up before gritting his teeth and stalking off when the rain refused to allow him any relaxation. First it was Nanoha, then it was the Admiral, then Nanoha again, and now even Nature wanted to make his day miserable.

With clenched hands and gritted teeth, he sat on the edge of Miyuki's dojo, angrily awaiting the moment Lindy came back.

An hour passed, and while he was still rightly pissed off, a hint of worry started to creep up. Lindy should have been back by now. Sure she was a bit… lax when it came to anything resembling proper conduct, but she was at least punctual when she was done with stuff.

Whistling caught him by surprise without warning, startling him before his hand got S2U out with practiced ease. Dread filled him as he heard even more whistles, and S2U played the message that he just received.

It was Lindy… and for all that him thinking that she was punctual and all… no relief came from it, just more dread… The messages for earlier… "Heya Chrono… I've already made one other message, and I still have Nanoha's to make, so I'll keep it brief…" That voice… there was none of the usual life to it, just resignation… that wasn't the Admiral he knew.

"Sorry Chrono… Mommy's not coming home today."

He didn't hear anything else after that, mind shutting down in response to those words… so very similar to ones he'd heard a long time ago. The Admiral knew she wasn't coming back.

Gritting his teeth, he clenched his hand even as S2U quietly hit the ground.

That idiot…

Of course she gets herself killed on the 'mission' before she retires. Just like…

…

With a sigh, his anger left him as his body just started shaking. He pulled his legs up to his chest, wrapping his arms around them and hoping he'd be able to do what a normal person should do…

He was mistaken.

He shook, but tears never fell down his face. He shook, but he barely felt any grief for Mother…

It was just like with Father all over again.

He ignored S2U's chirps of concern, he ignored the world around him. He just focused on the fact that he couldn't grief for his own dam-

Without warning he felt arms wrap themselves around him, gentle and meant to comfort, a body then proceeding to lean against him as a voice whispered into his ear. "It hurts, doesn't it?" Miyuki…

"It always hurts to lose someone you're supposed to love. The pain dulls but never fades." She continued to hold him and whisper some truth she'd learned in the past… it felt nice to be hugged again… Mother never had the chance to do it aside from the one time when life forced him to be an Ace. And Father...

She didn't say anything else, nor did he give a reply, her likely because she was waiting for him to reply or she was done saying what she had to, him… he needed to think on what he wanted to say. So they stood in the rain, silent with him trying to wrestle with the emotions in his chest and finding words. Eventually she ended her hug, getting up and walking away without another word, humming gently with a gentleness that was unnatural.

"I was never… close with my Mother... She was always out, fighting for a dream that she and my Father shared before he died, I didn't even know what that dream was until now. I was raised by my Grandfather and his familiar, and never met my Mother before I graduated from the academy on Mid-Childa."

Miyuki had stopped. She hadn't turned around nor said anything, but she had stopped, even from where he could see from the corner of his eye. He didn't get up to move toward her, nor did he fully turn to her, instead looking straight into the dreary outside, it would've been pointless.

"I met a few people before then. I think I made a friend or two, I'm not entirely sure except for Amy. Most of them didn't take kindly to a kid doing better than them in everything, even if he was the son of Aces and grandson to the Fleet Admiral."

"Didn't… really connect with people. I never knew how to interact with them, or gauge what the proper response was in conversations or interactions, except for Amy… but she was a special case." Truly, being born as he had been made him worse than a normal human… He never acted like a human to begin with, he barely understood how to socialize or pick apart what a person felt like. That was one of the reasons he preferred the solitude of machines, they made sense, even when they grew up.

"The Graduation… worst moment of my life, and I'd rather not talk about it." Miyuki didn't say anything, though she did start walking back, giving a hum that he took to mean acceptance and to continue, "Needless to say, me and Amy went off together with Lindy, both of us a bit… broken after that ordeal."

"I got inducted into the Navy, and off I went with a Mother that I had never known, nor one that I could actually consider able to be a mother, let alone mine. She was whimsical, never took anything seriously in all the time I knew her in six years, grating on my nerves whenever we met face to face. And aside from that one time, she never had any family moments with me, it was always just business, Enforcer to Admiral. Subordinate and Superior."

Nothing could bring them together. She was raised on one of the worst worlds to exist, while he was raised in a relatively safe place. He only wanted to create things, and never have to fight, she exulted in the thrill of fighting. Really, you'd never know they were even related, unless you knew their names.

"Always… always it was one of the crew looking after me because she was either drunk on tea off-duty, us not seeing eye to eye when she was sober, or we both were hyper-focused on whatever mission was taking place. It's not like the crew didn't do a good job… though they did a barely passable one, but I had hoped for more… love or at least affection from her."

He'd have liked to know what it felt like to be loved, one more time.

"… I would have liked to know what having a parent was like, for just one hour. Maybe then I'd shed a tear for her."

More humming came from behind him, before he felt pressure on his head. Was Miyuki… petting him? He jerked himself away from the unexpected gesture, a hug was fine, petting was just weird, especially from a person his age… he looked like a kid, but he sure as hell was older than he looked… like that Fate girl.

… Oh that was going to pleasant to deal with now.

"We have a bit in common then, Chrono-kun." Miyuki speaking with a bit of amusement in her voice snapped him out of preparing for that clusterfuck in the making. And with that said her amusement was gone, replaced with sadness of some sort, what exactly, he didn't know. "We've both felt loss, never got what we wanted and are both broken in some way," Her tone turned wistful and regretful at the same time in a moment, startling him slightly at the swift change. "Though unfortunately… there is no War for me to die in as I want."

Regret left her voice as quickly as it had come, leaving only the wistful remembrance behind as she continued. "There was happiness and laughter, there were many, many people around, there was Okaa-san and Otou-san talking to Tou-sama and Kaa-sama, and there was me playing with Kyōya-kun… And after that was Fire. Fire that burned and consumed, there was pain… there was Fire doing as it was meant to do."

"Okaa-san… I saw her burn away in front of me. Tou-sama came and saved me from the Fire shortly after. I see Fire in my dreams, and it is as beautiful as the dying trees giving one last performance. Kaa-sama and what remained of her family found the men who burned everything away. They murdered them, slowly and painfully… and after that little Nanoha-chan was born." All of this said with reverence and contentment that unnerved him, just from the sake that she glorified a tragedy and its effect on her.

Miyuki paused for the sake of, presumably, letting him wrap his head around what she'd said, or how she said it… he couldn't rightly tell. Regardless, once she apparently deemed it to where he was ready… which he wasn't. "The Fire. I like the Fire, it was beautiful, stunning and tickled my skin to black… it gave me its marks, left designs on me and gave me something special in exchange for something precious. Do you know what it gave me?"

He thought for mere moments, trying to understand this broken young woman holding him, and attempting to comfort him. Quickly he concluded he couldn't understand her reasons, being far more broken than him, and settled with shaking his head slowly with a muttered 'no'. "It gave me perspective and love for someone I never would have." … He… could understand it somewhat… but… "I consider it a fair trade."

… He… didn't know how to react to what Miyuki said at all. He had a hard enough time with normal people, an actual person as screwed up as him, or close anyway? That was a recipe for disaster.

Thankfully he didn't have to, as she started humming shortly after she was finished, swaying in time with contentment etched into her very being. It was hard to connect the girl who helped him for no reason, the girl who would take time out of her day just to spend time with him of all people, with the girl who just admitted to… not enjoying what made her this way, but something close enough.

… Eventually, after a minute of just her gentle humming and the pattering rain, he gathered himself up enough to prepare for something that wouldn't end well. He was hoping, very much so, that this would go well, but given everything that happened, and his own rather poor relation with Nanoha, this was likely to be doomed.

Regardless of that, he got to his feet, Miyuki stopping her humming and getting up right after he started, waiting quietly for him to say what he was about to say. "I need to talk with your sister." The gentle smile was still there as she took his hand and led him off into the rain somewhere.

Unnoticed, the storm roaring within the place between Worlds subsided after months of rage at being broken open. And with its end, came something much smaller, less beautiful, and far more violent than it, dropping besides a corpse of a ship, functional yet abandoned, and dwarfing said ship with its enormity.

AN: Were you expecting a happy ending? That's not how Reality works.
Life's been... annoying, for lack of better word, Keep getting ideas for other things, and not what I needed to finish this chapter. Hopefully the next one will take less time... but, college is hell, life is hell, and I am of unsound mind currently with an event that is known with what is below. I hope that everyone that reads this, has had a better time than I, that is my only solace at the moment.

Addendum: In memory of my Pup, who died today. May her soul find her siblings in the meadows and frolick without any cares or pain.