One of 3 fics written for launch the ship on dreamwidth. YuNaFa OT3, i am also a member of NanoFei Nation so be quiet :P
"Do you remember?"
Nanoha hadn't meant to speak at all; Yuuno, glasses askew, was dozing against Fate's shoulder while she watched the sky, and Nanoha didn't want to wake him. But the sight of the two of them curled together under the blanket filled her with such tenderness the words just came out, however softly.
Fate looked a bit sleepy too, blinking cutely at Nanoha wedging herself into the corner of the window seat, next to them. "Remember what? Thank you," she added, shifting carefully to accept the mug of hot chocolate from the tray Nanoha had brought back.
"How this started. You know, us." It seemed silly now that she had said it, so Nanoha sipped from her own mug to hide any embarrassment.
She remembered. How Yuuno was her first friend, her first crush, and how Fate was her first... everything. Yuuno drifting away more and more but always in her mind, Fate always pulling her back to their families, her fondness for Yuuno ever present.
She remembered inner turmoil somewhere along that timeline, but not what came of it. Yuuno and Fate seemed to dissolve that turmoil over and over so she never had to voice it, each in their own way, until seemingly all of a sudden, her duet with Fate became a trio with Yuuno.
She had just swallowed a drink of cocoa when Fate said, "We asked you out."
Heart jolting, Nanoha inhaled carefully, managing not to cough. "You what? No, I-I don't think that's..."
Fate's ruby eyes glimmered. "It is, really. We'd long since forged a friendship and a sort of truce, and obviously you loved me, so we took a gamble." She smiled, and then drank from her mug.
"Why don't I remember that...?" Mildly distressed, she sipped more and more cocoa until her mug was empty.
"Because you live in the present? Maybe." Yuuno stirred, stretching his arms out of the blanket with a gentle yawn.
"Clever," Fate murmured. "Have you been eavesdropping the whole time?"
"I heard something about our friendship," he said, slinging an arm around Fate and smiling disarmingly. "And then I smelled cocoa."
Nanoha handed the third mug to Yuuno, then squiggled over to lean on Fate.
"Wait, wait," Yuuno said, setting his mug down. "This won't do at all!"
Much laughter, rearranging and untangling later, Yuuno retrieved his mug and placed his chin on Nanoha's shoulder where she sat in Fate's lap, the blanket enveloping her once more. "Better," he announced. Then he slurped from his mug right next to her ear.
"Yuuno-kun!" she squawked (along with Fate), giggling.
"Pardon me," he said in a very unapologetic tone, sitting up properly.
"It's a good thing you're so cute." This from Fate, giving Yuuno a hair-ruffle just shy of a noogie.
"Which reminds me..." Nanoha tucked her legs underneath her. "Was there ever a moment when you two realized you felt more than friendship?" With Fate, it had been classic: that mental lightning bolt throwing their relationship into a new light, something Nanoha truly had to confess because no other way seemed equal in magnitude to the realization. With Yuuno-and-Fate, just like Yuuno-and-Fate with her, she couldn't pinpoint a singular moment.
Her pulse skittered as Fate leaned to kiss the edge of Yuuno's mouth and he snuggled into her. "Well, we both loved you... "
"Even though it took me a little longer to realize it," said Yuuno, blushing.
"Right," Fate said, laughing warmly. "I had to help out with that." Then she looked back at Nanoha, still smiling. "I guess we love you so much that it led to us falling in love too."
"Oh, gosh..." Her bashful laugh that the other two called cute, the one that she was still sometimes self-conscious of, slipped out. Fate's answer felt so true, so tender, that she didn't at all know how to handle it.
"Nanoha..."
She leaned into Yuuno's lips on her cheek, sighing as Fate's hand slid through her hair.
"You don't have to worry," he said. "What does it matter if you don't remember every moment with perfect clarity? We all love each other, and that's enough."
"I was curious," she whispered, voice made soft by Yuuno's in her ear.
"But not just curious," Fate said.
Of course they were right. "Thank you…" Her heart felt lighter, though she hadn't realized it had been heavy. "You always know just what to say."
"I try my best," they both said.
She smiled.
They were a few minutes into the group hug that Yuuno started when a bright light formed in the sky.
"Shooting star," Nanoha exclaimed, getting an arm out from the blanket to point a bit too late.
"Shh, I'm wishing," said Yuuno.
Nanoha shut her eyes and wished too.
"There's another one...!" Fate's voice was awestruck.
"My wish was so small, I don't think I have another one."
Yuuno laughed softly. "Me neither."
"Oh? And why is that?" Fate asked in her "I know but I want to hear you say it" tone.
Nanoha giggles at Yuuno, who hugs Fate so fiercely he almost knocks both of them over. " Because, Fate-chan! Because I have everything I could ever want right here. Right, Yuuno-kun?"
"Precisely," he said, ruffling her hair the way Fate had done to him. "Although," he added over her squeaks, "I could use some more hot chocolate..."
Nanoha agreed, and she heard Fate agree too. But she stayed in Fate's lap, and Fate's arms stayed around her, and Yuuno didn't move an inch.
In the end, they made more hot chocolate in the morning.