Transcending Love
- Chapter Two –

"Alicia…"

I must be hallucinating and that it just could not be true, because I was there with her when she took her last breath. I was there when she was lowered beneath the ground.

I was there from the beginning until the very end.

I truly must be dreaming and all that that had happened; that I had experienced and gone through was just a delusion. I reached out my hand, wanting to touch her face, to feel her warmth, and partly to prove to myself that the person standing in front of me was real. My fingers had almost grazed her cheek when she spoke, stopping my notion of contact.

"I'm sorry but I'm not the person that you speak of." Her voice was of a deep and soft alto. There was an unmistakable tinge of stiffness in her tone and I quickly withdrew my hand. Ashamed of my actions, I lowered my gaze to my feet. I felt like laughing at myself for being foolish that I had almost wished for her to be the person from the past that I could never escape from.

"Are you alright?" Shamal asked, concern and worry evident in her voice.

"Y-yeah, I-I'm fine." I cringed at my own stammering and disbelief that a stranger could unnerve me so easily. Taking a deep breath, I willed myself to calm down and faced the blond newcomer once again. "I'm sorry I got carried away. You look like a person that I used to know."

The woman tilted her head slightly. "You must miss that person a lot. Is she…" I must be mistaken but her ruby coloured eyes seemed to hold a glint of knowing as she continued to speak, "Close to you?"

Her eyes held onto mine with indescribable intensity. I felt a sudden rush of overwhelming, uncanny familiarity from her entire being that I could no longer look at her in the face without envisioning her as the woman that haunted me through sleepless nights all over again. I shook the feelings off with a wave of my hand, "She was, but it's all in the past."

The blond haired woman hummed in reply and we both looked away to find other interesting things to stare at. The uncomfortable atmosphere was finally broken with a slight cough from Shamal.

"Well, that was awkward but I'm glad that it has passed." Shamal moved closer to the taller blond and locked arms with her. "I guess an introduction is in due," She placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. "This is Fate Harlaown, my fiancée."

Fate held out her hand toward me. "Nice to meet you."

I clasped my hand with hers and tried to ignore how soft her hand felt, how long her fingers were and how right it felt in my own. "Pleasure's all mine. I am the wedding planner that Shamal hired, Takamachi-"

"-Nanoha." Fate finished for me. I stared at her. She had said it with such casualness that I was beginning to question her identity; she knew who I was despite the fact that it was our initial meeting. I must have conveyed my thoughts through staring at her because Fate looked away almost immediately. "I've heard Shamal speak of you before."

The shorter blonde blinked. "I have? Because I don't seem to recall that I..."

"You did." It was a somewhat curt retort and Fate apologized at once for it. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to say it the way I did. Remember the time back at our dorm? You mentioned Nanoha during one of your sleepovers."

"Our sleepovers," Shamal corrected with a pout. "Now that you mentioned it, I do remember myself talking about Nanoha one night. And you," She mock slapped Fate's arm, "You left me talking to myself halfway through. Until now you still haven't explained why you were upset all of a sudden that night."

Fate glanced at me briefly before looking away. "Well, that's history now. It's insignificant anyway." A light hue of pink graced her cheeks. She was obviously embarrassed for some reason and moved her fingers to pinch the bridge of her nose.

An image of a shy and nervous young golden haired girl doing the same action flashed through my mind. How two different people can look and have the same, similar actions when discomfited fascinated me. I was growing more and more curious about this woman named Fate Harlaown.

A buzzing sound brought me back from my reverie. "Sorry, it's mine," Fate said as she fished out a black and gold cell phone from the side pocket of her woollen trench coat. She flipped open the gadget and stared at the screen before turning back to Shamal and myself. "Please excuse me. I have to return to my office." She gave a quick kiss on Shamal's cheek and said, "I know I said that I could spend the rest of the day with you but I really have to go. It's urgent. I'll call you as soon as I'm done." She walked toward the entrance of the café as she answered the call. "Harlaown. Yes… Yes, I do have it in my office. It's in the…"

Shamal continued to look in Fate's direction until she was out of sight and sighed. "Well, that's Fate. Always busy. Everyone just seems to want a moment of her time. Such a workaholic, she is."

I shook my head at her comment and giggled. "That's something that you will have to get used to once you two tied the knots." I gestured to our forgotten cups of coffee. "Shall we? We do have been standing for quite some time. My legs are starting to complain, aren't yours?"

It was Shamal's turn to shake her head at me. "How out of shape you are. I'll have you know that in my line of work, the speed of how fast our legs can carry us is crucial to the lives of our patients. Do you need me to show you how toned my legs are?"

I raised both palms at her. "Spare me, please."

We laughed and returned back to our seats. I toyed with a few conversation points, which I realized that all of them involved Fate. More importantly, I wanted to know more about their history. I played with my teaspoon for a while before I spoke again. "So, how did you and Fate know each other?"

Shamal smiled, her face soft and gentle. "We met back in the University. She was a junior then, and we happened to be in the same class – drawing class. I noticed she was always alone, looking out the window with a wistful expression. I thought perhaps she was lonely and so I wanted to, you know, be her friend. One day, I finally brought out the courage to speak to her and our relationship just started from there. Like the typical friends to lovers kind of thing." She paused and stirred her cup of coffee. Then she sighed. "But she always seemed so distant. Sometimes I do wonder if she's troubled but by what I don't know. Until today, I still can't get her to open up." She stopped stirring her coffee and picked up the cup and took a sip. She put down her cup and stared out the window. "But I love her."

I could not think of any words to say after hearing what she had said, reason being that I felt a strong sense of melancholy from her. Perhaps things were not going as well as she wanted them to be. We spent the next few minutes in silence, just watching the people walking on the streets outside the window. Involuntarily, my mind began to wander back to the mysterious blonde. I would not deny the fact that the woman had piqued my interest. And after the conversation with Shamal, I wanted to know more about her - like what was on her mind all this while that even her soon to be spouse did not know about. Even though she strangely resembled Alicia, the fact that it was the first time we met still stands. So why do I feel that I had known her for a long time now?

Fate Harlaown, just who are you?


Author's note: Thank you to the readers who had reviewed the first chapter. It's been a long time. I apologize for the wait. I hope you will still support this story. I will continue to do my best.