Hey there! Yes, I did say Friday, but...stuff happened. Anyway you'll be pleased to know that this chapter is almost three times the previous. Yay! Anyway:

Random89: yeah, I am putting Vivio in. (Laughs evilly)

So sorry about the lateness. Enjoy

Teana POV

"Cross Mirage." Fake silhouette.

The illusions run ahead of us, drawing the attention of the drones away from us.

"Come on!" I grab Subaru's hand and we run in the opposite direction. The building shakes a little from the force of the battle outside. I had only caught a glimpse of the chaos. Bolts and streams of magic criss-crossing the battle field. "Here!" I pull Subaru back as she runs past the designated door.

The communications room is huge. Subaru let's out a low whistle. We make our way to the central mainframe. I plug in my device as Subaru stands watch. I slowly relax as the progress bar passes the half-way mark. Then we hear a sound. The sound of footsteps. We exchange glances. Enemies.

"Come on, come on. Faster." I glare at the progress bar. 89%. The door slides open again, admitting ten drones. Subaru calls up a barrier just in time, but the force of ten combined attacks push her back into the wall. I hear a small beep. Glancing down, I see tThe progress bar at 100%. I snatch it away and dive to the side, narrowly avoiding the new burst of magic from the drones.

"Divine Buster!" Subaru shot past her, taking down two drones. I ran through the break in their ranks. Subaru had turned, ready to take down more. I grab the back of her barrier jacket.

"Not now, Baka!" As I speak, thirty more drones enter the room along with some mages.

"Uh oh." she quickly turns and runs with me out of the room.

We duck down a passage in effort to at least lose some drones, but they follow close behind. "Wing Road?" I ask Subaru, dodging a shot that flies over my head. She shakes her head.

"Not enough space. I need open space to be able to work it," she pants.

"Not much of that now." I comment.

"We're almost there! I can use it when we get out," she gasps. I look up to see that she's right. The doors loom ahead of us. Suddenly, a large burst of energy sends us flying through the steel doors. I glimpse the blue sky and then the green grass as I face plant in the dirt, sprawling awkwardly. Subaru groans next to me. Forcing myself to look up, I see a mage bearing down on us. I brace for the attack.

Sonic Move.

Fate blurs into view in front of us and parries the blow with a yellow bladed scyth, sending him stumbling back. Arc Saber. Half the drones that followed us are destroyed.

"Vice is there!" she jerks her head in the direction. "Use Wing Road and get up there. Don't stop!" She yells, raising a gloved hand. Yellow energy started to gather. Igrab Subaru off the ground.

"Let's go!" She nods, dazed. Looking around, I realise the area is filled with drones and mages. The ground is littered with piles of smoking metal. Subaru lifts me up.

"Wing Road!" she yelled. We barrel forward as she holds me close. Despite the situation, I blushed a little. The blue road tilts upwards. Straight to Vice. Drones move to stop us.

"Don't attack!" I warn Subaru. She looks confused, but continues forward. The drones close in...

"Plasma Lancer!" Fate's voice rings out. Suddenly the air around us crackles, sizzling with electricity. The drones plummet to the ground, barely recognisable. We speed straight through the smoke. Tumbling inside the helicopter, Vice immediately pulls the copter away from the battle.

"Take care of the drones, will you, Teana?" Vice says casually. I edge down to edge of the still-open ramp. Five drones are tailing us.

"Cross Fire Shoot!" I take them down easily.

"What about Fate-San?" Subaru questions. Vice laughs.

"Just wrapping things up." As he speaklight an arc of lightning crashes into the battlefield. Even 5 miles away I can feel the heat on my face. The stunning bright light blinds me. Somewhere behind, Subaru gasps. I knew she was good, but she was beyond that. She was an Ace.

As quickly as it came, the light disappears. The rumble of thunder that follows deafens my eardrums. I stumble back in surprise as Fate appears next to me.

"Good job," she grin at me, clapping a hand on my shoulder. "Vice." He raises the ramp. As it closed, I couldn't help glancing back. A plume of smoke rose above the trees. For me to be able to do that...

"That was amazing, Fate-San!" Subaru exclaims. She rubs her head sheepishly.

"Not really. Hayate is way better. And Nanoha." Unconsciously, my fist clenches.

Subaru POV

"Tea, wake up!" I shake her shoulder. She's been tossing and tuning ever since I woke up.

"Huh?" She finally opens her eyes.

"Were you having a nightmare?" I ask, worried. She shakes her head. Getting up, she heads for the bathroom. "Um, Tea?" She looks back. Taking a deep breath, I continue. "I know something is bothering you. So can you tell me? I want to help you. Please. We're partners, right?"

She doesn't reply, walking into the bathroom and locking the door. I sit down, crestfallen.

I really want to help her. But maybe I should get Nanoha-san's help. Or should I just let her work it out? I'm so confused. I sigh, staring up at the ceiling.

What do I do?

Teana POV

I lock the door and lean my back against it.

After what I saw yesterday...the absolute power they have... Even with all my practice, I'm nowhere near anyone here's level. Maybe I should just give up. It's so hard for someone normal like me to excel. But Subaru offered to help. If I take her offer...I might be able to prove myself to Nanoha. I feel like I've let her down since the incident at Hotel Augusta. But I should do this by myself... Tiida, I wish you could tell me what to do.

Hayate POV

I stare at the diagrams, reading the information over and over again.

"Dammit!"I swear loudly, glaring at the screen.

"Meister?" Reinforce Zwei asked worriedly, looking up from her miniature sized desk.

"Nothing, Rein. Just a particularly hard...situasion. Wow, that sounds wrong."

"I thought you were on break now?" Rein questions, puzzled.

"Hmmm? Oh, this is something else." I tap the screen thoughtfully. If I send Yuuno back to the Infinity Library...no, Nanoha will suspect something...if I put the two of them on a mission...no, Nanoha will definitely see something wrong...

"Oh, yeah, Gen-san was asking if Ginga was going to transfer here soon." Rein adds.

"Not yet," I say absently. Wait a minute... Ginga? I groan and bury my head in my arms. And if it wasn't bad enough... I lift my head, pressing two fingers to my forehead. What do I do?

Fate POV

"And what are you doing here?" I ask her. She shrugs.

"Same thing as you."

"This is my room," I remind her. "

"This is my base." she spreads her arms out, gesturing to, well, everything.

"Yeah, but this. Is. My. Room. Go back to your own."

"Well someone's grumpy." she throws an arm around my shoulders. I shrug her off.

"I'm tired, Hayate."

"So am I." I raise an eyebrow.

"You don't sound tired."

"Sound can be deceiving."

"Suuuure."

"That smells delicious, by the way." she nods at the food I'm making.

"Smell can be deceiving."

"Hahaha. Very funny." I grin.

"I know I am."

"As I was saying," she clings to me, "the usual cook of my room, namely Shamal, is gone. And we both know Signum can't boil water and Vita gets mad when she can't reach the shelves."

"How about Zafira?" She stares at me.

"Zafira," she enunciates, "Is a dog."

"Wolf." She rolls her eyes.

"Same difference. Anyway, for a person who only looks Italian, you cook Italian pretty well."

"Thank you, but you're still not getting this."

"Phooey." Silence reigned for a brief moment as she unlatches herself from me and wanders around the room. I glance up from my cooking once in a while, keeping a close eye on her. I hear her walk upstairs.

"Hayate, you'd better not be going through my closet again!"

"...Not promising anything!" Grumbling to myself, I start pouring out the sauce. "Hey, Fate?"

"Hmm?" I sprinkle the cheese.

"Do you remember when you first started doing this?"

"I can't see you. I don't know what your pointing at."

"The piano." Closing my eyes, I rest my hands on the table.

It had begun, as all things had in that time, because of Nanoha. Everything the girl did influenced her. So it was no surprise that when she saw how much Nanoha loved music, that she longed to be able to create some.

Growing up in the Garden of Time, Fate did not have much experience with music. The little she knew was from Alicia's memories passed to her. She knew only a hazy comprehension of the term. It was only when she was adopted by Lindy that she came face to face with it. And it was only in a recital by Suzuka and Arisa that she realised how much it was appreciated by Nanoha. The look of wonder on her face, her blue eyes bright and that smile... It took Fate a week to stop being jealous of Arisa and Suzuka.

And several weeks more thinking of how to learn music. The obvious thing would be to ask Lindy-san to sign her up for lessons. But she felt awkward asking her for it. She was also embarrassed of wanting to learn merely to impress Nanoha. As a result, she was in a daze for those weeks, struggling with the urge to impress Nanoha.

It was only a month later, after school that an opportunity appeared. It was late. The hallways were empty. Nanoha wasn't there, having gone to help out at Midoriya. As for Fate...she had had a meeting. She hesitated outside the music room. Now or never. She entered the room, pulling the door shut.

'What am I doing?' she asked herself. She felt ridiculous, holding the violin in one hand and the bow in the other. 'This is stupid. I don't even know how to hold it.' She shook her head, placing it back in it's case. 'I should go before Kaa-san gets worried.' She remained rooted in place. After all, this was what she'd been waiting for for a month. 'I might as well try.'

Her gaze landed on the piano. It was in the corner, slightly dusty and ragged. By themselves, her feet crossed the room, and soon, she was standing in front of the instrument. She ran her hand across the dusty surface for a moment before hesitantly pulling back the lid. 'This should be easier. I just need to press-' She pushed down a random key. She jumped back, looking around guiltily as the soft note echoed across the room. When the last traces of sound subsided, she approached the intimidating opaque object again.

Noticing a worn book on the top, she picked it up. It's title read 'Piano: Grade 1'. She flipped it open. Absorbing the contents of the first few pages, she reached out again, cautiously. With the book in her left hand, she pressed down the most basic key with her index finger. Experimenting with other notes, she felt a strange feeling fill her. Eyes back to the book, she pulled out the stool with her right hand. Sitting down, she played the simple tune in the book. She smiled happily when she got it right after a mere three tries. Excitement. She tried out other tunes written in the book, sometimes with her left hand. Each time she got it perfectly right, the excitement grew.

At last, she turned the page to find nothing more. It surprised her. Even though it was a thin book, surely she couldn't have finished it so fast? Looking up, she gasped. The room was cloaked in darkness. In the distance was a mere speck of the last light of day. It was amazing she had been able to read the book. Jumping up, she closed the lid and pushed back the stool. Dropping the book, she ran out. A smile grew on her face as she raced home until she was grinning madly by the time she reached home.

"What are you so happy about?" Chrono asked as she passed by him. "Nothing nii-chan!" she replied happily. "Hmm.." Before he could say more, his mother appeared. "Fate! Where have you been? It's so late!" She scolded gently. "Sorry Kaa-san. I got caught up with something." Lindy frowned and looked about to rebuke her for the worry she caused until she noticed the bright smile on her adopted daughter's face. It surprised her to say the least. She had yet to see Fate smile as cheerfully as she was now. So she merely smiled. 'It's good that she can finally smile like that.' Lindy was not unaware of Fate's scars, both physical and mental.

"Alright, just don't disappear like that again. Get ready for dinner. We waited for you." The blonde nodded happily. "Alright, Kaa-san!"

"Fate!" I blinked, realising Hayate was calling me. "I didn't want you to flashback! I just asked if you remembered or not. Geez," Hayate teased from the second floor.
"Mmm.." I sprinkle the rest of the cheese and place the lasagne in the oven. Washing my hands, I make my way upstairs. She's sitting at the edge of the bed, facing the piano. "Of course I do."
She chuckled. Opening her mouth she said "So do I-" her stomach growled, interrupting her. I shake my head and offer a hand to her.
"C'mon. I made some for you."
"Yay!" she exclaims, launching herself at me. "I loooove yoooou!" I side step and she lands on the floor. As I walk to the stairs, she springs up again. "Fate~" she whines. "Why are you so cruel?"

I nod absently, not really listening. Remembering that made me think of her again. I really want to be close to her again. But is that even possible after what I did? Even I still haven't forgiven myself. Maybe I should just stop trying. But...I can't stop thinking about her. What do I do?

Nanoha POV

I relax, sipping my drink. Yuuno stands behind me, massaging my shoulders gently. We talk, laughing and enjoying ourselves. He stops massaging me and takes a seat in front of me, picking up his own drink. Fate would have sat beside me. I shake my head to get rid of the thought.

"So, how are the forwards? Making good progress?"

"Mmm... It's just that Teana's worrying me."

"How so?" He shifts in his seat and leans forward.

"She's practicing more and more lately. Too much, in fact."

"Surely training is a good thing?" He asks.

"Not if it runs you to the ground." I point out. That's right. Yuuno doesn't know much about this stuff.

"So," he asks, in a lull in the conversation. "How are you and Fate getting along? You were talking to her the other day."

"I can't talk to her?" He smiles.

"I'm just saying it's good that you two are making up." I shrug.

"We weren't talking about much, just the forwards. She's as worried about Teana as I am." He laughs.

"All you two ever seem to talk about is work. You guys should relax more. Hayate included."

"It's part if being an Ace. Anyway, I'm relaxing now, aren't I?"

"You are." He agrees. He leans forward and takes my hands. Kissing my cheek, he rubs my hands soothingly. "It really is good to see you talking to her again. I can tell it's been stressing you out." He murmurs softly. I nod. Why does everyone want me make up with Fate? After all she did... That was in the past, though. She regrets doing that. Regret doesn't change what she did. I sigh.

What do I do?

Howwas it? Anyway, the next chapter should be the last Teana one. I don't know when I'll update next though. Anyway, you know the drill. More reviews, less wait time.

Ps: If anyone can guess where I got the quote 'What do I do? What do I do?' I'll update even faster. It's from a cartoon. It is said by a dog. And the name of the show is C_ ._._._._._.~the~C_._._._._._._.~dog. That's a pretty big hint.