Ok, please keep in mind this was written at 12, in the morning. So I don't get my most sanest ideas at this ungodly hour. But heres chapter three. Please make sure to review, keep your complaints to non-flaming please. But I would like to hear advice you might have to make things better.

I wonder what happened. I remember panicking, and I know I had that scary dream again. But for some reason, the thought of that doesn't bother me at the moment. In fact, I feel sort of warm and light-hearted right now. At some point in time I must have fallen asleep. Because I know for a fact that a few moments ago I was not laying in a cloud of cotton and having a picnic with a bunch of Lima Beans with Spanish accents.

Unsweetened Dreams III

By:

2takuya

Nanoha glanced around her dream world in confusion. Normally she wasn't aware she was dreaming until she woke up. But she clearly remembered what had just occurred inside the Medical Ward only a few moments before. It also helped that she knew Lima Beans not only didn't speak, she was pretty sure if they did it wouldn't be in a Spanish accent.

She always figured it'd be more Italian, or maybe French.

But these weren't the thoughts that currently filled her head. They were thoughts she'd already had, both in past years and past minutes. Now she was wondering why she couldn't wake up. She really wanted to see Fate-chan, who she knew had done her best to calm her down. But no matter how hard Nanoha struggled, she couldn't find herself to waking up.

And during these fruitless attempts, she felt everything becoming increasingly warmer. To the point where she was uncomfortably hot. The laughter of the Lima Beans didn't seem to be helping too much. They had just suddenly begun laughing at her, and the more they laughed the more taunting it seemed.

Slowly Nanoha's dream changed. Her skin felt like it was on fire, she was covered in sweat and there was a body pressed up against her, she could feel their bare skin and her breath seemed hitched in her throat he wouldn't let her breath, his hand placed firmly over her mouth.

She shook her head, trying to clear her thoughts. It was slowly coming back to haunt her, creeping up on her even in her nicest of dreams. But that's how it always came, without warning, shattering the little hopes that the girl had managed to build up.

Nanoha froze in surprise, her mind had been in a turmoil, one that even she couldn't begin to understand. But one thing she did understand was that she felt a hand stroking her hair. 'You'll be just fine. I won't hurt you, I promise. In fact, soon you won't even feel a thing' a deep voice sounded, humor and bliss in the persons voice. 'Doctor just needs to make sure Nanoha-san gets the right amount of care. You understand, right? It's to make you feel better.' The hand continued stroking her hair, and soon she found herself struggling to push the hand away, tears slipping free from her eyes again.

"No . . . " She whimpered, her voice soft and sounding almost child-like. "Please don't. Mama said not to. She said it's bad." Her voice grew quieter. She seemed to be growing increasingly desperate and embarrassed. "Don't touch me."

"Nanoha." Said girl froze in fear, squeezing her eyes shut tightly, too afraid to witness what she knew would come next. "Nanoha, breathe, please." A gentle voice demanded, desperation laced in the words. "Calm down, it's okay. The scary doctor's not here right now."

Nanoha felt herself slowly relaxing. She knew that voice, she finally placed it as her friend Fate's. Of course, she had just been dreaming. She even knew she had been, so why was she so afraid? She knew the man couldn't hurt her now. If he got anywhere near her he'd be dead in seconds anyways.

Fate heaved a sigh of relief. Shamal had just finished talking when Nanoha had suddenly tensed up again. At first she thought the brunette had just woken up, and had heard that her two friends knew something was up. But then Fate heard it, or more accurately, didn't hear it. She could no longer hear Nanoha's quiet but steady breathing that had been brushing past her ear moments before.

Instead it seemed the girl had stopped breathing momentarily, her body shaking with a force Fate couldn't name. Fate continued stroking Nanoha's hair, as she had been doing since the girl had fallen asleep. And then the brunette started speaking, her voice hardly even a whisper. And the words that she spoke broke Fate's heart all over again. She was begging someone to stop, saying how her Mother had told her she wasn't supposed to do certain things. At first Fate was confused as to what Nanoha meant, but then the brunette whimpered out three simple words. But they were three words that made both Fate and Shamal, who had been quietly but worriedly standing aside, almost instantly understand what had Nanoha so panicked. 'Don't touch me.'

"Nanoha." Fate spoke softly, continuing to stroke her friends hair. Said friend had finally begun breathing again, though it was in short and rapid gasps. "Nanoha, breathe, please." She whispered, concern filling her words, trying to console her friend. "Calm down, it's okay." A short pause, pregnant. Fate was recalling all the words that had been spoken before, she knew someone had scared Nanoha, she didn't know when and she wasn't completely sure how. She figured the man probably raped her, but that didn't who the man had been. Though with the way the girl behaved, she probably had a guess as to how Nanoha and the man had met. "The scary doctor's not here right now."

And with those words Fate felt the brunette in her arms slowly begun to relax, all the tension in her muscles fading as she slumped heavily against Fate.

Shamal and Fate both breathed a sigh of relief. Fate glanced over at Shamal and could tell based on the look on her face that she had figured things out as well. The main problem would be getting Nanoha to admit what had happened. Fate had a feeling that what they were assuming wasn't the entire story.

Blue eyes sadly glanced up, watching the look on both of her friends faces. Looks like things really were said out loud. The brunette thought mildly, afraid of how her friends would proceed. It's not like the girl wanted to keep things a secret for so long. It's just, the longer she stayed quiet about things, the harder it became to say something.

And it's not like she hadn't tried before, after all, the man had been caught. With a scar like that, it'd be hard not to realize some of what had happened. But it had been a month after the event, when Nanoha finally hadn't been able to stand the pain, and had collapsed in the middle of the shop.

The memories were quickly drown away though as Ruby eyes stared into Blue ones. Questions were written all over Fate's eyes, and she knew Nanoha could practically see every one of them.

Surprisingly, it was neither Fate nor Nanoha who spoke up. Nor was it Shamal. Instead, a fourth, huskier voice asked. "What's with all the doom in gloom in here? You all act as if someone died."

And with that, Nanoha knew not only would she have to tell Fate and Shamal what had happened, but Signum as well. Because as soon as Signum had walked in and spoken, Shamal was quick to lead the woman away and begin to explain the situation.

"Nanoha, breathe. Calm down." Fate said quietly, as her friend had begun gasping for breath again. "You know we only want to help, right?" She added softer, worry and sadness filling her eyes. She wanted Nanoha to open up to her. The girl had always been so cheery and friendly, never had Fate guessed that something like this might have lurked in her past. And never had Nanoha hinted at it, except for the rare visits to the doctors. But every doctor they'd seen so far had been female, maybe that had something to do with it.

Regardless, Fate knew one thing. Nothing was going to keep her from Fate helping Nanoha, she would find a way to get Nanoha to forget the past. She hated the fact that she could never tell the one she loved that she truly loved her. But she hated even more that the one she loved suffered silently on her own.

Nanoha glanced up, her breathing slowly returning to normal. She saw the determination in her friends eyes. She knew her friend would stop at nothing to figure out what had happened. But Nanoha couldn't let Fate find out. She couldn't let any of her friends know, for that case. She knew once they did, they'd never treat her the same. It had been bad enough when she'd had that bad accident and had nearly lost her legs. She knew that if they found out about this, they'd become even more worried and protective over her. And the last thing she wanted was for them to worry more about her. Especially not Fate. She loved Fate too much to burden her with these things. All she wanted was for her Fate to become happy. She didn't want to burden Fate with such sad stories, especially since if she told Fate this secret, her last and final secret would come spilling out as well. And there was no way she could tell Fate that she was in love with her, that would just ruin their friendship and make Fate feel that it was her fault. No, Nanoha knew that she would once again have to bottle up the memories and pains from that fateful day. She couldn't let anyone know what happened.

Oh Shi-itake Mushroom. I say that all the time, not sure why. It's kind of fun, actually. Shiitake Mushroom. It's kinda like Balmsamic Vinegar, for all you Lucky Star fans out there.

But anyways, I know things seemed revealed like that kind of sudden, but that's not completely what happened in the first place, so don't just give up on the story. Anyways, I figure since Shamal and Fate are both intellegent woman, they would figure out what was bothering Nanoha pretty quickly. And I know Shamal, being Nanoha's doctor, would have seen the scar. . . Whoops, said to much. It's a good things most of you don't read this then!

2takuya out, don't forget to review!