Ok, so I had this chapter written up and everything, and it was completed and ready to be put to the website. But then I realized, I really didn't like it. After all, it was really confusing, and had all the characters talking at once. And Nanoha was hardly involved in it. Then I had a thought. Hayate had just announced Shamal's new assistant to be Doctor Taichi, so there would have to be some sort of reaction. And so I rewrote the chapter. And this was the result. I'm really hoping you like it, because this one turned out much better than the other one.

The world seemed to come to a complete standstill for everyone in the room. Even I was astounded by the news. For one thing, I had no idea Shamal was getting an assistant. But the news that bothered me the most was that Shamal's new assistant was named Doctor Taichi. Luckily, Taichi can be a common enough name, so it's probably just a coincidence. I just hope Nanoha realizes the same, sometimes I really worry about her.

Unsweetened Dreams IX

By:

2takuya

Fate glanced down into blue eyes, worried for their owner. Nanoha was still in a bad state, having just relived her worst childhood memory. Having the name of the person who caused you the name spoken with the implication of working with one of your friends, usually that doesn't have the best results.

And, as predicted, Nanoha wasn't taking the news very well. Signum and Shamal had both snapped their heads around to face Hayate, both astounded by the news they had received, but their heads snapped around again as they heard ragged breaths panting for air.

Fate had only seen it once before, and it had been in a movie. The sound of gasping breath, as though you were drowning and struggling to break free. She never knew how real it was, until Nanoha was choking on the air, reaching a shaky hand blindly up into the air, searching for someone to save her.

And of course, having never dealt with a panic attack before, Fate had no idea on how to save her friend. She followed her instincts and gripped Nanoha's flailing hand, hoping to somehow calm the girl down. It didn't work though, and it only increased Fate's anxiety.

"Fate, what's happening?" Shamal asked, instantly going into doctor mode and moving to the bedside.

Fate shook her head, tears pooling up in her eyes. Nanoha wouldn't calm down, and her gasps for breath were only becoming worse and worse. "I- I don't know, she-she sounds like she can't breathe." Fate stuttered, wrapping Nanoha into a tight hug, as though she could protect her from the panic attack.

Signum moved out of the way, taking her place by Hayate's side. She realized Hayate had no clue what was going on, and neither of them had any right to get in the middle of the situation at hand. She managed to steer Hayate over to an unoccupied bed, and had her master take a seat there as they waited.

"Fate, you have to calm down." Shamal said quietly, though just as urgent as she should. She knew the importance of staying calm in a situation like this, the more the other party panicked, the more panicked the person panicking felt.

Fate shook her head though. How could Shamal tell her to calm down at a time like this? Nanoha was gasping for breath, and all Shamal could do was tell Fate to calm down? Unhappy with Shamal's actions, Fate was taking matters into her own hands.

Despite not knowing what to do, Fate wanted to help Nanoha in any way she could. And so she tightened her arms around Nanoha, pulling the girl into a heartfelt embrace. All she knew how to do was to comfort Nanoha with her touch, after all, every time Nanoha had been upset before Fate only had to give her a hug.

This time, Fate's hug wasn't having much of an effect, if any at all. She could feel Nanoha struggling in her arms, and could hear Nanoha's agonizing breathing in her ear.

How was she supposed to help her? How did Nanoha always make things like this look easy? She's always there for her friends, and never seems to be stressed at all. But that was impossible; situations like this were the most stressful Fate had ever dealt with.

"Fate," Shamal said, finally gaining the blonde enforcers attention. "You need to comfort her. She needs to know you're not going anywhere."

That made sense. After all, Nanoha had said herself, she was afraid that Fate would leave her. Nanoha was afraid of being a burden to everyone else, which was strange because Nanoha was the glue that held them all together.

And so Fate found herself leaning in, her lips against Nanoha's ear as she embraced her secret crush. And she began whispering, all the things she thought she'd never admit to anyone. All the things she thought she'd never tell Nanoha, because she knew it would ruin their friendship.

And yet, in that moment, Fate didn't worry about that. She wasn't worried about how this might affect her future with her friend; she was worried about Nanoha making it through this panic attack.

And so Fate whispered everything, about how she'd never leave Nanoha because they were best friends. About how she admired Nanoha for being so strong after what had happened 11 years ago. About how she was afraid day after day that Nanoha would start drifting away, because Fate relied on her more than she should. About how Nanoha had saved her life what seemed like forever ago, and gave her something she'd never have imagined, and could never show her gratitude for. And most importantly, she whispered into her crush's ear, about how much she was in love with Nanoha. About how she'd been in love with Nanoha since that day long ago, when they had exchanged ribbons on the bridge. She told her how she hadn't fully realized her feelings until about a week or so ago.

Fate wasn't expecting anything in return; all she wanted was for Nanoha to calm down. She knew, somewhere in her mind, that this could ruin the best friendship she could have ever wished for. But she knew, at that moment, that it was the best thing she could have done for her friend.

And had she looked back, to see the other people in the room, she would have seen the stunned expressions on their faces. They had heard every hushed whisper, every confession Fate had made, and none of them had been expecting the blonde to be so bold.

And still no one had foreseen what happened next. No one could have seen Nanoha reaching up, a shaky hand cupping Fate's cheek.

Sure, her eyes had tears in them, and she was gasping painfully for breath. But she had heard every word Fate had whispered to her. And she wanted to make sure that Fate understood.

And so, with every last bit of strength she could muster, Nanoha managed to push herself up so that her lips brushed lightly against Fate's.

The kiss lasted only a few fleeting seconds, but those few seconds would be enough to change both of their lives forever.

And as the kiss broke off, Nanoha collapsed tiredly into Fate's lap, gasping at the air. And despite the panic attack that had just occurred, and that was slowly dying away but steeling away Nanoha's breath, a small smile was on her face.

Red eyes looked into blue ones, shock and confusion. Fate had no idea what had just happened. She still didn't know what had just happened. But Nanoha was calming down, and that was what was important. And she even had a small smile, which was even better in Fate's mind.

And the silence in the room was broken by a few softly spoken words, ones that were new, and yet Fate felt like she had heard them spoken to her forever.

"Fate-chan, I love you too." Nanoha whispered tiredly, her hand still cupping Fate's cheek.

The room remained silent, as though the room were letting the words sink into the heads of everyone there. And after a few moments, Fate pulled Nanoha into a tighter hug, her cheeks flaming red despite the happy tears that were in her eyes.

Nothing could break this amazing moment, as both girls had finally confessed their feelings to one another. Signum, Shamal, and Hayate were just pleased that they had been there to hear the confessions themselves.

Yet, this moment could not last forever. As the saying goes, all good things must come to an end. "Well, this is quite a cheery moment you have going on here, really hate to break it up for you, Nanoha." A voice spoke up, the owner leaning against the doorway. "Somehow, we managed to get here on time. Doctor Taichi, reporting in."

And don't worry. I'm not done here. I guess I must be sadistic or something, because Nanoha and Fate are just going to face more troubles galore. After all, Doctor's back, and who knows what he's got planned. And he remembers Nanoha, it looks like. So hope you enjoyed, and make sure to look for more to come.

And thanks for all the amazing reviews! Jeez, I posted a chapter, and then left for a while, and when I came back I had tons of reviews, which just made me happy! Ah, but I didn't do my math, which will be bad tomorrow. Instead I wrote this!

But please review here as well! Cause with more things to come, things are going to get tricky from here! And any input is always welcome, because it might help things run smoothly.