One Thing Led to Another
Nanoha stumbled into the small apartment she shared with Fate, exhausted but smiling. In today's training, she'd surpassed her previous best, from before the Gadget Drone Incident, so she was in a very good mood.
"Fate-chan! I'm home!" Nanoha called.
After a moment of silence, Fate's voice replied from the kitchen. "In here, Nanoha."
Nanoha nearly bounced, as much as she could when her limbs felt like noodles, into the kitchen, halting in her tracks when she saw who was sitting with Fate at the modest dining table. "Lindy-san!"
Fate's adoptive mother smiled in greeting. "Hello Nanoha. I'm glad to see you looking hale and hardy again."
After catching up with her former subordinate, and making Nanoha twitch a few times at how much sugar she put in her tea, Lindy got around to her official reason for visiting.
"I've got good news for you," Lindy informed Nanoha, while Fate smiled with quiet pride. "You've been accepted into the Aerial Tactical Instructor Corps. Congratulations, First Lieutenant Takamachi."
"Eh? Really?" Nanoha exclaimed excitedly. "Thank you so much, Lindy-san!"
Lindy shook her head. "Don't thank me. You've earned it, Nanoha."
In her excitement, Nanoha hugged Fate, and the darkly-dressed blonde girl's proud smile was joined by a faint blush.
Lindy pulled out a data chit and set in on the table. Raising Heart binged from where it hung as a necklace, in the form of a red crystal orb, and a moment later it projected a screen in midair over the table. One corner was taken up by a photo of a pink-haired girl who looked about Nanoha's age, maybe a year younger. Next to that was a list of her orders, and under that were details about the girl.
"Madoka Kaname?" Nanoha asked.
"Have you watched the news today?" Lindy asked, but Nanoha shook her head. "There was an incident in Mitakihara. Ori insurgents from the Anteverse somehow snuck through one of the Dimensional Links on AnteChilda and somehow opened a way into the Midverse. You should have the details in there."
Nanoha sent a mental command to Raising Heart, and the incident report popped up on the holographic screen. Nanoha read about the attack, the casualties, and the shockingly powerful telepathic warning.
"There was some debate over this, but in the end it was agreed that Miss Kaname would be assigned to you, as a trial run of your teaching abilities," Lindy explained. "She fought three Priors and survived, with no previous experience." Lindy smiled. "Reminds me of you, a little."
"When do I meet her?" Nanoha asked.
"Next week," Lindy told her. "In the mean time, I'd like to borrow the both of you for my investigation. Fate's already agreed."
Nanoha nodded without hesitation. "Of course, Lindy-san."
"Good," Lindy said, standing. "I'll see you both bright and early tomorrow morning at headquarters."
Lindy paused to give Fate a hug, which Fate carefully returned. "Until then, Mother."
"Good night, you two," Lindy called as she let herself out.
Wordlessly, Fate poured a new cup and set it in front of Nanoha. As Nanoha leaned over the holographic screen intently, Fate slid her hands onto Nanoha's shoulders and started massaging.
"Mou, that feels good, Fate-chan," Nanoha murmured, sinking into more of a relaxed slump as she continued to read.
As far as Barrier Jackets went, the design Homura finally settled on was rather understated. It seemed disrespectful, somehow, to flaunt her dad's Intelligent Device when she hadn't ever fought for the sake of another. There was also that she'd be wearing it to school for the next week until her regeneration appointment, and she was dreading the fuss her classmates would make.
Homura was clear to be discharged from the hospital, and Madoka would be coming back with her mom to pick Homura up in less than an hour.
Gingerly, Homura slid off the hospital bed and shuffled over to the mirror in the corner. Her braids had been taken out at some point, and she looked very frail where her formerly-lacerated limbs poked out of the hospital gown. The small black octahedron that was Skjoldur rested on her palm. She remembered seeing it in her dad's hands many times, and now it was hers.
"Release," Homura murmured.
RELIQUARY MODE, Skjoldur complied.
With a strong purple glow, the small black crystal vanished, sheathing Homura's left arm in a conjuration matrix. Small shards of light burst away, revealing a small but ornate bronze shield inset with a black crystal diamond.
Homura held Skjoldur close to her body as she lightly traced the familiar shape with her other hand. Swallowing the lump in her throat, Homura pulled off her glasses and brushed the sting of tears from her eyes.
Homura pushed her glasses into Skjoldur's sealing dimension, smiling slightly as she watched space warp between the bronze shield and the arm it was strapped to. One of Skjoldur's most useful features was its ability to access the items it had dimensionally displaced, individually.
Another more common benefit of having an Intelligent Device, was that Homura only had to concentrate on the the look she wanted for her Barrier Jacket, and Skjoldur would extrapolate the details. It only took a moment, and it didn't matter that Homura knew nothing about tailoring.
READY, SIR, Skjoldur reported.
"Set up," Homura ordered.
For a split second, Homura's blurry vision went purple as a conjuration matrix engulfed her from head to toe. Then the matrix shattered and Homura found herself looking at her reflection with sharper vision than even her glasses allowed her.
A simple black hairband restrained her long flowing hair. A black, skin-tight, full body leotard with a repeating diamond pattern down the sides of her arms and legs, blending seamlessly into flexible boots. On top of that, a silvery grey skirt, and on top of that, a pristine white coat with tails and a grey collar.
It looked good on her, but the visible parts of a Barrier Jacket were arguably the least important part. Homura hopped in place a couple of times, twirling around as she marveled at the sense of strength.
Once she had indulged herself a little, Homura reached into Skjoldur and pulled out the hospital gown she had been wearing. She tossed it on the bed and settled into a chair to wait.
"Skjoldur, Standby," Homura ordered.
The bronze shield glowed and melted, reforming into a simple fingerless black glove with a black crystal diamond on the back of her palm.
When Madoka showed up, she was back in plainclothes, and Galvan Soul had taken the form of a small brooch which she'd pinned to her collar. A purple-haired woman in a business suit who had to be Madoka's mom followed her into Homura's room.
Homura dispelled the holographic screen that displayed her appointment details, and hurried to stand.
"Homura," Madoka greeted with her usual warm sincerity. "Mom, this is Homura Akemi. Homura, this is my mom, Junko."
"Uh, nice to meet you," Homura stammered.
Junko grinned rakishly. "Likewise. I'm glad I finally get to meet the girl my Madoka's been talking about so much. So, you all set to get out of here?"
Trying not to be obvious about the way her heart leaped, Homura nodded. "Yes, um..."
"We're stopping by Homura's apartment first, right Mom?" Madoka asked. "So she can get her stuff?"
"That's the plan," Junko confirmed.
Feeling somewhat overwhelmed as she was swept up in the whirlwind that was Madoka's mother, Homura followed the two of them down to an expensive-looking red sports-car. She and Madoka shared the back seat for the short drive over to the damaged apartment building.
When they got there, Homura released Skjoldur again and started packing her belongings into the shield. Bereft of the need to carry anything, Junko looked around at the wrecked apartment and all the broken glass with a frown.
"This place is hardly fit for habitation," Junko said, shaking her head. "Listen, Homura? I want you to know, we have plenty of room and you're welcome to stay with us on a more permanent basis."
Madoka nodded emphatically.
"I don't... um, thank you," Homura mumbled shyly. "I'll... I'll tell the manager I'm moving out?"
After a second pass to get the rest of her things into Skjoldur, Homura dismissed the Device back into the shape of a simple fingerless glove and let Madoka and her mom usher her back down to the car.
Madoka shared the back seat with her again, and if Madoka sat a little closer than she really needed to, Homura certainly wasn't going to complain.
The house they arrived at was a grand boxy thing of glass and concrete, surrounded by trees and flower beds. Madoka led Homura inside and introduced her to the rest of the Kaname family.
Madoka's dad, Tomohisa, was a gently old-fashioned househusband who welcomed Homura to their home, and the final member was Madoka's little brother, a toddler called Tatsuya.
Homura wasn't sure how Madoka managed it, but when they sat down to dinner, somehow, she managed to make Homura feel like she belonged.
Nanoha yawned, bathwater lapping around her neck as she soaked in Fate's arms. Her head lolled on Fate's shoulder, her hair fanning out in the water, as she hovered on the edge of sleep.
"Nanoha," Fate chided gently, her breath caressing Nanoha's ear. "You're going to fall asleep in the bath again."
"Mmhm," Nanoha agreed softly.
Nanoha could feel Fate's chest jerk against her back in a silent snicker as Fate turned her face into Nanoha's hair in fond resignation.
Nanoha giggled sleepily. "You've gotten a lot squishier since we started doing this."
Fate blushed. Nanoha didn't open her eyes to see, but she could tell anyway. Fate always got embarrassed whenever Nanoha commented on Fate's obvious physical beauty. Still, it was true. It was quite apparent by this point that Fate was going to be the better endowed of the two of them.
The shared baths were a habit they'd developed during Nanoha's recovery. Fate had needed to help Nanoha with even the most basic things, when Nanoha had first come home from the hospital. That hadn't lasted long, fortunately, but they still never got around to breaking the habit, and Nanoha didn't think either of them would want to give up the skinship any time soon.
"We've grown up a bit. When did that happen?" Fate wondered in a low murmur. "I guess I am turning out to be... um, busty."
Mostly asleep and not even thinking twice about it, Nanoha picked up Fate's hands and pressed them against her own budding breasts. "More than me, anyway. See?"
Fate went still, as Nanoha's hands drifted off of Fate's. Nanoha, for her part, was asleep before Fate could react.
Some minutes later, Fate blushed furiously and forced herself to stop molesting Nanoha in her sleep. Her hands throbbed as she reluctantly pulled them away from Nanoha's chest, and she sighed.
Twisting to the side, Fate slid one arm under Nanoha's knees and the other around her back. Lifting herself and Nanoha out of the water with telekinesis, Fate sent a mental command to Bardiche, which was sitting on the countertop next to Raising Heart, in the form of a beveled yellow crystal triangle.
An electric yellow Circle formed over Fate's head like a halo. Fate had an affinity for lightning, so when she designed a spell to get rid of water, it had some potentially hazardous side effects. It worked by causing electrolysis, and thus had to avoid igniting all the free hydrogen.
It worked as intended, because Fate was very competent.
Once they were dry, Fate carried the sleeping Nanoha into the bedroom and pulled the covers down with telekinesis. Setting Nanoha's head on the pillow, Fate indulged in the opportunity to admire Nanoha's naked body. With how often Nanoha ended up falling asleep during their nightly baths, pajamas had fallen by the wayside and the two of them wound up going to bed naked more often than not.
Her hands still throbbed with the memory of Nanoha's soft handfuls and perky little nubs, and for the thousanth time, Fate contemplated asking Nanoha if they could... do more. Be more. But, the thing was, Fate didn't want their relationship to change. They already lived like they were married, and Fate cherished that. She honestly didn't care about making it official. The one time Fate had brought the subject up, obliquely, Nanoha had cheerfully declared herself to be married to her work. Fate was content with that.
Fate longed for the day she and Nanoha would make love properly, but for now, it was enough to have the next best thing.
With a smile of fond resignation, Fate climbed into bed with Nanoha and pulled the blankets up to cover them. Nanoha cuddled up to her without waking, and Fate wriggled until she was in a good position to, er, relieve some tension without disturbing Nanoha's sleep.
Nanoha stirred to the sounds of Fate's soft breathless moans and gentle squirming in her embrace. Nanoha almost raised her head, before she realized what Fate was doing and pretended to still be asleep.
Nanoha didn't mind, but Fate always got really embarrassed when her activity woke Nanoha up, so Nanoha did her best not to interrupt by revealing that she was awake. With a bond of trust as complete as the one they shared, it would be silly for Nanoha to object to Fate taking care of her needs in their own bed, but Fate had her quirks.
A soft gasp, and Nanoha felt Fate shudder as she finished.
In the following stillness, Nanoha noticed a prickling warmth in her own body, centered on a sweltering flush between her legs. Nanoha sighed. She figured it was like how yawns were contagious. Whenever she witnessed Fate doing it, her own body wanted to follow suit.
To the familiar background noise of Fate's soft snores, Nanoha reached down to take care of things.
The next morning, Nanoha woke to the unpleasant but familiar experience of Arf's adorable orange chibi wolf form using her skull as a trampoline. "Up up! Time to get up sleepyheads! You don't want to be late for your promotion!"
Homura sat hip to hip with Madoka as they shared the delicious lunch Madoka's dad had packed for them. Hitomi was regaling them with some story about her weekend, but Homura was having a hard time paying attention to anything other than Madoka.
"Gals! Gals!" Sayaka came in sprinting, interrupting Hitomi. "Guess what?"
"Oh, there you are Sayaka!" Madoka greeted.
"I got in!" Sayaka exclaimed, posing dramatically. "You're looking at TSAB Cadet Miki! Look, they even upgraded Shining Edge!"
With a flash of cerulean light, Sayaka's uniform was replaced by a Barrier Jacket in white and blue. Shining Edge settled in her hand, taking the shape of an ornate cutlass. Sayaka's Device had been an off-the-shelf model, barely more than a glorified cellphone and pocket calculator. Not any more, apparently.
SHINING EDGE, ONLINE, the Device droned.
"Oh!" Madoka exclaimed. "That's great, Sayaka! You're amazing!"
Homura gave Madoka a look. Madoka noticed and blushed.
Hitomi studied Sayaka's new Barrier Jacket. "Sayaka, how late did you stay up designing that?"
Sayaka lowered Shining Edge sheepishly. "Eh heh... anybody up for coffee?"
One dispelled Barrier Jacket, a trip to the coffee stand, and a confession by Madoka later...
"Yo... you... you're gonna be an Enforcer!" Sayaka ranted. "You fought Priors! You beat Priors! You have an actual Intelligent Device! I can't compete with that! I barely made D-rank!" Sayaka's head slammed down on the table.
"Temporary! Temporary! And only if I pass the Contract Mage Exam after I finish training," Madoka said, flailing a little as she tried to calm down her blue-haired friend.
"You're not competing with Madoka," Hitomi pointed out. "You'll be on completely different tracks, right?"
Sayaka picked herself up. "But I'm supposed to be the dashing hero in this group," she whined.
"I think you're plenty dashing, Sayaka," Madoka assured her with a smile. "Has Kyosuke seen your Barrier Jacket yet?"
Sayaka perked up. "No. I should go find him. He worries when I miss class..."
Homura was silently glad that Sayaka hadn't noticed that her own clothes were actually a Barrier Jacket. It probably said something bad about her, but she thoroughly enjoyed seeing Madoka steal Sayaka's thunder without even trying. Or maybe it just said something really good about Madoka.
The helicopter set down and Nanoha hopped out onto the roof of the Altseim Repository and Research Center with Fate at her side. Nanoha straightened her brand new white-with-blue-shoulders-and-trim Instructor Corps uniform and new rank sigil with pride. Beside her, Fate was owning her silver-trimmed black Enforcer uniform, as usual.
The building was a broad sturdy rectangle, with several smaller outbuildings connected by wide concrete paths that curved through a sprawling lawn dotted with sparse trees. On one side, the lawn ended at a cliff, overlooking an untamed forest valley. On the other side, the building itself had a big jagged hole torn through the wall, where the Ori worshipers had busted in.
A pair of mages in Barrier Jackets were waiting to meet them on the roof. One was a woman all in white, a red-lined white coat and dress combo that matched her snowy hair and lavender-blue eyes. The other looked like she was their age, clad in a black corset and ruffled skirt under a flowing blood-red cloak with red streaks in her short black hair, and her silver eyes lit up when she saw them.
"Welcome to the Repository," the white one greeted. "I am Huntress Weiss, with Security, and this is my partner, Ruby. Your colleagues are - "
Suddenly in Fate's personal space. "Ohmygosh ohmygosh ohmygosh! You're Fate! You're my totally awesomest scythe-wielding hero of all time!" Ruby squeed. "Can I have your autograph?"
Fate blinked.
Weiss facepalmed.
Nanoha snickered into the back of her hand. "Looks like you have a fan, Fate-chan."
Ruby fell to her knees, her fists under her chin as she gazed up at Fate with the Wide Eyes of Ultimate Cuteness. Fate blushed at the attention.
"...alright." Fate nodded.
Ruby's squee sent birds fleeing for acres around.
Weiss grabbed Ruby by the hood of her red cloak and yanked her back onto her feet. "As I was saying, your colleagues are on sublevel two. If you will follow me, I will show you to them."
"Of course," Nanoha acknowledged.
As the four of them made their way down into the building, Ruby sidled up to Fate and pulled a red metal cross from her belt. The cross flared with blood-red light, expanding in Ruby's hands to become a heavy and boxy-looking rifle.
Oddly, instead of fracturing into angular motes of fading light, the conjuration matrix peeled away in the form of almost solid-looking rose petals, which scattered in a nonexistent breeze and splashed where they landed as though they were made of blood, before fading to nothing.
Before the faux rose petals finished falling, the boxy red riffled unfolded, parts moving with mechanical clanks, as it transformed into an oversized scythe. Ruby spun it and held it out from just under the blade.
"Will you sign Crescent Rose?" Ruby asked eagerly, holding out a marker. "You know, one scythe-wielder to another?"
"Okay," Fate agreed. "I haven't seen a Device like yours before."
"That's 'cause my baby here is an all custom Armed Device," Ruby declared proudly. "Completely my own design."
"I see," Fate said, pausing to consider for a moment before penning a short note on Crescent Rose's blade and signing it. "You made it yourself? That's impressive."
"Thanks!" Ruby beamed, then looked down at her Device. "Crescent Rose, save Fate's autograph to your scythe state, would you?"
A rippled of red light washed over the Device, and a young soft androgynous voice intoned, SCYTHE STATE UPDATED.
"Actually, I didn't make Crescent Rose all by myself," Ruby admitted as Crescent Rose folded back up. "It was my Uncle Qrow, mostly. He took me in after my mom was eaten by a grue. Taught me everything I know about magic and fighting, and demon hunting."
"Is that why you stayed on the frontier?" Fate asked.
"Well, yeah," Ruby said with a grin. "I kick ass, and I don't want anybody else to lose their mom, or their anybody, the way I did."
"I see," Fate said, giving the other girl a smile.
"Enforcer Harlaown, Lieutenant Takamachi, through here," Weiss prompted as they emerged from the stairwell. "As I already explained to your colleagues, this level is where the Repository stores whatever lost logia we might find in the field, if they are deemed non-volatile, and it also happens to be where MidChilda's Stargate has been kept ever since it fell out of use." She pointed up at the ragged hole in the ceiling. "The Priors came right through the floor above. Clearly, they were looking for the Stargate, and they knew exactly where to find it."
"Um," Nanoha said. "What's a Stargate?"
Before an answer could be had, they rounded a corner and the object in question came into view. A big stone ring, sunk into a concrete platform, with an inner track of symbols and crystalline orange things spaced around the edge. And two very familiar people crouched around a damaged pedestal in front of the ring, amidst a dozen different holographic screens.
"Hayate-chan!" Nanoha greeted.
The brown-haired young woman in a dark brown Capital Defense uniform stood up and waved when she saw them. "Nanoha! Fate! I should've known the Admiral would send you two."
"Signum," Fate greeted the woman with the long pink ponytail who was still focused on the various readouts.
Signum nodded in acknowledgement.
"So what's the situation?" Nanoha asked.
Hayate explained, "The Stargates are part of a vast galactic portal network that was established by one of the Precursor Races. It's actually based on the same principles as the New Aln portal, just on a much smaller scale, so I guess its not surprising that they knew how to use the Stargate. The Ori incursion force escaped through it, and we don't know where they went."
"Can we follow them anyway?" Nanoha asked.
Hayate shrugged. "We might have been able to, if they hadn't fried the security cameras, disrupted all the scrying spells, and wrecked the control console as they left."
"What do we have, then?" Nanoha asked.
"A vector," Signum answered, waving one of the floating screens towards Nanoha and Fate. "Dimensional sensors tracked the spacetime breach at this end."
Fate frowned. "How many habitable worlds are on this line? Bardiche, access starmap."
With a bing of acknowledgement, labels and lines overlayed onto the image, color coded for her convenience.
"Eleven," Hayate answered, having already checked. "I think the Admiral is gonna have to send us out on a ship to search those planets for Stargates, since we're not having any luck fixing this one."
Signum grunted.
"Hey gals!" called a new voice from the hole in the ceilling.
"Hey Yang!" Ruby called. "You get the wards back up?"
The woman was tan, with wild golden blonde hair and a buxom figure. Her Barrier Jacket was a tight-fitting brown coat, orange scarf, black shorts with brown armor on the outsides of her thighs, and sturdy brown knee-high boots. What had to be her Device gleamed on her right hand in the form of a golden armored gauntlet.
Yang leaped down, landing easily. "Yup. We had to kill a voynok, though. Turns out they have nine lives. Who knew? So, these are the big bad TSAB badasses, huh? Heya."
Chrono sat in the command chair of the Arthra, paging through the day's reports. There weren't many, and they weren't very interesting, since most of the crew was on shore leave, so he was only slightly annoyed when Durandal indicated he had an incoming call.
A new screen popped into existence, displaying a video feed of Admiral Lindy Harlaown, Chrono's mother and superior officer. "Chrono. How goes the captaincy?"
"I'm adjusting," Chrono said. "It helps that I already know the Arthra as well as I do. How have you been, Mother?"
Lindy smiled her own unique take on a motherly smile, then turned serious. "I've got a mission for the Arthra. I need to brief you on the Mitakihara Incident, and Investigator Yagami's investigation..." Lindy went on to explain the gist of the situation, and Chrono agreed to the meeting.
"Amy," Chrono ordered after ending the call. "Bring us up to realspace at Mid."
"Yes sir, Captain Chrono, sir!" Amy replied with enough genuine cheer to border on insubordination. Chrono let it slide, because, well, she was his girlfriend, and she was proud of him for earning the command of his own starship.
Chrono watched as the shifting colors of the dimensional sea gave way to starry black and the blue-white orb of MidChilda.
Homura shut the door of the 'small' guest room she'd been given. It was half the size of her entire apartment. The Kanames had an impressively spacious house.
Dispelling her Barrier Jacket, Homura set Skjoldur on the nightstand and crawled into bed, wearing the pajamas she'd put on that morning.
Her limbs felt like lead, she was half blind, and it felt like her own weight was making it hard to breath as she lay there, but she knew it was just the shock of feeling her weakness after spending all day in a Barrier Jacket. Just a few more days until her appointment, she reminded herself.
Today had been a good day, Homura reflected with a smile.
Madoka had helped her finish unpacking after school, and they'd organized Homura's new room together. It was a simple thing, but just being around Madoka without any pressure was nice.
Homura blinked as a telepathic probe brushed her mind. Homura? Are you still awake?
Oh. Yes, I'm awake, Homura sent back after a moment.
A moment later, the door to her room opened just long enough for a Madoka-shaped blur to slip inside. Homura sat up as Madoka joined her on the bed.
"I couldn't sleep," Madoka told her sheepishly.
"Why not?" Homura asked softly.
"I guess it finally sank in that I'm really going to be preparing to battle a race of evil gods," Madoka murmured.
Homura put her hand on Madoka's. "You're scared?"
"I am scared," Madoka admitted, "but... I'm even more sure about doing it, because I am. You probably think that's weird, huh."
"No," Homura said a little too quickly. "But Madoka..."
Madoka shook her head and smiled. "I'm scared because it's scary. But I know that just means it's that much more important, because I'm strong enough to make a difference. They need me."
I need you, Homura didn't say. "Then they'll make sure you come back."
Madoka just nodded, sitting in silence for a long moment. Homura couldn't see her expression with the room dark and her vision blurry, but she seemed to be lost in thought.
"Is there anything I can do?" Homura asked. "To help you sleep?"
Madoka looked at her searchingly. "Would you hold me?"
Homura gulped, hesitating. She wasn't worried about Madoka's intentions, or rather she was hoping Madoka's intentions weren't entirely platonic, but she was afraid of the moment she might learn that Madoka didn't feel that way about her.
"Ah, okay," Homura finally managed.
Madoka wriggled her way under the covers, settling in close enough to drape her arm around Homura's waist, and for Homura to do the same as they shared the pillow. Madoka's knee ended up between Homura's legs.
Cuddling with Madoka. It was nice. Really nice. Homura soaked it up blissfully.
"Homura?" Madoka murmured.
"Yes?"
"I have a question," Madoka said. "I think I already know the answer, but I want to ask anyway."
Homura focused on her as much as she could. "What is it?"
Madoka shifted closer until their faces were only a decimeter apart. "Would it be okay if I kissed you now?"
Am I dreaming already? Homura wondered numbly. She could only nod.
With a soft giggle, Madoka closed the distance, and the contact was like a shock to her lips. She couldn't possibly be dreaming, not when it felt like that. After a few moments of lips caressing lips, Madoka's tongue tentatively probed out, and Homura welcomed it gladly.
When the kiss ended, Homura didn't have words for how she felt. Stunned euphoria, maybe.
Madoka smiled at her. "Would it be okay if I kissed you tomorrow, too?"
"Oh yes," Homura whispered.
"Good," Madoka murmured as she rolled over on top of Homura.
Somehow, Madoka managed to feel light as a feather as she laid on Homura and resumed kissing her, pressing down on her with a soft warmth. Of course Madoka would be considerate of her weak condition, but even so, Homura was at her mercy now. And yet, there was nowhere else in all the worlds where Homura wanted to be.
(Yeah, I saw RWBY on DVD while I was writing this chapter, if you couldn't tell. Ruby, Weiss, and Yang belong to Monty Oum of Rooster Teeth. GIVE HIM MONEY.)
(It took me a while to figure out how to portray Nanoha and Fate's relationship at this point in time, and I think the dynamic I came up with fits as well as anything. Nanoha's oblivious, but only to a realistic degree and not in the way you'd expect. Fate's insecure, but only about the balance of the relationship and not the relationship itself. I thought it would be ironically fitting for Nanoha and Fate that the reason their Relationship Upgrade took so long was because they'd somehow managed to resolve most of their Unresolved Sexual Tension without it.)
(I've also been intending from the start to draw parallels between Nanoha/Fate and Madoka/Homura, but hopefully without falling into the trap of writing the same relationship twice just with different names attached. I hate that.)
(Finally, if you haven't already, now would be a good time to go read Forever After Earth. The last scene in the chapter "New Order" immediately follows this chapter.)