Alright, this is the last chapter I've got planned. Maybe I'll write more chapters someday, but right now it's a little stressy.

This is a funny chapter again, about Vivio's ability to change into her Sankt Kaiser form as seen in Vivid. This story is about her first accidental use of this ability. Have fun.

Big daughter, overwhelmed mother

It was a GREAT way to wake up.

That was Nanoha's first thought when she rose from the level of sleep to half-sleep. She was lying in her warm, cozy bed, and an even warmer, definitely female body was pressed against her back. She smiled while she decided to remain that way a little longer. She absolutely loved waking up with Fate-chan so close to her. They were still a young couple – Fate had dropped the bomb about her romantic feelings for Nanoha just two weeks ago and it had taken Nanoha just three days of deep thought and a serious discussion with her parents to decide that she did indeed return them –, but they had known each other for so long that Nanoha felt like they had to make up for all that "just friends"-time. Of course, they were still friends, colleagues... but now also lovers. And moments like this one were so wonderful that she couldn't believe it had taken them so long to reach this state.

A soft moan reached her ear, sending slight shivers down her spine, and the arm draped around Nanoha's belly shifted. She was still half-asleep herself, but she didn't want Fate to wake up – it was just too comfy right now. But it seemed like the young woman behind her was slowly waking up too. Her lover moaned again and then spoke one word with an adorable, sleepy voice... a soft, loving, sensual...

"Mama..."

Wait – what?

Nanoha went from "half-asleep" to "ready for battle" in one moment. She jumped out of the bed – in a probably rather comical manner – and nearly fell when she tried to turn around at the same time. The protesting groan behind her was completely ignored. She looked down at the person in her's and Fate's bed, who was yawning right now, in complete disbelief. Her daughter, Vivio. Correction. Sankt Kaiser Vivio. Correction. Sankt Kaiser Vivio, who was wearing little Vivio's now stretched and torn nightie.

"What's wrong?" the artificial emperor mumbled while trying to fully wake up, rubbing her eyes while sitting up. If Nanoha hadn't been so stunned, it would have been a quite adorable – if not sexy – sight. Her brain was slowly starting to work again, though it was mostly to distract her from what she was not ready to see. Fate-chan had indeed been here for the last week, but yesterday there had been a surprise inspection of her unit, so she had left. Nanoha knew that a whole week was a lot of free time for someone as busy as Fate-chan, but still it had felt short. Vivio had been sad too. She was finally over the clinging-to-a-person-and-crying-phase, but it still had been a hard goodbye for all of them. That's why Nanoha had allowed Vivio to sleep in her's and Fate's bed... if she was honest with herself, it had not only been for Vivio's benefit. Lying in a big bed alone was a bit depressing, not just for a child missing her mother.

Vivio was finally looking at her and frowned because of her mama's stunned expression. She blinked, and looked down. Saw her indisputably adult body. Blinked again. Touched her legs. Touched her chest – Nanoha blushed. Touched her face. Looked up again. And slowly realized what had happened.

"Mama..."

That finally got Nanoha out of her stupor. "Vivio..." she whispered.

"Kaiser..." the girl murmured lost in thoughts, her staring in her mother's direction, but not seeing her.

Nanoha swallowed and bowed down, reaching out to cup her not-so-little girl's cheek. "Vivio, it's alr-..."

"NO!" Vivio suddenly screamed and jumped out of the bed, covering up her body. "Stay away!"

For a moment Nanoha was nearly as stunned as before. "Vivio, what's...?"

"Stay away!" the girl screamed again and ran out of the room. A few moments later Nanoha heard a door bang.

Nanoha blinked and then she jumped on her feet. "Vivio!" she shouted. In the first moment she wanted to follow the girl, but then she hesitated. She was pretty shaken right now. She didn't doubt that this was her Vivio, she had behaved just like her little girl after all, but still seeing this form again... it had been shocking not just for Vivio. She needed to calm the girl down, the poor thing was obviously frightened. But for that she needed to be calm herself first. She took a deep breath and slowly walked out of the room. Her mind was still in turmoil as she arrived at the door to Vivio's room, but she knocked nevertheless.

"Vivio?" she asked. "Are you... okay?" She REALLYwished she was composed enough to think up better questions right now. Asking such a question when her daughter was obviously NOTokay was... embarrassing at least.

No answer.

"Are you hurt?" THATwas a better question! What if the Sankt Kaiser form had preserved all the injuries from their battle on the Cradle? The pain of the final five Star Light Breakers? Her heart cramped. In that case Vivio would be seriously hurt!

Still no answer. But a quiet whimper.

"Vivio, please, are you injured?" Nanoha asked, getting more and more agitated. What if Vivio...? "Tell me, honey!"

"Go away!"

She could hardly hear the muffled words, and they weren't exactly the words she would have preferred to hear. But she was glad nevertheless. At least Vivio's life wasn't in danger, although the girl definitely didn't sound happy. But it seemed like she still had some time to calm down before she would have to try the same thing with her daughter.

"Vivio, I'll make breakfast," she said loudly, making sure that Vivio heard her behind the door. "I'm not going away, okay? You can shout if you need me. I know that this is strange, but we'll fix it. I promise." She had hoped that Vivio would say something, but the girl disappointed her. Nanoha sighed. "I'll tell you when it's ready."

Silence.

Nanoha took her time making breakfast. The calmer she was when she saw Vivio again the better. The girl couldn't possibly calm down if she sensed that Nanoha was tense too. And Vivio was incredibly insightful about other people's emotions, Nanoha thought with some pride. Maybe being a human guinea pig would do that to you... you tried to understand the people who treated you so badly, so you could act like they wanted and avoid punishment. That's why Fate understood childhood traumas so well, because she had tried to understand her mother's cruel actions for so long.

Nanoha's lips tensed. She would never understand how people like Precia or Jail Scaglietti could treat other human beings like toys. Once, when Vivio had woken up after a nightmare with test tubes and needles – again –, she had been so angry that she had imagined walking into Scaglietti's prison cell and torture him a bit... so he could understand what he had done to this poor girl. It had frightened her a bit. Normally she hated the thought of hurting other people... but the sad truth was that people like him would only understand that inflicting pain on others was bad, if it was inflicted on them. Nanoha didn't know if having these thoughts made her a bad person... but she knew one thing without a doubt: If Scaglietti, or anyone who wanted to harm Vivio, even came close to her daughter again, she wouldn't show much mercy.

She took a deep breathe. But that wasn't the problem right now. Breakfast was ready and she had a child to calm down, a child who hadn't just seen, but had become a ghost of the past. She walked upstairs to Vivio's room again. She knocked.

"Vivio, breakfast is ready," she said in the softest voice she could manage. "Come out, honey. It won't look so bad once we've eaten something."

"I said, go away!"

Now Nanoha was getting a little angry. She put her hand on the doorknob. "Vivio, I know you are frightened, but that is no reason to be rude!" she told her daughter firmly. "Open the door or I will come in!"

"No!"

That was enough. She was a bit calmer now, but that didn't mean she had unlimited patience. She opened the door. It was good that Vivio was still so young... well, normally. That's why she didn't have her own key yet. If it became that way when the girl reached puberty, Nanoha needed to buy some additional doors, in case she had to enter the room by force. Vivio was in her bed. A bigger than normal silhouette was moving under the blanket, pulling the blanket closer to the body. Nanoha sighed again.

"Vivio, this is ridiculous," she said softly, closing the door. "We have to talk about this."

"Stay away, mama!" Vivio repeated, but this time Nanoha could clearly hear that the girl was close to crying. Her anger dwindled and she sat down on the bed.

"Honey..."

"I don't want to hurt you!" Vivio suddenly cried, still hiding under the blanket. "Please go away, mama!"

Nanoha's heart filled with compassion. Of course. The only memories Vivio had about the Sankt Kaiser form were painful ones... she out of control, hurting the person she felt closest to. She wasn't scared because of the transformation itself, like Nanoha was... she was scared of losing control again, scared of hurting Nanoha. Nanoha lied down on Vivio's silhouette, gently rubbing the sobbing girl's covered hand.

"You won't hurt me, Vivio," she whispered soothingly. "The Cradle is destroyed, and if the Cradle people had somehow escaped from prison, Hayate would have told me. You are free."

"But," Vivio sobbed, "but Vivio is still a monster."

Nanoha sat up and pulled the blanket away, ignoring the surprised yelp of her daughter. Vivio was still in her way too short nightie, but even if her body practically screamed "adult", her tears and fetal position told Nanoha "scared young girl". She pulled Vivio up and embraced her tightly, despite some halfhearted resistance.

"Listen to me, Vivio, and listen well," she told the girl sternly. "You are NOT a monster! Never say that again, you hear me?" Her voice became softer. "You are my daughter."

"But..."

"No buts!" she intercepted. "Vivio, do you know what true monsters are like?" she asked. She waited for a moment, but her daughter didn't answer. "True monsters don't care if they hurt other people. They ENJOY hurting other people." She rubbed Vivio's back. "See? That's why you can't be a monster."

"But why am I like this again, mama?" Vivio asked, her voice full of sadness, but also a hint of hope.

"I don't know, Vivio," Nanoha confessed. "I don't know. But that doesn't change anything between us, you understand? I don't care if you are in your Sankt Kaiser body again, you are still my daughter." She kissed Vivio's head. "You will always be my daughter."

"Mama..." Vivio was starting to cry now. "Vivio... Vivio doesn't want to be like this again. Vivio wants to be small again... so she can grow up as Nanoha-mama's and Fate-mama's daughter."

"I would like that too," Nanoha said, feeling how her shoulder got wet from Vivio's tears. She didn't really mind. "And we WILL find a way to reverse that change, I promise. First we'll eat something, and then we'll just wait... and if you are still like this tomorrow, we will visit Shamal."

"No! No doctors!" Vivio cried and pressed herself against Nanoha harder... which even hurt a little thanks to her impressive chest nearly crushing Nanoha's. It somehow reminded Nanoha of Fate-chan... this REALLY was a strange situation!

"Vivio, Shamal won't hurt you," Nanoha tried to soothe her big little girl. "I will be with you. And you remember what I said on the Cradle? I will protect you! No one will ever hurt you again."

Vivio sniffed. "Un..."

"Now," Nanoha said and pushed Vivio away gently. "What do you say if we eat something now? My father always said, everything looks better once you have eaten something."

"Mama's papa said that?"

"He did," Nanoha confirmed, smiling. "And you wouldn't say your grandfather is a liar, would you?" She let go of Vivio's shoulders and stood up. "I think I'll look through some of Fate-chan's clothes. They'll fit you way better than your poor nightie at least." She turned around.

"Mama?"

"Yes?" she asked, looking back again. Vivio was looking down, as if she was embarrassed about something.

"I... I'm glad," the girl finally brought forth. "I'm glad that you are... my mama."

Nanoha smiled. "And I am glad that I have such a wonderful daughter," she told Vivio. "You'll see, tomorrow at the latest everything will be better again."

This was bad. VERY bad.

Vivio hadn't changed back. Since Nanoha hadn't had a clue what they could do, they had finally visited Shamal. Just for that Nanoha had to use all of her persuasiveness, since Vivio didn't have any fond memories of medical instruments. Shamal had tried some things – AND had complimented Vivio's measurements, which had left Vivio clueless and Nanoha blushing –, but eventually she hadn't been able to help them. She had told Nanoha that Vivio should feel as comfortable as possible, maybe that would help, so Nanoha should buy Vivio some new clothes for her Sankt Kaiser form. When Vivio had innocently asked if she'd look as beautiful as her mama, Shamal had said that she'd be so pretty that Fate should probably feel jealous. If she hadn't been so embarrassed, Nanoha would probably had hit her.

And now they were here at the mall, looking for an apparel store. Vivio was pretty excited, Nanoha less so. She had hoped that Shamal would succeed in turning Vivio back into her child self. But perhaps she was right – even if Vivio changed back eventually, and Shamal had been sure of that, since it probably took quite an amount of Vivio's magic reserve to maintain the Sankt Kaiser form, there was a chance she would change again. Better to have a few clothes at home then, Fate-chan's were better than Nanoha's, but they still didn't quite fit their grown up daughter.

"Let's try this one," she said and entered the store, not waiting for Vivio to reply. Better to get this over with as fast as possible.

"Hello," a salesgirl with a smile way too big in Nanoha's current mood said and approached them. "Can I help you?"

"Yes," Nanoha said. "My... Vivio here needs a whole new set of clothes."

"That's no problem," the girl told her. "We have got everything you need. Vivio, would you please follow me...?"

"No!" Vivio said and linked arms with her mother. "I want to go with mama."

"She is younger than she looks," Nanoha quickly added when she spotted the bewildered look on the face of the salesgirl.

"I... see," the girl mumbled. Nanoha could practically see the word "weirdos" forming in her mind. "Well, if you need me, just call."

Nanoha sighed. "Okay, let's get this over with," she told Vivio. "Let's get the T-Shirts first."

"Yay!" Vivio cheered, running ahead.

It took them longer than Nanoha had feared. Although Vivio didn't know anything about fashion, they hadn't been shopping together that often, and she was excited about all the grown-up-clothes... especially about the underwear. That's why poor Nanoha was spending most of the time in front of the changing cubicle, making sure that nobody saw her daughter half-naked. In her current mood that wouldn't have been a very pleasant conversation with this person.

"Vivio, what's taking you so long?" she asked the girl. There were more and more people coming into the store, and Nanoha desperately wanted to leave before someone she knew showed up.

"I don't know how this thing works, mama."

What was she trying on right now...? Oh no! Nanoha looked around, making sure nobody was looking in her direction, before she quickly entered the cubicle. And groaned. Please... not this! But Vivio was already looking at her with these sad puppy eyes again. She immediately knew that she had lost.

"Mama... please help me."

Next time YOU will go shopping with Vivio, Fate-chan!, she promised while she grudgingly accepted her fate.

Hayate was enjoying her shopping trip. She wasn't really the girl who'd go on endless shopping sprees, but considering her no-nonsense-job in the military it was nice to relax once in a while. But since she couldn't find anything nice in this store, and Signum was probably already about to go looking for her – sword bared probably – she was about to leave... when she suddenly heard a familiar voice.

"Hold still!" the voice said. "We have to hurry..."

"But this tickles..."

Hayate blinked. The first one had been Nanoha's voice... right? But she didn't know the second one. She looked around. The changing cubicle? Nanoha was in the changing cubicle... with another woman? Hayate shook her head. No, that couldn't be. She probably just misheard.

"Sssshh!" No, it was definitely Nanoha. Hayate crept closer. "I don't want anyone to catch us here. We've already been here way too long!"

"But I like it here..."

No, Hayate didn't know the second voice. But this childish, innocent tone... this girl was teasing Nanoha, definitely. But why was her friend even here? As far as she knew, Fate and Nanoha were still together – it had taken them long enough to even get together –, so what was Nanoha doing in a small cabin with a stranger? Hayate was getting a little angry. It wasn't really her business, but both Fate and Nanoha were her friends... and she couldn't believe Nanoha would so something that would hurt Fate!

"No, this has been long enough!" Nanoha whispered. "Get dressed! You can continue trying these things on when we are at home again..."

At HOME? Nanoha was even bringing this person into her's and Fate's house? That was enough! She pushed the curtain aside. "Nanoha!" Hayate hissed, just barely keeping her voice down. "What are you..." But she stopped when she saw the scene in front of her. Her eyes became big. Nanoha was still dressed, thank god... but the girl she was with, a curvy young girl with long, sandy hair, was nearly undressed from the waist up. Her folded arms were the only thing, that kept her loose bra in place. And worse, Nanoha's hands were on the bra clasp. Hayate would have really liked to continue her sentence, but this scene had just become... surreal.

Nanoha and the girl had been stunned by her entrance too, but Nanoha managed to overcome the shock sooner. Her auburn-haired friend groaned, like if this had been the worst kind of day for her – and depending how she would explain... THIS to Hayate, that could very well be – and said:

"This is SO not what it looks like, Hayate!"

Hayate didn't know if that was true. Thinking was quite a hard thing to do right now, actually, the scene in front of her was just to strange. But one thing she knew: Either she would now hear a dirty and tragic tale of adultery, which would lead to her deciding if Fate or Nanoha were more important as a friend to her, or a weird and probably funny tale full of misunderstandings, which would leave them all laughing for the rest of the day.

Either way, this was even more interesting than Signum on a crusade through the city, trying to find Hayate by threatening passers-by with her sword.

"Now THAT'S a great story!" Hayate laughed while she drank her third coffee. What Nanoha had told her was absolutely ridiculous and utterly unbelievable – if it had come from anyone else but Nanoha. But her friend – and she was glad that she could still consider Nanoha her friend – lead a quite unusual life, being the Ace of Aces and having fought the greatest threats whole planets had faced in the last centuries. It was so heroic that it would have been odd, if there hadn't been some comedy like this in Nanoha's life once in a while.

She looked at the cause of all the trouble. Vivio was currently eating her second cup of ice cream. She hadn't said very much since Hayate had caught her and her mother in this very compromising position, mostly because of the ice cream. She had changed so much, if it hadn't been for her unusual eyes, Hayate might not have believed Nanoha's story after all. Long, flowing hair, curves in all the right places, which were hidden, but not erased by Fate's clothes right now, and the childlike happiness on her face right now... if she grew up looking this way, Nanoha and Fate would have their hands full with keeping suitors away. Hayate herself might even be one of them!

"Ahem," Nanoha pushed her back into reality. Vivio's mother wasn't looking very pleased. Well, actually she had been quite moody since Hayate had surprised them in the store, she had pretty much dragged Vivio and Hayate out of the store and into this ice cream parlour. And after hearing what kind of day Nanoha had had so far, Hayate would have shown compassion – if it hadn't been so funny to listen. "Would you please stop undressing Vivio with your eyes, Hayate?"

The brown-haired girl grinned saucily. "I'm not sure, if you should talk, Nanoha," she countered. "After all I nearly caught you cheating on Fate."

Nanoha growled, but she still blushed. "If you don't stop talking about this RIGHT NOW..."

"Mama? What are you and Hayate-san talking about?" Vivio suddenly entered the discussion. Probably because she had finished her ice cream.

"It's nothing, Vivio," Hayate reassured the girl. "I was just teasing your mother a bit." Then she became serious. "But really, Nanoha, what do you want to do about Vivio's transformation?"

"I don't know," Nanoha sighed. "Shamal said that we can only wait until Vivio's magical power runs out."

"Vivio will try very hard to change back, mama," Vivio announced and put her hand on Nanoha's, smiling encouragingly. "Vivio doesn't want mama to worry any longer."

"Thanks Vivio," Nanoha said and quickly caressed the other girl's cheek. "You are such a good girl."

Hayate was a bit jealous when she saw this picture of mother-daughter-love. Sure, she had her own family now, but a loving daughter like Vivio was something she'd maybe never have. "But you know, if it doesn't work, Vivio, being a grown-up has its benefits too," she interjected to cover up her upcoming sadness. "You could always go out with me."

Nanoha growled again. "Ha-ya-te..."

But Vivio shook her head. "I'm sorry, Hayate-san, but I can't go on dates right now," she apologized. "I want to become small again and grow up as mama's daughter, so that she is happy again."

"Vivio..." Nanoha murmured touched. "I don't care if you are a kid or grown-up... well, okay, I WOULD prefer if you were small again," she added, when Hayate and Vivio looked at her sceptically. "But you will ALWAYS be my daughter... and that's what really matters."

"Mama..."

It was a touching moment. Which was only ruined because Vivio suddenly put her hand on her belly. She became pale.

"Vivio?" Nanoha was immediately at 100% worry again. "What's wrong, honey?"

"It's probably the ice cream," Hayate deducted. "Let's get her to the bathroom."

They barely made it. Vivio looked sicker and sicker and when she finally locked the bathroom door behind her, one of the two females behind her was nearly hysteric.

"Nanoha, calm down," Hayate told her friend and put a hand on the auburn-haired girl's shoulder. "She just ate too fast and now she's a little sick. It's nothing to worry about."

"But what if it's serious?" Nanoha asked, staring at the door, through which they could hear gagging noises and moans. "What if she has run out of energy, yet can't change back? What if..."

"Nanoha!" Hayate's grip became firmer. "If that happens, we take her to Shamal immediately. But now you need to keep a cool head."

"I really wish Fate-chan was here," the other girl mumbled. "I don't know if I can do this alone, Hayate."

"You're doing fine," the brown-haired girl reassured her friend. "You love her. You can get help for all other aspects of parenthood, but that's the one thing where no one can replace you."

Nanoha smiled weakly at her. "Thank you, Hayate."

"Mama..."

"Vivio!" Nanoha was at the door immediately. "How do you feel?"

The door slowly opened. And Nanoha's and Hayate's eyes went wide when they saw the little girl standing in a pile of clothes now too big for her.

"... Vivio is small again."

Nanoha immediately hugged the little girl. "I was so worried about you," she whispered. "I'm so glad that you didn't get sick, Vivio."

"Mama..."

Hayate smiled at the heartwarming scene. But also because she was eager to see the looks on the faces of the people, when they went outside again with a little girl in way too big clothes. It seemed like Nanoha's bad day hadn't ended yet.

Nanoha was glad that this day was finally over. She was grateful that Hayate had called Signum and that the older woman had picked them up, sparing Nanoha a walk through the city with a very inappropriately dressed Vivio. But she could have lived without the sassy grin of her friend. Well, at least it was over now... Vivio was in bed, the little girl had even apologized for being such a problem child – as if it had been her fault –, sleeping soundly. And Nanoha could now finally relax. Now that it was over, she could understand why Hayate had been so amused all day... looking back, it was a fairly hilarious chain of events.

Still, she wouldn't be sad if it never happened again... or at least not so soon. She couldn't wait to tell Fate-chan about it. The blonde woman would probably be just as amused as Hayate. But it was easier to laugh upon now that it was in the past. Nanoha closed her eyes and relaxed in her bed. She had been pretty tense all day long, it felt wonderful to just lay there and let the events of the day pass by in her mind. She waking up with Vivio pressed against her... Vivio afraid of hurting her... Shamal making jokes about Vivio... Hayate surprising Vivio and her in the changing cubicle... Vivio crying...

What, crying?

Nanoha's eyes flew open. That wasn't a memory. Vivio was really crying. Loudly. She jumped out of the bed and practically flew to Vivio's room, barely taking time to open the door before storming in.

"Vivio, what's..."

That's when her jaw stopped taking orders from her and simply dropped. Completely stunned she looked down at her daughter. Her YERY young daughter. Her toddler daughter, who was currently lying in her new and now too big nightie, crying her eyes out. She couldn't think. Her brain had stopped working. Still, there was one word that was in her mind, and she screamed it telepathically:

FATE-CHAAAAAAAAAN!

And toddler Vivio joined in screaming.

Fate woke up abruptly. For a moment or so she had been sure that she had heard Nanoha... but her girlfriend was far away in their house. Although tired, she smiled. She missed Nanoha... and Vivio too. She should probably call her little family as soon as possible. She was very eager to know what had happened in the time she had been gone. Not much probably, Nanoha was likely bored out of her mind. Yes, she should really call her... especially since she had been told that they needed her here for a few more days. Ah, it wasn't that long, the two would barely miss her.

With these thoughts Fate fell asleep again.