Quick Note: This chapter has been edited as of 7/19/2011, to smooth over some of the rough patches that reviewers have mentioned about the first draft. Thank you to all those who had reviewed the first time, I took your feedback to heart =). And many thanks to DezoPenguin for being a super-editor on this chapter!

Prerogative of the Brave

"A coward is incapable of exhibiting love; it is the prerogative of the brave."

-Mahatma Gandhi

Day 2

"Bar—tender," Hayate said, her voice clearer than her head, "another please."

The young bartender gave her a sideways look. "Are you sure? Daniel told me he had given you four drinks already during his shift."

"I'm military," Hayate told him, tapping her shot glass on the bar impatiently. "I can hold my liquor. Another one, please."

She really needed it.

That was the bad thing about being able to hold her liquor: it took far too long for Hayate to get properly drunk and in blissful oblivion. Not that she ever really went that far many times. It wasn't proper behaviour for an officer, and emergencies didn't always take a convenient holiday because she was hung over.

"How did you get here?" The bartender asked as he poured her another shot. "Keys?"

"I walked." Hayate tossed the shot down and gestured for another one. "These legs carry me fine, you know."

"Hm." He slid another drink across the counter.

Hayate was on vacation, she was allowed to poison her brain cells dead. Having those pesky things let her think. Far too well, sometimes, and Hayate didn't want that right now.

Oooh, that last one made her head go kinda cloudy. That was good.

When Vivio had put that rose down on Hayate's desk, that had made her head go pretty cloudy too—No! She wasn't supposed to be thinking about that!

"Barrrtender, anotherrr!" Hayate called out desperately.

"Look lady," the bartender said exasperatedly. "If you're here by yourself, I'm not giving you any more. You can't walk home if you're plastered."

"Oh, don't worry, she's with us," Nanoha Takamachi's distinctive voice spoke from over Hayate's shoulder.

"Nanoha-chan…" Hayate groaned, and her addressing the newcomers eased the suspicious expression from the bartender's face. "I thought you guys were…doing family stuff. With family."

"Momoko-san took Vivio with her to her book club, so that she can show off her granddaughter," Fate told Hayate, taking a seat at Hayate's right. Nanoha sat on Fate's other side, and from the corner of her vision Hayate saw Suzuka and Arisa sit down as well further down the line. "So we decided to come join you."

"We'll have four of whatever she just had," Arisa said to the young man, jerking her thumb at Hayate. Four shots slid down the bar, but Nanoha passed hers down.

"I'm the designated driver," she explained, setting the shot down in front of Hayate instead. "I'll have a ginger ale."

"Is this on a new tab?"

"Just throw her tab down onto mine," Arisa said, shooting down her drink. "So Hayate, why are you being so anti-social, drinking by yourself?"

"She's moping because she's all confused over Vivio."

"I'm nooooot!" Hayate whined, gulping her drink. How many had she had already? Whatever the number, it sure wasn't enough—the alcohol was only loosening her tongue, not turning her brain to mush!

"Oh, you mean Vivio-chan still has her crush on Hayate-chan?" Suzuka asked, ignoring Hayate's outburst. "Wow, it's been, what, five years since her proposing to Hayate-chan? And she's still crushing?"

"Still, and I'd say it even grew some," Fate said sagely. She ordered the next round and passed down something blue in a new round of shot glasses.

"Yeah…I'm pretty sure she confessed her feelings to Hayate-chan two days ago," Nanoha added.

"WHAT?" Four voices exclaimed in reply. Hayate sunk into her seat, wishing she could melt through the wood. How did—When had Nanoha—ooooh, it must have been the lipstick on Hayate's collar…

"Well, one," Nanoha said, raising one finger to tick off imaginary points. "She had asked me for the name of a good flower shop before she left for work yesterday. Two, when I called yesterday into Hayate-chan's office both Vivio and Hayate-chan looked awfully flustered. And thirdly, why else would Hayate-chan have run away like a big wimp?"

"Are you sure you're not drunk too?" Hayate moaned. "Nanoha-chan doesn't say stuff like that!"

"Nanoha doesn't need alcohol to talk like that. Getting married made her more outspoken, you know."

Nanoha blushed. "Fate-chan!"

"Getting drunk seems to make Fate more outspoken…"

"I'm a bit surprised," Suzuka remarked, ordering another series of drinks. "You two seem to be taking this really well. Aren't you, well…a bit concerned?"

Hayate slammed down her next shot, and the resulting burning heat that rose in her neck and the back of her head distracted her enough that she missed part of the conversation. But unfortunately, she tuned in enough to hear part of Nanoha's reply.

"…nothing against Hayate-chan, but, well, it was kinda surprising. I mean, no one expects their daughter to fall in love with their best friend, right? I'm not quite sure when we realized exactly that it wasn't just a passing crush but something a little more serious…But in the end, we couldn't really force the issue or brush it off." Nanoha shrugged, and smiled a touch sadly, clasping her hand over Fate's. "I knew I was in love when I was thirteen, and I wasn't wrong. So how could I say that Vivio isn't, well, at least sincere in her feelings?"

"That's very…" Arisa searched for the right word, a mite slower than usual due to her raised blood alcohol level. "…wow, mature of you, Nanoha."

"Arisa-chan!" Nanoha pouted.

"Love knows no boundaries and all…so I guess age is out?"

"And gender," Suzuka added wistfully, leaning her chin on one wobbly hand.

Hayate whimpered. They all ignored her.

"What's best for Vivio is that she's happy, right? And she's smart, so she thinks things through…so I just want her to feel respected, you know, for her feelings. Even if it's a little startling..."

"We did talk about thhhiss before," Fate slurred slightly, her first sign of tipsiness. "Our earliest conversations weren't nearly so calm. But Vivio's a good girl. She's a Ta-ka-ma-chi."

Arisa sniggered. "Oh yes, I can see that already."

"Besides, she could do worse than Hayate-chan, right? Well, other than her lack of guts in actually confronting—"

The words burst from Hayate's mouth before she could stop herself. "Sssshe can do betterrrrr!"

A row of raised eyebrows confronted her blurry vision. "Hayate-chan, don't dismiss yourself like that. I mean, you're smart, good-hearted, sexy in that new uniform—"

"Nanohaaaaa…"

"You're definitely sexier, Fate," Nanoha assured, kissing her wife to support her point. Fate looked mollified, smiling dazedly. "Where was I? Oh yeah—so I guess Vivio didn't do a bad job picking someone to fall in love over—"

Hayate blew out a stream of vodka at that word, coughing onto the bar top. What...that word…no…it couldn't…but…huh…

"You broke Hayate-chan!"

Fate pounded on Hayate's back as the brunette sputtered weakly. "She's fine."

"No, I'm nooooooot!" Hayate wailed.

"Aha, so Vivio did confess to you? Did she ask you out?" Despite Nanoha's large grin, a slightly worried, apprehensive look lingered behind the smile. Fate looked too drunk—or was Hayate too drunk?—for Hayate to decipher what the blonde might have been thinking. Or maybe Fate was just dealing with it better.

Or maybe Fate just wasn't showing her hand yet. There's a reason the blonde Enforcer consistently won at poker games. It was probably inherited—Lindy never lost a round of poker either.

Wait, what was the topic again?

Blonde. Red and green eyes. Smart, good at fighting, thoughtful but a terrible public speaker—well, to Hayate at least…oh, yes. Vivio. And about how she had been in Hayate's office and—

Thank god. This means Nanoha didn't see anything!

Hayate wasn't as worried about a Starlight Breaker as she was about the serious sit-down "Vivio is jailbait" talk…

"I'm not telllllling any of you anything!" Hayate declared, her vision swimming. Just like they taught in officer training, a good commander would never break under torture! A good commander takes care of her team…and watches out for them…and rewards them if they're good…and thinks about what's best for them…

The rose. And the chair… and Vivio was hurt? That was a bad thing, terrible…And then Nanoha called and saw…and saw…

"Aw, Hayate-chan…" Suzuka wheedled. Hayate stared down at her hands. When did she get another drink? She swallowed that one too. Damn, her brain wasn't suitably broken yet. She could still process their questions…

"So, Hayate?"

"I'm no good," Hayate muttered, her shoulders shaking. She could feel a chill throughout her whole body as she shook so badly she sloshed liquor over the edge of her glass. "I'm not like Fate-chan inside! That's what Vivio should have! Not Fate-chan, Fate-chan," she amended awkwardly, "but what's inside!"

"…Whaaaaaat?"

"You know!" Hayate waved one hand, the motion nearly rocking her off her stool. She gulped at her glass, the coolness of her drink temporarily jolting her brain more coherent. God, did she nearly say it? They wouldn't have understood what she meant with her self-hate on how inadequate she was in true intimacy. And maybe it was because she was drunk, but Hayate couldn't really understand it right then either.

"I'm old!" Hayate burst out, the first thing that came to mind. "I'm like her aunt! I'm too wimpy to love like that…Vivio can do so much better. She'll get anyone she wants!"

"Uh, she kinda wants you, Hayate." How did Arisa manage to sound so sober? Hayate could barely remember that when they said "Hayate" they were referring to her.

"Urk!" Hayate yelped, belatedly realizing what she had said. Anyone but Hayate! But if it was true that Vivio was so beautiful and great that she can get anyone she wants…then if she wants Hayate…then that means that Hayate was good enough? She groaned, the world spinning around her as her brain swished inside her skull. "It makes no sense…"

"Hayate-chan!" Suzuka slammed a hand on the table top, making all of them jump with varying degrees of steadiness. She pushed Nanoha and Fate aside with her other hand so that she could look at Hayate and said sternly, "You said a lotta stuff just now. But you didn't say the important part!"

"…What important part?" Hayate said fearfully.

"You know! The important part!" Suzuka gesticulated frantically, nearly knocking Fate off her seat. Nanoha grabbed her wife and held her safely close, and Fate mumbled in contentment as her face was squished up against Nanoha's chest. Suzuka continued firmly, her eyes intense with drunken passion, "You didn't say that you didn't love Vivio!"

Hayate froze.

Of course she didn't…no, she did, of course she loved Vivio…like she loves all her friends…but Vivio was specialer…she loved Vita and Signum and Shamal and Zafira specialer too, but still…Vivio?...Vivio was funny and sweet and earnest…like Nanoha and Fate…they were her friends…Hayate loved all her friends…so she did love Vivio too, of course…of course she loved Vivio!

Hayate felt all the heat dribble out of her ears and her open mouth.

OhmygodIloveVivio—

Hayate's eyes rolled back and she fainted off her chair.

Author's Note: Shameless self-plug, hehe ^_^: the "first discussions" referenced here will be covered in a series of stories by me that show Fate and Nanoha's first talks together about the idea of Vivio and Hayate together. The first in those stories is "Little Girl", which is already posted.