Thoughts

'Telepathy'

'Communications'

Devices.

"Normal Speech"

The ride to the hospital was a dull one. Namika found herself staring out the small ambulance window, trying to get a better grasp of her surroundings. Alas, none of the places she saw were even vaguely familiar to the young (again) girl. Heck she didn't even remember how she got in that building. She didn't even remember what she was doing before that. That's not a good sign. Then again... waking up in a burning building is never a good sign. I remembered my name... that's good, but... why don't I recall anything else... To say that she had amnesia would be incorrect. She just couldn't recall anything about her past. She knew it was there, but it was as if something was suppressing it. She wasn't really worried about that... for this type of thing happened to her all the time. She was vaguely aware of it, hence why she was not freaking out as she should have been under normal circumstances. First thing's first though, I have to find where I am, and possibly clues as to why I'm here. The girl didn't have any time to make other elaborate schemes. The ambulance had finally arrived at the hospital.

Chapter 2: A surprise visit.

At the Mid-childian hospital

Hospitals. They were a sanctum for healing and salvation. If you were ill this is where you'd go. Competent and knowledgeable staff would take care of your needs and ensure that you leave strong and healthy. Namika acknowledged the nee for these places but it did not mean that she enjoyed staying in them. If she could help it, she'd avoid them like the plague. Alas it is not meant to be.

As soon as the ambulance reached the hospital they were swarmed with doctors. She was quickly checked in and rushed to her own hospital room. It all happened in a blur. She was placed on a bed and rushed inside. She couldn't even say goodbye to her new friend Subaru. Darn it, I'll have to make sure to ask about her later. And while she thought that, the nurse was already taking her to a hospital room. And seriously... It was a really dull hospital room. Beds, bed stands, hangers and a small TV. Nothing too out of the ordinary except that she was brought there fast... a little too fast. Heck she even wondered if they hadn't used some type of a time device to augment her perception of time. No... pretty sure it's the drugs getting to me. Aw darn it. Now I can't go sniffing around without falling over my feet every two seconds. But still... why was I admitted so quickly...?

The worst part of it all... was that she was a small girl... and by definition she heard the word 'adorable' being said to her more times than she dared count. She didn't take compliments well, and didn't like being referred to as adorable, no matter who said it. Also small girls were never left without a caretaker. And a caretaker would really hamper her attempts to gather any coherent intel. Nothing can be done about that now... hopefully the guy they get to treat me will be easily manipulated. Alas... the guy they got to treat her... was the epitome of boredom.

"Can I go home now?!" Namika pleaded for the N-teeth time in the last fifteen minutes. Now that the effect of drugs were gone, she could easily voice her displeasure. Luckily for the doctors, they managed to bandage her up and give her the meds before she had even had the chance to bite their fingers off. She hated hospitals before, but the doctor, Read: Pain in my three-letter-word, was making even more unbearable than before. Though she would bet that the doctor was debating whether gagging her would be a good idea or not.

"No, you cannot." the man was definitely in his mid 40s, with silver hair and blue eyes denied her for the n-teeth time. He also wore a long white coat and glasses which made him look more sophisticated. He was currently checking on his patient, aka Namika.

"And why not?!" she tried to reason herself as the silver haired doctor was preparing to put a gigantic needle in her arm. "I told you already. I am healthy as a horse!" Namika even moved her arms around to prove her point. "See?!" Truth be told she just hated these places and had good reasons too.

"Yeah sure. You are... very healthy for someone who came out of the oven..." the doctor replied sarcastically which caused her to narrow her eyes very slowly showing that she didn't appreciate the sarcastic joke. "That would have been true if we exclude..." he flipped through some pages and coughed dramatically "Let me see here... the twisted ankle." he pointed at the bandaged ankle "The burnt arm..." he pointed at her bandaged arm "The swollen eye..." he pointed at her bandaged eye "And not to mention that your lungs are intoxicated and you have and a rather serious concussion, young lady. It's possible that you might even have short term memory loss, more commonly known as 'white holes'. I am honestly surprised that you even remember your name..." he shook his head slightly "You must have banged your head pretty hard..." he was murmuring to himself.

Namika huffed in response, hating the fact that she had to stay there, Though I can definitely make use of those 'white holes' to get out of some question that he is BOUND to ask.

"How long have you been in that building?" oddly enough she was right.

"How the hell am I supposed to know. I was unconscious during the whole ordeal." she replied gruffly.

"Little girls like you shouldn't curse like that ..." the doctor said in a cooing voice while waving his pen in front of her in a scolding manner. Namika almost growled. She really, REALLY wanted to bite his hand off.

"Hell is a place, not a curse!" she spoke through gritted teeth. And I am not little you OLD FART!

"Wow..." the doctor mocked her "A smart one aren't you..." with a voice thick with sarcasm.

Smarter than you think. "I get that a lot." she gave him a smile which was almost saying: Piss me off a little more and you will meet your creator.

"Of course you do." the doctor said completely ignoring her attempts to scare him off. The little girl was almost tempted to rip his neck off... ALMOST! The doctor place the needle in her arm which earned nothing more but a cold stare.

"Are you in any pain?" he asked not moved at all.

"No."

"Rashes?"

"Nope."

"Where do you live?"

"I live..." Namika stopped and her mind hit a brick wall... figuratively speaking. "I live..." Where do I live...?

"Hm..." the doctor nodded as Namika gave him a look that shouted 'WTF is that supposed to mean?!' though the doctor completely ignored her.

"I need to ask a couple of questions. It's the standard procedure."

Aren't you doing that already... "Might as well get it over with..." she sighed with some annoyance "But before that can I ask you something first?"

"Feel free to do so."

"How is Subaru doing? You know... the girl that was brought with me?"

"Subaru Nakajima?" the doctor asked which Namika answered with a nod "Are you a relative of hers?" he asked clearly intrigued.

"I'll tell you when you tell me..." the girl answered in a powerful voice which left no room for negotiations.

"She is doing way better than you are, that is for certain." the doctor sighed. What an impossible patient have they given him. He should have gotten home when he got the chance, but then that fire started and hospital was suddenly short staffed... He really hated Tuesdays. "A few scratches here and there but nothing too serious. She will be kept under observation just in case though." for some reason he couldn't stop talking.

"Oh thank goodness." Namika breathed a sigh of relief. She was glad that at least the blue haired girl was doing okay. She smiled a little.

"Now can I ask my questions?" the doctor asked a little confused by her sudden change of moods.

"That was the deal was it not?" she answered in a chipper voice as if she didn't care anymore.

"Alright then." the doctor smiled ruefully "What is your name?"

"Namika Chikanatsu."

"How old are you?"

Aw Bloody hell! "How old do I look like?" she asked defiantly. Truth be told she wasn't entirely sure herself.

"You are not keeping your end of the bargain..." The doctor did not get the chance to finish that sentence though.

"NA~MI~KA~-CHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAN~!"

"What the?!" she found herself being glomped by a old man in his late sixties, who had burst through the door. She was fairly surprised that he didn't punch a hole through it. He was rather short for a man and had whitish hair, though he was bald for the most part and had hair on his sides only, which was sticking out like ears. He also wore a mechanic's suit and had... black glasses on?! Or were they googles... or is it goggles?

"Namika-chaan!" he cried like a little girl "I thought I lost you!" he was embracing her like she was his favorite teddy bear and wailing like a little child. "When I heard about the fire and... and... I though you were a goner! A-an and... waaa!" he kept on crying.

"Who the hell are you? Get off of me?!" she was trying desperately to get the old man to let her go but to no avail... he just kept on wailing and clinging to her... Who the hell is he!?

"AAAA! Namika-chaaaaaaaAaAahaaan... waa... How can you not remember your old man?" the old man kept crying like she just stole his favorite toy and burned it.

My old man?! What the hell has this guy been drinking?! Namika thought as she kept struggling, with the oddly strong old man. Finally she could not take it anymore.

"LET ME GO I TELL YOU?!" the old man stopped wailing and looked her in the eye and started crying again.

"Aww you're so cruel! How can you not remember your own grandfather?!" he faked total heartbreaking, or at least that is what she thought he did.

Drama Queen... "My what...?" she asked the crying old man puzzled.

"Now do you see what I meant by white holes?" the doctor who had been gaping during the whole ordeal finally spoke.

"What?!" Namika looked at the doctor. "You actually know who he is?"

"No." The doctor said while ticking something on his pad. And Namika had just become the personification of the deadpan look.

"Aww do you see how cruel she is?" her 'grandfather' complained at the silver haired doctor. "She's been always like this disregarding the old... waaaa!" he clung to the doctor's coat and asked through teary eyes "She will remember someday won't she...? Please tell me that she will! Please! Don't let this old man die alone!"

"Well she needs a lot of rest and if she takes her meds regularly she would heal up in no time." the doctor said, completely ignoring the old man's antics.

"But she will remember right? Her memory isn't damaged forever is it?!"

"Of course she will, you just have to keep her from getting stressed. No activities whatsoever before she is tame enough to be a productive member of society. Also I recommend that you visit doctor Ashford, a specialist in child welfare and-"

"DO NOT ACT AS IF I AM NOT IN THE ROOM !" Namika yelled finally losing all patience with the two men, who now stared at her with almost terrified expressions on their faces. Who the hell do they think they are?!

"Oh for crying out loud, master... you don't have to shout." a new voice came from the door. This voice however, was one she recognised. Namika, the doctor and the old man turned toward the door from where the voice came from. Leaning on it was a teenage boy with a reddish brown hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a pair of white sneakers, brown jeans, a white shirt and a black leather jacket. "I doubt that the whole building wants to know about your problems?" the boy smiled.

"Drake...? Is that you!" Namika exclaimed as a series of violent coughs shook her body "Now I get... it... when... you said... intoxicated lungs doc..." she managed to choke out.

"Take it easy there" Drake went to her side and patted her soothingly on the back "You were almost baked to death." he said humorously.

"Don't you mean roasted?" the boy chuckled as a very concerned old man went into a fit.

"How can you two joke about this?! She almost died and you are congratulating her on doing that?! Aren't you supposed to be her guardian or something... Who would..."

"Don't worry great grandpa..." Drake tried to calm the old man which puzzled Namika even more. "She is a tough girl. She will be fine. She is my master after all..." he gave her a warm hug while the girl was pondering on what was going on.

'Do you have something to say to me Drake?' she sent a telepathic message. She was fed up with not knowing what was happening...

'Just play along for now. I promise I will explain everything later'

'You better.'

While their internal conversation was going on the old man had listed several reasons as to why Drake should try to be more responsible though no one listened.

"...and you still claim that..."

"Grandfather?" Namika asked hesitantly feigning that she was remembering. "I'm sorry I just couldn't recognise you..." The old man's eyes went wide and began tearing.

"Oh Na-m-ika-chan~..." he was about to glomp her again...

Oh dear lord... Couldn't you have picked someone less excitable... Namika thought as she hid behind Drake.

"Umm I don't think that is a great idea great grandpa" Drake cut him off as he placed a protective arm around his master. "You're scaring her."

'No he's not!' Namika elbowed him weakly. 'I just don't want him to crush my bones again!'

'Keep telling yourself that, master...'

'I thought I told you to stop calling me that!'

"But... but..." The old man tried to protest, but only whimpering came out of his lips.

"I will have to agree with the young... um?" the doctor looked at the boy quizzically. Namika and Drake shared a look after which Namika shrugged.

"I'm her guardian beast." he stated proudly and Namika smiled. The doctor blinked.

"Don't you mean... familiar?" he asked hesitantly. He had heard rumors about guardian beasts but he thought that a familiar and a guardian beast were the same thing. Both Namika and Drake shook their head.

"It's a little more complicated than that..." the girl said with a small smile. She wasn't surprised from his lack of knowledge. Drake's kind was not very... er... popular.

"Yeah I concur... even I don't understand it fully yet... It is very fascinating and to know that my little granddaughter managed to pull it off." the old man murmured mostly to himself, while rubbing his chin.

"Well now that we established the fact that you all are related..." the doctor began speaking... 'Are we?' Namika asked Drake while the doc was talking 'Please just play along.' came the reply. "...I still have to get your personal data..."

"Ah I will gladly come with you and answer all your questions." the old man offered after which he turned to his granddaughter "I am aware that this will take time so don't worry okay..." he spoke in a normal way for the 1st time which earned a hesitant nod from the wounded girl. "Okay where do we go doc?"

"Very well then..." the doctored jestured toward the door "This way..." Before they left the old man spoke "Be right back Namika-chan. Please be a good girl and don't break anything~" he ruffled her hair and left the room along with the doctor.

Namika and Drake were hugging each other silently feeling an odd sense of peace of body and mind, but there were matters to attend to...

"Okay... Who the hell is that old man and why does he think he is my grandfather?"

"It's kind of a long story..." Drake sighed as he sat on the bed across from her. Namika had adopted a pouting expression by that time.

"I don't think I'm going anywhere in the near future." she gestured toward her bandages.

Drake laughed.

"It's so NOT funny..."

"Come on now. He can totally pass for your grand..."

"That is not what I meant..." Namika cut him off.

"I know... but still you have to admit the old guy has spirit."

"That I can admit..." she shrugged not really caring "But ... I really hate this..."

"It's not that bad." he offered weakly.

"Being unable to do anything while in a pinch like that is not the best thing that has happened to me Drake!"

"I take it that you are aware then?" he asked with a serious tone.

"Being in a 13-year-old body kind of hinted to that... that is... if I'm even thirteen." she sighed in exasperation. Right now her age was the least of her problems "That and I saw the black mist around my linker core, which is not supposed to be there, while Nanoha was staring at my chest." she pouted and Drake laughed again "It's not funny." he kept on laughing "Stop it already, for crying out loud!"

"Nanoha?" Drake asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The woman that saved me from a burning building... and no, I didn't ask if she were single... and no, I have no intention of pursuing any kind of relationship with her. Can we please go back to the main topic? As in... what is this black thing in my chest!?" Namika asked while crossing her arms... and grunting in pain. "Ow... bad idea..."

Drake couldn't help but chuckle. His master knew him too well. Sometimes so well that he didn't have to ask a question, to get the answer he sought. Still... his Mistress was antagonized enough for one day... He took a small breath and began his explanation.

"It's a special kind of seal. Though it can be broken, it will wane in time, so it's better to leave it alone." he looked her in the eye "There is a reason that it's there."

Namika closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know there is a reason..." she then looked at him. "I just want to know what that reason is..." Drake averted his gaze and Namika knew what that meant. He knew something and was hiding it. "You won't be able to protect me this way and you know it..." she could hear him sighing "Tell me." the blue eyed boy knew that he had to tell her eventually. He went to lie next to her and kissed her forehead as he gave her a loving hug.

"SPILL IT ALREADY!" she said losing patience.

'What needs to be said must be heard only by you.' he spoke to her as he initiated the telepathic link.

'This works too. Whisper is a more sophisticated form of telepathic communication. It cannot be intercepted as far as I know.'

'I am aware of that, but I didn't want to tempt Fate. Which is why I waited this long to come to you...'

'Do you mean to tell me that you KNEW that I was in that burning building.'

'Yes, but by the time we reached it you had been rescued and were being attended to. So I had to wait. Approaching you at that time would have raised too much unnecessary commotion and...'

'Okay okay... I get it already.' she sighed again. 'So tell me or do I have to give you an order so you stop beating bout the bush'

'Alright.' he sighed as his expression became neutral. 'Long story short. The planet we as in Diana, Spike and I woke up on is called Gaspallos. When we woke we found ourselves in an abandoned house, within some deserted village near some archeological digs or something similar to that. The planet is relatively close by, given how fast we were able to find you.' he took a deep breath. 'Anyway, the house that we woke up on was recently abandoned. It was a tidy place so we looked around, but none of us was prepared for what we found...' he hesitated.

'What did you find?'

'One of the rooms on the second floor was locked... by a blood spell...'

'A Blood mage?! Here!?' Namika almost growled out loud 'I thought I got rid of that cult...'

'No it isn't what you think... The spell was mostly magic mixed with a little blood. An amateur's work compared to what those cultists could do... and as far as we're aware you the only one who can use that particular magic to it's full extent...' after receiving a nod Drake went on 'Breaking the spell was easy and so we were granted entrance. The room itself was decorated in a way that could suit your tastes. On the table however we found the actual surprise. The deed of the house, some health care coupons, bank accounts with a decent amount of money and a fake birth certificate. ALL under YOUR name...'

'How convenient... Continue.'

'The people who lived in the house were known as Vivian and Albert Costance, along with Vivian's father Guru Rosenfelt. Archeologist by profession, though they both have an excellent background in mechanics especially in creating devices. But that is currently irrelevant. What is curious here is that they changed their family name...' he trailed off.

'They changed their family name... to what?' Namika prompted, but Drake only fixed his gaze on her. 'They changed their name to Chikanatsu, didn't they?' she received a small nod. 'Has Guru Rosenfelt adopted the name?' she got another nod. 'So the birth certificate states that I am Vivian and Albert's daughter?' this time a shake.

'No it only states that you were born 13 years ago, on April the 6th.' Drake explained.

'It's possible that they have documents stating that you were adopted.'

'If that is the case.' she sighed 'Guess it, sort of, explains why Guru Rosenfelt, currently Guru Chikanatsu is my grandfather. Guess he wasn't really lying after all...' she was lost in thought for a while until. 'But still I wonder when they changed their name and why?'

'They made the change 15 years ago' he began but got interrupted...

'But why? The timing is far too good to be a mere coincidence.' Namika asked even more confused than before.

'They probably knew that you would come and made preparations...' he answered with a shrug. '...or at least they were hoping...'

'What do you mean...?'

'Along with the papers we also found some of their most recent journals. They seem to think that the tombs on the planet are linked to the same origin, however it contained reference to a certain tomb somewhere on the planet, which according to them holds the origins of the ancient belka magic...'

'You don't mean that ...'

'Yes. They believed that they found the first person or should I say being, to fully master the belka magic and also it is believed that he is the creator of the belka artifacts...'

'Which artifacts?'

'All of them.'

'All of them? Even that ancient Cradle I've been hearing rumors about?'

'Yes. They also believed that the said being comes from Al Hazred itself, someone from the highborne...'

'Even if it is true I don't see how my arrival here fits in any of this...' she tried to make sense of this, but it make no sense to her what so ever. Then again... she just got here.

'They had a picture from a wall painting from one of the temples on the planet stating that if whoever comes across it doesn't heed it's warning the world shall be sent into the darkness of the abyss. At least that was the only thing written in a belka dialect from 1000 years back...'

'So?' she cut him off again. She was getting extremely annoyed when someone tried to use her for whatever reasons...

'The prophecy itself written in ancient belka and if you write that in the blood language...' he trailed off.

'That would be one hell of a translation. Luckily I have 3 experts in the ancient belka language.'

'And one in the blood one... but still the translation will be a pain... But I believe that the version of the prophecy we have is coded, meaning...'

'Meaning that we have to go to the temple to find the decoder from the blood language and then find the other decoder for the belka one and then read it.' Namika said and received a nod in response. 'Still doesn't explain my presence here...'

'Perhaps the pentagram we found on the floor in one of the rooms had something to do with it...'

'Someone was trying to summon me? Is that even possible?!' Namika was starting to get a headache from all the information she was getting...

'They were trying to summon... something. I don't know what, nor do the others...' Drake shrugged not knowing fully how to answer her. 'Whatever it was it ended up in summoning you-'

'In that burning building?!'

'Yes... In that burning building...' Namika pouted as Drake went on 'Well... for better or worse I guess...'

Namika sighed she really didn't know what to make out of all of this. She turned to the red eyed boy 'Is there anything else?'

'Now that you mention it I think there is. In one of the journals we found a picture of the temple we were talking about earlier. Diana and Spike are checking it out. If what we think is true but we believe that the only way to gain entry is through a soul manipulation...'

Namika groaned 'Great... Simply great. That won't happen till I reach 20!' she breathed in frustration 'I hate it when I go to places and get Kid status. It is so annoying, it's not even funny.'

'The world seems nice enough...' he tried to cheer her up. 'You are stuck with an interesting old man at least.'

'Yeah whatever. I get the picture.' she really had had enough headaches and confusion for one night. 'Either way, we won't be able to decipher the prophecy until I reach 20, when all of my power would be accessible as well as all my weapons and spells. Hopefully that mist will fade completely till then...'

'Apparently so...' he rubbed her back in a soothing matter.

'They are dead aren't they...' it was more of a statement than a question. 'Albert and Vivian...'

'Yes they passed away not too long ago. Three weeks ago they were on an excavation site doing research when they got killed.' he could feel Namika stiffen in his arms 'Great grandpa believes that, though the authorities claimed that it was an accident. A cavern collapse...'

'So what? My dear 'grandpa' believes it to be a deliberate collapse?' she interrupted getting where his thoughts were headed.

'Yeah... He still tries to look for the killers but ...' he shook his head knowing his misstress would understand what he meant.

'I see... It explains why he was so worried for me...' Namika was feeling sad if not a little responsible for her adoptive parents' fate. 'I think I understand... at least most of it... Only time will tell what we need to know...'

'There is one more thing though...'

'What?'

"Beware the Belkan Lord..." Drake suddenly whispered startling Namika who yelped.

"The HELL?!" she gave him a mock punch "Don't speak out loud so suddenly... you scared the Angels out of me..." she scolded the now laughing boy who fell of the bed. Namika groaned, but smiled. She liked it when he tried to pull jokes on her... though sometimes he tended to get carried away...

"Heh... It seems that he got you this time." came the voice of the old man, who glomped her earlier, from the door. It seemed that they were done filling the papers they needed...

"Well..." she blushed "I just let my guard down, I am not that easy ya know!" she said defensively, partly aware that the old man meant the fact that Drake startled her.

"Yeah yeah... that is what you always say..." the old man laughed as Namika looked at Drake who winked. "Anyway the doctor said that you can leave the hospital in three days. It seems that you are healing quite fast."

Namika laughed nervously It seems that I am 'awaking' quicker than I thought...

"Well then let's leave your little master alone." The old man waved Drake over "I bet that she would want some time alone to recover." the boy nodded and went to the door, but not before he gave his master a parting hug.

"See ya in three days." he said before he let her go.

"Yeah till then..."

"See ya later you little monster..." the old man said before the two of them disappeared through the door. Namika blinked and laughed. I guess he really can pass for my grandfather... She was left alone to ponder about what Drake told her earlier. She lied on her bed and stared at the ceiling as she was recalling her earlier conversation. She was also aware of the seal on her, now that Drake had confirmed her suspitions. But as her guardian had mentioned earlier the seal was insufficient and would wane in time. That was good news. It meant that she really didn't need to do anything to get rid of it. She brought her hand in front of her and flexed it into a knuckle before relaxing. She repeated the notion a couple of times.

This is all so confusing... she let out a sigh and looked at the twin moons in the sky. I guess I will have to stick around and see where this goes. Although things would get quite problematic if what Drake said is true. She suddenly remembered the burning building and meeting Subaru... I wonder what that feeling was, it was as if almost the girl... She shook her head... No use to think about things that don't depend on you... another flashback occured to her. This time it was how they were saved by Nanoha. And that girl seemed pretty strong, though from what I saw she still hasn't learned to 'spare' her linker core from the pressure. Dummy if she keeps it up she would get hurt eventually... she closed her eyes and opened them again.. I guess that decides it I will stay she closed her eyes again and slowly drifted to sleep. I wonder if I would meet... those..e... two ... ag..ain... her thoughts trailed off as she finally fell asleep.

-Same night. Hotel "Azure", Penthouse-

"Ahh..." a girl with short brown hair sighed in content. "Nothing hits the spot like cold milk after a hot bath!" she was wearing nothing more than a big white shirt and underwear.

"You're so moody Hayate." Nanoha said as she was lazily flipping through the channels. She wore a similar attire, only her undies were orange "Are you sure you're alright though? You cast some pretty powerful spells today."

"I'm fine, I'm fine Nanoha-chan." Hayate said with a sigh. "Unlike a certain someone in this room, I use my magic sparingly."

"And yet, you are the one panting... Should I schedule you in for daily exercises once we go back to base?"

"Eek!" Hayate flinched and looked nervously at her bestie. "Ah, well... uhm... No thank you... I think I'll pass." the horror stories of the white devil were known to everyone. So when Nanoha says 'daily exercises', Hayate hears 'The boot camp of hell, special edition with point blank explosive pink beams'... no... she could definitely live without having nightmares of pink bunies and fluffy explosion of pain.

Nanoha sniggered at her friend's antics. She kept flipping the channels until she came upon a news report regarding the fire in the space port.

'...The TSAB authorities have no suspects. Fortunately the timely intervention of the TSAB's famous Ace of Aces, Takamchi Nanoha, has limited down the number of casualties and by a miracle the fire did not take any victims. The Ground forces-'

Nanoha turned the TV off. She was really glad to hear that no one died in the fire. It gave her a sense of acomplishment. She managed to save those people with the power she was given. She felt even more releived to hear that the two girls she saved were reunited with their families and were on their way to recovery.

"Don't look now, folks but her ego just grew a few sizes..." Hayate teased.

"Oh come on. You know me better than that!" Nanoha playfully swatted the brunette with a pillow.

"Okay okay, but seriously though! Why did that have to happen, on our day off no less... So not fair! We missed a perfectly good day for dress shopping." and leave it to Hayate to completely change rails in a manner of seconds.

"It's okay... It's okay Hayate-chan. We even got a free night here at the hotel for helping out..." Nanoha said as she stretched out lazily "Besides it was a good work out." she sighed in content.

"For you... everything is a workout."

"Nyahaha..." Nanoha chuckled sheepishly and winked "You know me best."

"Thanks for your help though." Hayate let out a low snickering sound "It's not every day you get to save, not one but two cute girls at a time..." she said playfully with a wink. Nanoha blushed bright crimson, knowing fully what kind of a pervert Hayate was. The knowledge could not help the memory of how her name was whispered sweetly in her mind. Ah! Damn you Hayate for making me think about these things! She bolted up and grabbed a pillow.

"Hayate-chan!" she aimed... "Get your mind out of the frigging gutter!" she threw... and hit a wall.

"HA!" Hayate laughed at her "Miss me! Miss me! Miss... Ah?!" she barely recovered herself and managed to dodge the second flying pillow. "What is with you? I didn't say anything bad... did I?" she pretend to ponder as Nanoha was looking for more ammo.

Nanoha grabbed a few cushions from the couch and threw them at Hayate again, who dodged... barely.

"Hah?! Is that the best you got oh Ace of Aces?" she asked with a low dark voice while readying herself to throw back the pillows that were meant for her. "I am waiting~" she beckoned as she shook her finger in an inviting manner.

"You really are asking for..." I'll be waiting Nano-chan... "It?" the thought came out of nowhere causing Nanoha to pause everything she was doing. For some reason she couldn't get her voice out of her head.

Hayate who was watching Nanoha ponder... on something... grinned evilly. She walked slowly toward Nanoha and leaned over, while laughing like a crazed witch. "Fu-fu-fu~" Nanoha yelped and blushed even more "Don't tell me that something HAD happend..." Nanoha flinched "You naughty naughty little devil you~..."

"N-no... Nothing happened... What makes you think something happened?" Nanoha cut her off before Hayate could crown her: This years' greatest pervert...

"Oh really now." Hayate was smirking like the devil itself... Nanoha nodded quickly hoping that this torture would end soon.

"Really... "

"Liar." Hayate stated and Nanoha froze.

"I'm not!" Nanoha tried to defend herself... but when Hayate thought something was worth unearthing, even a Starlight Breaker wouldn't stop her.

"You are."

"I'm not!"

"You are."

"I'm not!"

"You are."

"You so are! You're doing that weird eyebrow twitch everytime you say a lie." Hayate said accusingly.

"I'm not!"

"You are~"

"I'm not... I'm not... I'm not..." she kept on not fully sure what she was denying - that she was a liar or that she was a pervert... probably both. Hayate on the hand was trying really hard not to laugh. Messing up with Nanoha was always lots of fun.

"What is going on?" a soft tenor voice came from the bathroom door mixed with the 'I'm not.' Nanoha was producing. Hayte turned toward the owner of the voice and was blessed with the sight of a tall blonde with damp hair reaching her knees, red eyes and a wet slender body wrapped with a towel.

"Ah Fate-chan you done bathing..." Hayate asked as the blonde nodded. "Don't forget the milk! It'll taste better than ever!"

"I'll take your word for it." Fate said as she glanced toward Nanoha, who was busy throwing, what she could describe as a temper tantrum, usually reserved for small children. "Why is Nanoha..."

"Stuck in denial?" Hayate asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

"Not the phrase I was going to use... but yes." The blonde said, though if anyone asked her... Nanoha looked quite adorable when she was worked up about something.

"Well you see..." Hayate looked at Nanoha who was shaking her head still saying "I'm not! I'm not."

"I really don't know..." she shrugged. "We were talking about the fire and she suddenly started throwing things..."

The blonde raised a slender eyebrow. This wasn't like Nanoha. Sure she was rather... trigger happy at time, but not particularly violent. Oh! Who was she kidding. Nanoha was violent... and a hard-shooter. It's just that her patience threshold was greater than most. It worried her that her childhood friend slipped into such a state with so little provocation. So she did the only logical thing. Fate went to the ranting Nanoha and took her face between her hand effectively stopping her rant and forcing the brunette to look at her.

"Nanoha are you alright?" she asked with a sweet voice, but Nanoha didn't register... All she could think about was how HOT Fate looked when she was wet... Oh dear lord I am a pervert... she blushed even more. "Nanoha are you okay?" she placed a hand on her forehead "No you don't have a fever."

"I-I'm fine Fate-chan, don't worry..." Nanoha laughed nervously.

"You sure?" Fate asked concerned.

"Pretty sure. Pretty sure!" Nanoha said as she tried to look away.

"I wonder about that~..." the two girls turned to Hayate, who was now smirking like a cheshire cate. "You've been acting rather strange since that rescue mission. You had that dazed, smoky 'I am in the clouds' look. Don't tell me you developed a crush on someone?"

"I'm perfectly fine thank-you-very-much... And I'm surely not crushing on anyone!" Nanoha quickly said while she took a deliberate (read: threatening) step toward Hayate. "It's your fault that your perverted mind concocts such ridiculous theories!" she yelled pointing a finger at Hayate who feigned being offended.

"Gah?! How the Hell am I being a pervert, you closet lesbian!"

"Oh, so now I am being a closet lesbian ?! I'm straight You CoSPLaY Freak!"

"At least I am being honest about the objects of my affection, unlike someone I know..."

"So what is that supposed to mean, huh?!" Nanoha reached for Raising Heart.

"Wait Nanoha! What are you doing with that thing!" Hayate felt like her life was about to end as the white devil summoned it's most trusty torture tool, er, device.

"I'm thinking of teaching you some manners and furthermore-"

"Static electricity." a soft voice interrupted their little argument-about-to-turn-bloody-for-Hayate. Nanoha and Hayate were barely able to turn to Fate as they felt a jolt of electricity going through them. It was weak enough not to hurt them but strong enough to shut them up real fast.

"Fate-chan?! What was that for?!" the shocked girls exclaimed at the same time. Although Hayate was grateful for the distraction. The little shockwave she just felt, would be nothing compared to the Starlight Breaker that had been headed her way.

Fate on the other hand was currently on the floor laughing like a clown on crack.

"What's so funny ?" they said the same thing together again. Add the fact that Nanoha's hair looked like afro on a ponytail, while Hayate's - like spikes attached to her head and you will understand while she was having a hard time NOT laughing.

Nanoha and Hayate looked at each other after not being able to figure out why Fate was laughing like a complete lunatic. The result was heavy laughter and at least three complains for noise making, due to Fate's unique hairstyling skills.

Author's notes:

Well that is it for chapter 2 hope you enjoy ^^ Leave a review if you'd like an update :P