A/N: You readers can thank the 3 voters that voted for this story to be uploaded next now. I was planning on updating all my stories, but I just didn't know which one to do first. Oh, and the title is a spur of the moment thing. Enjoy!

DISCLAMIER: I don't own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, but I did put it on my Christmas List. Come on, Santa! :D

Chapter 4: Landing an Attractive Lady

"Testarossa, you should really slow down," Signum called to me as I ran my seventh lap around the track. "You're going to pull something."

"That's your best excuse?" I yelled back to her between breaths. "That I'll 'pull something'? Pretty weak, Signum!" I could almost hear the knight's sigh over my loud heartbeat. I smirked over at her. "Why don't you join me? Oh! How about a race!"

"Since when did you become a track star, Testarossa?"

"Dunno. But I do know that I've never felt this much power or this healthy! I bet I could even beat you in a spar!"

"…You're ego is bigger than usual… And the fact that you have this much energy might be a bad sign," Signum thought aloud.

I ran over to the pink haired woman and stopped to regulate my breathing. I found it amusing that she was trying hard not to stare. Oh, and how it was weird that I hadn't broken a sweat yet. "Bad? How so?"

Sapphire eyes narrowed as she spoke her mind again."That poison that entered your bloodstream with Raggul's bullet… We still don't know the properties of it or what it could do to your body and mind. I thought that since you woke up that it cleaned itself out, but it might be just the opposite. Perhaps the poison was festering in your body for those five years, and the effects of it are now coming into the light."

"Pfft! Don't be ridiculous, Signum. What poison increases physical performance? I think that my body is just happy to release all of this built up energy!" Signum's eyes came back into focus and turned to glare at me. Those same hypnotic eyes watched as I purposely fell forward and started doing pushups at a rather fast pace.

"You're not thinking like an Enforcer, Testarossa. You're acting like an obnoxious teenage boy with an annoyingly large ego."

"Ouch! That was kind of harsh…"

"Well, a fact is a fact. Saying it in a nicer way wouldn't change that."

I chuckled. "You know that you just kinda rhymed, right?" Signum's expression remained stoic as she sighed.

"I prove my point," said the first lieutenant as she turned and walked towards the Sector Six's building. I rolled my eyes before I ran and caught up with the older woman. Wait…

"Signum, how old are you?" The knight gave me a warning glare, causing me to falter momentarily. "I-I mean, I was just curious. Did I age while I was in my coma?"

"Physically, yes, but as far as Shamal and all the researchers for the Testarossa Project are concerned, you're still 18. Yet another mystery associated with the substance in your body."

"Wait… I have a project named after me?" I gave Signum a look of disbelief, though I had to refrain from pointing out how she ignored my first question. "Why?"

"Did you really think that Hayate-san wouldn't get all the top researchers in the area to try and revive you and study that poison, searching for an antidote? Have you no faith, Testarossa?"

"No, no. It's just that I didn't expect that much," I defended. "I guess I underestimated Hayate… Oh! Speak of the devil!" A uniform-clad Hayate gave me a friendly glare as she approached us.

"I certainly hope that you weren't talking about me behind my back, Fate-chan," the brunette joked.

"Oh, I would never," I retorted, the sarcasm obvious. I felt my expression brighten with hope as I remembered something. "Hey, what day is today?"

"Um… Saturday." I ran off towards the showers after Hayate before she could say anything else. The general looked at Signum. "What's with her?"

Signum sighed. "Today is when Testarossa says she'll go see Vivio."

"But doesn't that mean—"

"Yes, it does. She thinks that she's ready." Hayate looked in the direction that I ran off in.

"I hope she's right…" she whispered.

"Not going to happen." My eyes narrowed at my pink-haired friend.

"And why not?"

"It's irresponsible." My eyes went wide.

"But you're the one who introduced me to motorcycles!" I practically yelled after making sure my lower jaw was still connected to my face. Signum's eyes showed her amusement while her face remained serious.

"I'm not talking about you riding motorcycles in general, Testarossa. I'm talking about you riding a motorcycle to go see your kid who probably doesn't even know that you're walking around yet." An excellent point.

"Whatever. Why are you here, anyways? I didn't ask for you to come with me." A kinda rude point.

"Hayate-san asked me to accompany you since you will have to encounter both Takamachi-san and Scyra-san at once... in a public place."

"So you all think that I'm psychotic now?"

"Stop being so childish, Testarossa. Let's just take your car." Signum gestured to the red sports car on the other side of the garage.

"Whoa! Where'd that come from?" I exclaimed.

"It was there the whole time. You just had tunnel vision." Signum sighed. "You really are a child; you see something shiny and forget your surroundings. It's completely unlike you…"

A strange heat ignited in my chest when I saw the look on the first lieutenant's face. I know this feeling… Oh no. No no no. I "ahem"-ed while breaking eye contact with the Knight leader. "Fine, let's go. I don't want to miss them."

We walked to my car in a comfortable silence, though I was quite frustrated with my heart's rapid tempo. What's up with me? Signum's my friend, not a love interest… Right? What about Nanoha?

What about her?

…She's… my friend. As long as she has Yuuno, she can be nothing more than that.

"Are you okay, Testarossa?" I snapped back to reality to find myself behind the steering wheel of my car and Signum in the passenger seat.

"Uh, yeah. I'm fine." I turned the key in the ignition, making the engine roar to life. Still worried about my previous thoughts, I breathed in and ran a hand through my blond tresses. "Just thinking about how much of a crazy person I was a few days ago. I… I really freaked out with Nanoha. God, I hope she's okay."

"…Interesting. I'm surprised that you feel that way." I looked at those sapphire eyes, but only saw that they were intense enough to make the dashboard catch fire. "She was selfish by not waiting for you. All of her decisions hurt her and her relationships with others, including Vivio. Takamashi-san shouldn't have your concern."

I didn't flinch when those rich blue pools turned to me, still hard and merciless. I cleared my throat before I pulled the car out onto interstate, heading for the local airport. "I think that it's my turn to be surprised now. Why are you so hard on her? It's not she left you for Ferret Boy."

"I'm hard on her because I remember how long you waited for her when she was injured and in critical condition. I remember how you refused to leave her side for days, how ragged and pitiful you became because of her." She paused, and I could have sworn that I heard her growl, but I could be mistaken. "The least that she could do is wait for you to wake up…"

"Wow, this is definitely not how you felt a few nights ago. Or were you just hiding your true feelings for my benefit?" I flashed my red eyes to her blue. "You were, weren't you?"

A silence filled the air except for the sound of the car accelerating. The hum made me feel on edge, but I don't know why.

"Hayate-san thought that it would be best if I kept my thoughts to myself. The last thing she wanted was for me to fuel your anger towards Takamachi-san that night. She also didn't want Vita and I to get in another fight over the issue. However, that wasn't a problem since she left as soon as you spoke harshly towards Takamachi-san." I groaned as I remembered the daggers Vita glared at me for the past few days.

"So that's why. While you sympathized with me, Vita supported Nanoha. I have to make amends with her later, after I do so with Nanoha." I felt Signum's eyes on me.

"Are you really going to ask her for forgiveness, Testarossa? After the problems she's caused with her decisions?"

"I will try to, yes. In order to move on, I need that. Closure, I suppose." I shrugged as my own thoughts confused me. "I dunno. I just feel like it's the right thing to do. Besides, I feel really bad about yelling at her like it did. It just seemed like we were still together, but…"

I couldn't finish that sentence. I felt the familiar sting of tears and briskly rubbed my eyes with my sleeve. I refuse to get emotional over something like this. How will I be able to face Nanoha?

The white plane's door opened, and the occupants quickly exited the vessel to soak in some sunlight and stretch their stiff limps. It was a five hour flight, after all.

Among the exiting passenger was a young teen with long strawberry-blonde hair tied with a blue bow a few inches from the slightly curly ends. She was tall for her age and extremely beautiful. She appeared still somewhat childish, but also gave off a feeling of maturity beyond her years. However, the vast beauty was hidden behind large sunglasses.

"Damn, that girl is hot. I mean, I'm not one for cradle-snatching, but—"

"Testarossa, that's Vivio."

"Hell yeah, she's—"

"…"

"Holy shit."

"Yep."

I looked at the teen that was now descending the stairs attached to the plane again. I laughed. "Haha, nice one, Signum, but that girl is at least seventeen, not fourteen."

The pink-haired knight quirked a brow. "Look again, Testarossa."

I rolled my eyes before turning to gander at the gorgeous young lady again, and luckily, I caught her right when she was pulling off her shades, and man, was that a sight to behold! I tried my hardest not to blink so that I wouldn't miss the graceful action, but alas, I did.

My red met with another red and green.

"Double holy shit." I gaped at the beautiful young lady, who was now looking back at me with the classic deer-caught-in-the-headlights gaze. I saw her mouth move, and thanks to my sensitive hearing, I was able to make out what she mumbled.

"…Fate-mama?"

"…Vivio."

Everything happened in slow motion. I saw her eyes light up and water, then she sprinted to me. My body acted on its own accord and mirrored Vivio's. It felt like forever before I reached her and embraced her with all I had. I ran a hand through her golden locks as her sobs racked her body and tears silently slid down my face.

"Fate-mama! Fate-mama!" Vivio cried over and over again into the crook of my neck. It reminded me of her toddler years, when she would randomly start crying and I would hold her in the same way, whispering the same words of comfort in order to calm her.

"You're so beautiful, my dear Vivio," I muttered when she finally calmed down.

"I missed you so much, Fate-mama! I felt so lost—" Vivio's voice cracked and she broke down into sobs again, though not as bad as the first time.

"I missed you, too, Vivio. So very much." I played with the ribbon in her hair, immediately recognizing my old hairstyle. "I guess you take after me now instead of Nanoha-mama, huh?"

The strawberry-blonde's body stiffened and all sobs were abruptly silenced. I tried to remain calm, but I felt uneasy on the inside. "What's wrong, Vivio?"

"Mom... If she sees you, she'll…"

"She'll what?" I asked as I distanced us enough to see her mismatched eyes. "What will Nanoha do?"

"Scrya called me last night and told me that a few days ago an old friend came by and made Mom upset. Then he told me that I wasn't allowed to leave the house until he thought it was safe. He said that I couldn't talk to anyone at the airport until Mom got here."

My grip on the teen tightened a little, but not enough for her to feel any pain. "Of course he did," I muttered under my breath, but it was low enough that Vivio didn't hear me. I released her and cleared my throat. "I see," I said a little louder. "That's interesting. Wait, why did you call Yuuno 'Scrya'?"

Red and emerald rolled. "I know that he's scum, Fate-mama. Ever since he starting seeing Mom, I've known that. For some reason, Mom's completely oblivious. I've tried telling her and even told her to break up with him before he got really serious, but Mom said that'll never happen. And—"

"Wait," I interrupted. "What do you mean 'that'll never happen'?" Has Nanoha not told Vivio about the engagement?

"As in Scrya won't propose anytime soon, at least that's what Mom thinks. I've told her over and over again that that's complete bullshit—"

"Language, Vivio. I know that Nanoha didn't raise you to have such a bad mouth." I gave her a pointed look and expected to get an apology in return.

"Yeah, just like she didn't raise me to take after her and her remarkable faithfulness," Vivio responded sarcastically. Whoops, looks like my expectations were too high for that one.

"Stop it, Vivio. Nanoha has been a wonderful mother to you. She at least deserves your respect in her decisions, no matter how much they hurt me or anyone else." Those mismatched eyes gave me this look that made me hug her again, rather than reprimand her further like I should've done.

"I'm just glad you're back again, Fate-mama. Now everything can go back to normal... Why did you just hug me tighter?"

I hesitated. Nanoha really hasn't told Vivio yet? Well, her mom's ex-girlfriend really shouldn't be the one who delivers the oh-so-joyful news, right?

"…I should go before your mother gets here," I said deadpanned. "If you need me, talk to Signum or Hayate, okay? It… It would be best if you try not to contact me too often, for Nanoha's sake. Be nice to her. She and I love you with our whole hearts." I released the teen once more, taking a few steps back before waving and turning to leave. I stopped when arms wrapped around from behind me, followed by what I assumed to be a tear-streaked face against my middle back.

"NO! Don't say such things if you don't mean them! How can you say that you both love me but not each other anymore!" Almost everyone in the terminal looked in our direction, some even stopped completely and stared. All the dirty looks said 'how dare you make a beautiful young girl cry!', but my glare responded 'Just fuck off. You've got no idea what this is about.'

"Vivio, let me go," I urged in a soft tone. "The last thing that needs to happen is for Nanoha to get upset—"

"Why aren't you fighting for her?" Her voice was calm now, which thankfully made most of the unwanted on-lookers continue on their merry way. "Do you not love her anymore?"

I felt a pang in my chest, something that I have become too familiar with in the past week. "Of course I still love Nanoha." The sobs ceased as I spoke and shifted so that I was looking back into crimson and emerald. "But she's happy now. It's my task to make sure she stays that way, with or without me. That's what friends are for, Vivio." I gave her a warm smile in attempt to hide the chagrin lurking beneath the surface.

A confused expression is all I got in response. However, confused soon melted into understanding… then anger.

"Scrya proposed," Vivio half-questioned, half-growled. How do I answer her?

A/N: ... Was it good? Review and let me know. You can also PM me if you want.

I'm going to start doing chapter songs (And maybe I'll get around to find some for the first 3 chaps...)

Chapter Song: "The Heart of Life" by John Mayer

A somewhat happy song for a somewhat happy chapter. I felt like it fit the conversation between Fate and Vivio pretty well. Also, I'd imagine that the lyrics are similar to whatever Fate has been telling herself, giving herself some sort of comfort/courage. If you don't like how I interpret it, then whatever. I hope that you liked this chapter, though, 'cause it might be a little while until the next one is published...

And when I say "a little while," I mean that I'm gonna try to have it ready in a month. -_-

Anyways, thanks for reading! See you soon! :D