Author's Note: Like I promised, a real chapter is here to develop the relationship of our favorite couple. I'm not going to say anything, and will get to work on the next one after some much needed sleep. Goodnight.

The Red Strings Encompassing Fate's Flower

Keiko Yanagiri

Chapter 4: Winter Flowers in Bloom

A harsh hail of snow came down from the sky. Pushed by the wind, it blinded me, and made it hard to walk. Despite the blizzard and the cold I moved on, and neared my destination.

Finally I arrived, to the small bakery that had I spent many days. I opened the doors and was greeted by a sweet smell, and a friendly welcoming.

"Welcome Fate-chan, I hope you didn't have too much trouble out there." Momoko said.

"It was no trouble at all, Momoko-san." I offered to her my coat, and in exchange she gave me two cups of tea.

"She's waiting for you, make sure she drinks the tea this time."

"Okay." I bowed to her and headed to Nanoha's room. Her eyes lit up when they met mine, and her bright smile warmed me up.

I sat down and handed her one of the cups. "Drink up."

"Hmph, Mom put medicine in there, right?"

"Nope." I said with a straight face, though she didn't believe me and took the other cup, having a sip and wincing from the bitter taste of the medicine that Momoko added.

"You tricked me."

"You need to drink it, or you wont get better."

"Boo boo~." She pouted for a few seconds, before averting her eyes. "Hey Fate-chan . . . " She pursed her lips and held the cup to me. "If you give it to me like this, then I'll drink it." I admit that I was a little surprised, and blushed as a result, before shaking my head.

"I knew Hayate would be a bad influence on you." She giggled, and retracted, drinking the tea of her own accord, wincing with each sip. I also drank some of mine, observing her cute reactions.

Already the seasons had changed, and we were in the midst of Winter. Unfortunately, Nanoha was quite weak during this time, so she had to stay indoors most days. Still I visited her every day, sometimes with Hayate, mostly by myself, which I preferred anyway.

"Hehe~." Nanoha was staring at me intensely, with a weird grin on her face.

"W-What is it? Do I have something on my face?"

"Nope. You just looked kind of lost in thought, your far away face was really cute right now." I became red all over again, and looked away from her. "Oh, are you embarrassed? Hehe~!"

"Mou Nanoha, you're the one who's cute." Her eyes went wide, and her face became even more flushed than it was before. I thought I might have said something strange, but then she brightened up.

"Noooo way~!" She cried, holding her face and sounding like an old woman.

Her reaction was so silly that I couldn't help but laugh; and very soon after, she followed and doubled over in fits with the occasional cough in between.

When the two of us settled down we chatted about the usual things, but more often than not the topic came to my high school. Since she had never gone, Nanoha was interested to know what kind of things I did there. I told her the truth about it, and even though I thought that my daily life was boring, she absorbed all of it, and got more excited by the second.

After a long time – I'm not sure how long exactly – Nanoha finally finished interrogating me about school life. It was about time for me to go.

Momoko came in suddenly, she had a bittersweet smile on her face.

"Fate-chan, I'm afraid its really coming down. I think you should stay the night." The moment she said it, Nanoha face changed and it looked as though it were Christmas for the girl. "Don't worry, I already called your mother, and I have a change of clothes."

"Okay, thank you."

"Not at all, you're already family." She joked and left us alone after a few giggles.

And now, Nanoha was even more excited than ever; it was probably her first sleepover, so I decided to be just as happy about it.

Late into the night, when the two of us finally tired out, we rested and laid side by side in separate futons. The clock on the wall ticked, and the sound became painfully loud as silence overtook us.

With the lights off, the two of us covered up on this chilly December night. When more time passed I thought Nanoha had already fallen asleep, but then her arms wrapped around me, and her chest pressed against my back.

"N-Nanoha!"

"You're warm, Fate-chan." She snuggled in close to me, and wrapped herself tighter around. "Do you hate it?"

"No, I was just surprised."

"Ehe~."

My heart was racing, and feeling the pulse on my back, I could sense that Nanoha's was as well. Without thinking I placed my hands over hers.

"Here, like this you're hands can be warm too."

"Thank you, Fate-chan."

And like that we remained, closer than we've ever been before. Eventually Nanoha fell asleep, but I stayed awake, unable to close my eyes. The sandman wouldn't come for me, and for some reason, I couldn't come up with an answer for the question on my mind.

Why wouldn't my heart stop beating so quickly?