Of Assassins, Samurai, and Magic

A/N: And the next chapter is up! I've tried to keep everyone as close as possible to their characters in the anime though I'm sure there will be a few OOC moments. Comments and reviews are much appreciated. Enjoy!

Disclaimer: The characters and the worlds I write in do not belong to me. The stories that I write are intended for entertainment purposes. I do not make any money from them.

*** ~ Chapter 12: Imperial Proposition ~ ***

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Nanoha?"

The person in question groaned. "Go away…" Nanoha murmured.

Knock. Knock. Knock.

"Nanoha, it's Fate. Are you there?"

Violet eyes blinked open lethargically. Nanoha grumbled as she sat up. Joints popped into place as she reached upwards for the ceiling, a hand rubbing her eyes. "Itai…"

Nanoha's neck and back were stiff. She had fallen asleep downstairs, in the actual café part of the building sitting at one of the many empty booths, rather than in her bedroom upstairs. Signum's favourite booth in fact. After the fight with Kyouya yesterday afternoon, she wasn't in the mood to be around her Onii-san, or at least within close proximity to him until he cooled his head. What they fought about was really trivial, something so silly that Nanoha couldn't even remember what they were talking about in the first place. But she remembered the pain in her heart when he lashed out at her with his words. Kyouya would never hit her, but sometimes he didn't have to.

More knocking at the door. "Nanoha?"

"Coming… coming…" Nanoha answered groggily. The brunette groaned again rising to her feet. More joints popped, with a dull ache making its presence known in her shoulders. Rubbing the back of her neck, Nanoha wandered over to the café door, miraculously navigating through the café in the pitch black (as the shutters were closed) without incurring injury.

Nanoha grimaced the moment she unlocked the door and opened it. The light from the morning sun blinded her, daggers of light making her eyes hurt. Blinking rapidly a few times before finally squinting, Nanoha found herself looking at a familiar blonde with burgundy eyes. "Morning Fate-chan" Nanoha said stifling a yawn with her hand.

"Good morning Nanoha." Fate smiled. Nanoha was absolutely adorable in the morning! It took a great deal of willpower not to squeal over this discovery, Fate merely chuckling instead. In all the years she had known the youngest Takamachi, she had never seen her first thing in the morning after waking up. Nanoha was always an early riser and usually was up before Fate was. "Sorry for waking you so early."

Nanoha waved at her dismissively. "It's fine." The brunette yawned again, taking a step backwards allowing Fate to enter. "Did you have breakfast already?" Nanoha was already on her way towards the kitchen.

Fate continued to smile at her half asleep friend, the blonde quickly glancing to the cloaked figure on her right. "We had a little something before we came" Fate said walking into the dark café. "Though, that wouldn't stop me from eating anything you cooked."

Nanoha paused in the doorway to the kitchen. "We?"

Fate's companion appeared in the doorway behind her. Slipping off their hood, pink tresses tumbled down their back. "Good morning Takamachi-san."

Nanoha stared. "S-Signum-sama!" The brunette immediately looked down at herself and straightened out her crumpled clothes. It was one thing to been seen by Fate like this. It was an entirely different thing to be seen like this by one of your frequent customers.

Signum chuckled. "No need to feel embarrassed Takamachi-san" the samurai said. "My apologies. I meant not to trouble you so early in the morning, but Testerossa-san said it would be alright."

"Nanoha's just being silly Signum-sama" Fate said wandering over to the brunette. "Nanoha, really, you look fine." Fate held Nanoha's hands to stop the other girl from fidgeting.

"Mou Fate-chan…" Nanoha pouted half in embarrassment and half in shyness. "You could have at least warned me you were bringing company over. Then I would have changed into something else."

Fate smiled. "You look beautiful Nanoha. No matter what you wear." Fate's eyes widened the instant she finished her words. Suddenly Fate found the ground very interesting, her cheeks going red in embarrassment at what she just said.

Nanoha flushed deeply. "F-F-Fate-chan! Mou!" Nanoha looked to the side, anywhere but at Fate. Honestly! Fate always said the most embarrassing things! Not that she minded. Not the least bit.

Signum genuinely smiled at the pair. It made the pink haired samurai happy to see Nanoha smiling again. The girl had been weeping far too much lately, something that tore at the captain's heart. Signum would never openly admit how much it bothered her to see Nanoha so depressed. Something about the girl, something about her smile just brightened everyone's day. And Signum wanted nothing more than to ensure that smile stayed indefinitely. Vita felt the same way, though the smaller Wolkenritter would never admit it either.

Signum cleared her throat, Fate and Nanoha immediately pulling away from each other, both acting as if they had just been burned. "I mean not to impose on you Takamachi-san" Signum said. "So if another time is better, I can come back late-"

"But you're already here Signum-sama." Nanoha walked over to the samurai. The brunette ushered the sword wielding warrior into her regular booth, opening a couple of the shutters lighting up the café. "Let me just make some breakfast quickly and then we can talk about whatever it is you want, okay?" A smile.

Signum opened her mouth to retort, wanting to say it wasn't necessary for Nanoha to trouble herself with breakfast. But when the samurai saw the brunette's smile, Signum couldn't but sigh in defeat. "Hai."

Nanoha giggled and took off for the kitchen. "Fate-chan, you keep Signum-sama company. This won't take long." The brunette disappeared into the kitchen.

Fate looked to Signum hesitantly. Understanding her dilemma, Signum nodded with a small smile, Fate trailing behind Nanoha into the kitchen.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha scolded. "What did I just say?"

Signum couldn't but grin as she imagined what was happening in the back.

"Nanoha, let me help you" the blonde said. "You really shouldn't be pushing yourself so hard this soon. Did you forget what Shamal-sama said?"

"She said I only needed to rest for one day. I did that already!"

"Does it hurt you to rest for more than one day?"

A grumble.

"Besides, it will go a lot faster if you let me help."

"But you're a guest Fate-chan" Nanoha retorted. "What kind of host would I be if I let a guest cook?"

"Nanoha."

A moment of silence.

Signum raised an eyebrow at the sudden quiet, her gaze turning towards the kitchen doorway.

"F-fine…" Nanoha replied a few seconds later.

Signum chuckled again. Those two were quite the pair. The fact that both of them made someone as cold and hard as Signum smile, that said quite a lot. Turning her attention back to the table, Signum pulled out the parcel from her belt, resting the parcel on top. She took a deep breath, closing her eyes.

This was going to work. No, this had to work.

After all the hours they toiled away (they being Vita, Shamal, Rein and even Zafira), the Wolkenritter had finally found the loop hole there were searching for. They had found a way for Hayate to be reunited with her friends and keep them safe all at the same time. And that was the reason Signum was currently here.

Signum had already explained the proposition to Fate earlier this morning, when the blonde stopped by her office. But now, it was time to explain the proposition to Nanoha. A proposition which still had its risks, however. Both Nanoha and Fate could say no in the end, and that would be that. Signum would be damned if she didn't at least try to convince them to say yes. And if that failed, well… Signum could think of a few more ways to be convincing…

"Signum-sama?"

Nanoha's voice tore the samurai from her thoughts. "Hai?"

Nanoha's head popped into view by the opening in the back wall seeing into the kitchen. "Do you like strawberries?"

Signum blinked. "Uh… Hai?" she responded reluctantly.

"Great!" Nanoha giggled before disappearing deeper into the kitchen again.

Strawberries? Signum raised an eyebrow questioningly but said nothing further. She wasn't sure what Nanoha was planning which involved strawberries, but she trusted the girl's judgement. Never once did it occur to her that Nanoha could be possibly poisoning her food. Not that the brunette was doing such a thing, just that, somehow the girl had lowered Signum's defenses to the point that the captain of the samurai trusted her without question.

Soon the sound of something frying came to Signum's ears, a sweet scent filling the café shortly afterwards.

"Here you go."

Signum inwardly flinched, having been startled when a plate was set down in front of her on the table along with a steaming hot mug of tea. How Nanoha had snuck up on her so quietly was a mystery to the pink haired samurai, but nevertheless, she showed no such surprise when she turned to look at her host.

"Tell me what you think." Nanoha smiled.

Signum nodded before turning back to her plate. There she found strawberry crepes, cut in small triangles for easy picking with chopsticks. Signum grabbed a piece with her chopsticks and held it up to her face to examine it.

"I hear they're very popular in the west for breakfast" Nanoha said, watching in amusement as Signum popped the piece in her mouth and chewed. "Though I think they're more like dessert if you ask me."

Fate joined the paired from the kitchen moments later, a tray with two plates of crepes in hand, setting them both down at the table on the opposite side of Signum. Burgundy eyes watched curiously as Signum finished her first piece of the strawberry crepes, the pink haired captain staring at the rest of it silently. Nanoha turned to Fate who only shrugged in response.

"When the Midori-ya is open next" Signum said. "I look forward to having these again." With that said, Signum began eating the rest of her strawberry crepes, a smile on her face.

Nanoha's face lit up with immeasurable happiness, the brunette tackling Fate next to her in an excited hug. Fate chuckled, hugging Nanoha back, pulling her friend into the booth next to her so they could finally eat their crepes as well. When the crepes were finished and their bellies full, it was then that Signum slid the parcel towards Nanoha.

"What's this?" Nanoha blinked, picking up the parcel. It was an envelope made with the finest quality parchment. Turning it over in her hands, violet eyes widened when she caught sight of the red imperial wax seal on the back which sealed the envelope tightly. "This is…"

"A request from the Empress" Signum replied.

Nanoha gawked at her. "E-Empress? As in the Empress?"

"I only know of one Empress" Signum stated in all seriousness. Inwardly however, Signum was smirking.

Fate grinned herself, her own reaction being the same as Nanoha's when Signum first handed her the proposal from the Empress.

"Wha… I mean… Wh… H-how do you know the Empress?" Nanoha was finding it rather difficult to form words at this moment.

While Signum's lips did not smile, her eyes certainly did. The samurai pulled back the edge of her cloak and revealed her trusted Levantine. Nanoha's eyes bulged at the sight of it.

"Y-you're a samurai!" Nanoha was stunned to say the least.

Signum nodded, the faint curving of lips betraying her amusement at Nanoha's reaction.

"Not just any samurai" Fate added. "You've just had breakfast with the Taichou of the Samurai and the Empress' own personal Keigo."

"E-EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Nanoha was now openly gaping at Signum, much to the captain's hilarity.

"Did Testerossa-san not tell you this already? I was under the impression you already knew this fact."

Nanoha turned to Fate.

"Ah well…" Fate scratched the back of her head wearily. "It kind of slipped my mind…"

Both of Signum's eyebrows rose in response to Fate's confession, but the pink haired samurai said nothing.

"H-how did you find this out Fate-chan?" Nanoha was still in shock.

"Signum-sama and Onii-chan talk all the time" Fate replied, as if it was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Hai" Signum confirmed. "It is not unusual for me to speak with Harlaown-san about matters of city security. He is most helpful."

Nanoha stared at Signum before turning back to stare at the envelope in front of her. Fate leaned closer to the brunette, shoulders touching. "Open it" the blonde murmured in encouragement.

Nanoha nodded numbly and did as she was told, carefully opening the imperial letter. Fate glanced at Signum, the pink haired samurai doing the same, a grin forming on both of their lips as Nanoha read the letter quietly.

"EHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" For the second time of the day, Nanoha found herself making unintelligible noises. "This is… this is…"

"Hai" Signum said. "The Empress is requesting your presence at the palace to cook for her. Both of you."

Nanoha turned to look at Fate again. Fate nodded.

"Your skill in the kitchen isn't unheard of in the imperial palace Takamachi-san." Signum crossed her arms over her chest, but not in a menacing way. "Believe it or not, many nobles and those of the imperial court visit here often to taste your delicacies."

Nanoha felt light headed. This was a lot to take in out of the blue!

"The Empress wishes to try your dishes" Signum continued. "And if they are to her liking, both of you will be offered the position as the Empress' personal Shefu."

"S-S-S-S-Shefu to the Empress!" Nanoha was dreaming. She had to be dreaming. This was all a dream, right? This couldn't be real.

"Fate-chan, pinch me."

"Huh? Why?" Fate looked at Nanoha in confusion.

"I want to make sure I'm not dreaming."

Signum laughed heartily, something that shocked both Nanoha and Fate. "I can assure you Takamachi-san, you are not dreaming. This is very real."

Nanoha gaped at Signum some more, before she turned back to Fate. "What… What did you say?"

Fate smiled. "I said I'd only go if you were coming."

Signum gave the brunette a curt nod in confirmation. Nanoha's gaze went back to the letter in her hands.

"What should I tell the Empress, Takamachi-san?" Signum chewed on the inside of her cheek. This was it. The moment of truth.

Nanoha remained quiet for a good minute, staring at the parchment. Signum swallowed nervously, but showed nothing aside from her typical stoic expression. When Nanoha opened her mouth, Signum held her breath, swearing her heart stopped for that split second as well.

"Hai!" Nanoha exclaimed. It was Fate's turn to tackle Nanoha in a hug, the two of them giggling in excitement.

Signum breathed in relief and smiled. "The Empress will be most pleased." The pink haired samurai stood up. "I'll come by to pick you up in three days from now."

A/N: For those of you unfamiliar with the non-English words, I have translated them below.

Hai = Yes

Itai = Ouch

Taichou = Captain

Keigo = Body Guard

Shefu = Chef

Onii-san/ Nii-san = Big Brother

Wolkenritter = Cloud Knights (German)

For an explanation of Japanese honorifics (eg. [name]-sama), please check out: http:/en[dot]wikipedia[dot]org/wiki/Japanese_honorifics