I'm deeply sorry for the extremely long wait - in the last months I was really busy and even entire months passed in which I couldn't write even a single line. On the bright side, I found a job so yay?

Thanks to Desdendelle and Karrin Blue for betaing this chapter, I wouldn't have been able to do this without you guys.

Chapter 9 - Defeat Means Friendship

[... The police are still looking for leads on the disappearance of twelve-year-old Nagisa Momoe. The girl was last seen at Uminari City's hospital one week ago, and is believed to have run away after learning of her mother's death by cancer... ]

Nanoha turned off the television while eating her breakfast. After discovering the Puella Magi system, the brunette couldn't hear about a young girl disappearance without thinking that she probably had been a Puella Magi and died or turned into a Witch.

"Say, Homura..."

"Yes. I wouldn't be surprised if one of the Witches we killed used to be that girl," Homura said bluntly while putting down her spoon near her half-finished bowl of cereals.

Nanoha looked down. That wasn't what she wanted to hear, especially as the girl's eyes looked just like those of the Witch that had nearly killed Mami.

Could that cute kid really be the same individual as the caterpillar-shaped monstrosity the mage had to put down? Nanoha couldn't get the idea out of her mind.

Madoka exited her house only to find a rather dejected-looking Sayaka waiting at the gate.

The blue-haired girl barely raised her eyes. "Uhm... hi."

"Hi, Sayaka. You came all the way here?"

"Yes," Sayaka said, "I wanted to apologize for yesterday. I... I've been a terrible person."

Madoka shook her head. "It's fine, I know that you didn't really mean what you said. And you didn't want to hurt me, right? Then it was just an accident."

The blue-haired girl blinked a couple times as she looked at her friend. "You've already forgiven me?"

Madoka nodded, and Sayaka relaxed with a sigh of relief. "You're really too much of a good girl."

The Ally of Justice hugged her friend tight. "Thank you."

Nearly at the same time, Nanoha found someone waiting outside her house, too.

"Kyoko? Why are you here?"

The redhead smiled. "Well, after our little skirmish yesterday I tried talking some sense into Goldilocks and Shining Blue Knight, and they kinda agreed that shooting you in the face wasn't that great of an idea. I'm not sure I got them to listen, but they seem willing to keep guns and blades away next time you talk to them."

"I see. Thank you," Nanoha said.

"I just don't want be pulled into an useless war," Kyoko said. "Well, I'm going to the arcade now. See you!"

"Wait!" Nanoha called out. "How old are you? Shouldn't you be going to school?"

Kyoko raised an eyebrow. "I'm fifteen, and I stopped going to school quite a bit ago."

"And your parents are OK with this?"

Kyoko turned away. "My family is dead."

Nanoha grabbed her arm. "Tell me that you have a job at least."

Kyoko opened her mouth for a rebuttal, but Nanoha's piercing stare was enough to shut her up. "I... Uh... I don't."

Homura came out of the house that exact moment, and could do nothing but stare at her cousin as she dragged in a clearly unwilling Kyoko.

"What's going on?"

"I'll catch up later! I have to get Kyoko off the street first!"

"... And so, never trust a man who claims that french toast is better than waffles! Do you agree, Nakazawa?"

"Er... Yes?"

Professor Saotome relaxed a bit, in blissful ignorance of the trauma she was inflicting almost daily on the poor boy. "Great. Oh, right, from today on a new student will join our class. Please come in, miss Sakura."

Sayaka stared in disbelief at the girl who had entered the room. "... Kyoko?"

"Mami and Nanoha were worried about my future, so here I am."

Sayaka blinked a couple of times while Kyoko walked towards her desk. "Mami... and Nanoha? Together?"

"Yeah. Apparently Gundam Girl wasn't going to let me live my own life, so she did everything she could to get me back to school this very day. Don't ask me how she managed to get me enrolled this fast, I don't know and I don't want to. I even tried asking Mami to bail me out, but it looks like that's exactly what was needed to get them to agree on something."

Sayaka gave her a shocked stare. "Wait... Are you telling me that you weren't going to school?"

Kyoko headdesked. "Not you too, please..."

The redhead decided that it was better to avoid telling her that she was also kindly suggested to work as a part-time waiter at the Midori-ya in order to earn her living honestly.

It was a toss between Sayaka wanting to skewer her for her past habit of busting up ATMs... and her dying of laughter because of her current source of income.

Kyoko really hoped that Nanoha's mother was joking when she asked her measurements for a maid outfit.

"Did you want to talk to me?"

It was lunch break, and Nanoha had agreed to meet with Mami on the school's roof. The blonde girl was sitting on a bench, and gestured the other girl to sit next to her.

"Yes. I wanted to thank you for what you did for Kyoko," Mami said, her arms crossed. "I really appreciate that. Don't get me wrong, though — I don't trust you yet."

Nanoha nodded. "I can understand that. I should've told you right away that I am a different kind of Magical Girl, but I thought it would've been hard to believe."

"A... different kind? I remember Kyubey saying something about you and Fate not being Puella Magi, so can you explain to me what are you exactly?"

Nanoha was quite relieved to see that Mami's stern face was replaced by a curious and slightly more relaxed one. "I am a mage. Here on Earth we are fairly rare though, as far as I know there are only three of us."

"On Earth? Wait, yesterday you said something about a Bureau, didn't you?"

Nanoha nodded. "Yes, the Time-Space Administration Bureau. I'm working for them part-time, alongside with Fate. We..."

The mage was interrupted by the chime signaling the end of the lunch break. "We can meet later, if you want."

Mami thought about the offer for a little bit. "Would seven o'clock at the park, near the fountain, be fine with you?""

Nanoha nodded. "Yes. See you later, then."

It was already ten minutes past seven when Mami finally spotted Nanoha running towards their designated meeting point.

"I'm sorry, but I had to stay at the cafè a bit more to solve an issue," Nanoha apologized with a hurried bow.

"Kyoko, I guess?"

"Uh? How do you know?"

Mami smiled. "I know her well. Something about pilfering some food, I suppose?"

"That exactly."

The blonde girl let out a sigh. "If I can ask you to do something, I'd like you and your family to not be too hard with her over it. She... she has been through a lot."

"I wonder if there is a Magical Girl who hasn't," Nanoha said as the two girls sat on a bench right in front of the fountain. The mage subconsciously brought her hand over her sternum.

Mami noticed the look in her eyes. The brunette was surely a veteran. "How long have you been one?"

"About five years."

"Five years…?" Mami repeated. It was quite a shocking discovery: not only that the mage was more experienced than her, but she was also one year her junior, which meant that she had become a Magical Girl at just nine years old.

"Anyways, I think you wanted to know more about the TSAB, right?" Nanoha asked, her face cheerful again. Mami gave a single, polite nod in return.

"Alright," Nanoha said, "I hope you won't mind if I put up a field to keep other people from listening, right?"

Mami looked at her in puzzlement. "You can do that?"

"Yes. It's a pretty easy spell in my magic system," Nanoha said while getting up and pulling out her Device. "Temporal Force Field, Set Up."

The field (whose true purpose was to keep a certain alien furball from Hell away) rapidly expanded from under Nanoha's feet, causing the world to change hue from the girls' point of view.

"It's also useful to prevent normal people from witnessing magic," Nanoha explained before turning towards the other girl, who had gotten up and was looking at her, eyes wide open.

"Mami? Are you OK?"

As an answer, Mami transformed and aimed one of her muskets at the mage. "This... this is a Barrier, right?... You... you are a Witch after all!"

Usually, such a thickheaded reaction would entail a facepalm as the right answer. But then again, usually there aren't guns involved, so Nanoha quickly raised her hands and tried to get the other girl to put the musket away. "Mami, calm down! I'm not a Witch! And this isn't a Barrier, it's a..."

More muskets appeared. The blonde girl's doubts had reached maximum capacity, and exploded simultaneously with the gunpowder inside her guns.

Before the dust and smoke cleared, Mami summoned one of her biggest versions of the Finale Cannon, the one with the bipod, and fired a followup explosive shell.

She should be gone, Mami thought, Now I should collect her Grief Seed and restore my magic before...

To her surprise, pink energy rings appeared around her and quickly shrunk, binding her on the spot. The dust cleared and revealed a still-standing Nanoha.

The mage didn't have the time to set up her Barrier Jacket and, despite Raising Heart's Auto Guard function blocking the brunt of the shots with a Round Shield, Nanoha was covered in bruises and her blouse and skirt were torn to shreds.

"Why is it always like this?" Nanoha asked while setting up Raising heart in Buster Mode, her voice eerily low and her eyes hidden by a shadow. "Why does nobody ever listen to me?"

Mami struggled with the binds as Nanoha aimed her Device at her.

"Please, Mami, listen..."

Raising Heart expelled three cartridges. [Divine.]

"... to me!"

[Buster.]

Mami found herself in a world of hurt. A pink world of hurt.

A few minutes earlier, Kyoko and Sayaka had taken a nearby building's roof as an observation post. The blue-haired one was watching the meetup between Mami and Nanoha, while the redhead was busy eating some sweets coming from the Midori-ya's kitchen.

"You should relax a bit, Shining Blue Knight."

"And you shouldn't talk with your mouth full, either," Sayaka rebutted. Kyoko shrugged and took another pastry from a bag. "Want one? You might not trust Nanoha yet, but her family's confectionery is top notch."

"Kyoko, we're here to cover Mami!"

Kyoko sighed. "You are here to 'cover Mami'. I am here to keep you from bashing that hard head of yours against stuff harder than it."

Sayaka turned around and opened mouth for a retort, but was interrupted by the world suddenly going off-color. "What the heck...?"

"Hell if I know," Kyoko answered while going at her side to take a look down. The peace talks had failed, as Mami was doing her best to disintegrate Nanoha on the spot.

Damn, the redhead thought, it was Goldilocks the one I should've kept an eye on!

Before she could take a sigh of relief for Nanoha's survival, though, the mage quickly reciprocated Mami's courtesy with a Divine Buster, knocking her out instantly.

"Oh, shit," Kyoko let out in panic while transforming in order to restrain Sayaka before she tried to avenge her senior.

Too late: the Ally of Justice had already jumped, sword in hand and screaming at the top of her lungs. The redhead could do nothing but facepalm.

Nanoha panted, looking at the fountain... or rather, the crater that had just taken its place. In the middle of it Mami was lying down unconscious, partially submerged in the water that was sprinkling out of the broken piping.

"... I think I went a little overboard again."

[Don't worry, Master. Your actions were justified by the threat.]

"I see. Raising Heart, can you send a request for a cleanup te-"

"DIEEEEEEEE!"

Nanoha brought up Raising Heart just in time to parry the slash of a certain blue-haired girl. "Sayaka, calm down, please!"

The Ally of Justice angrily stared into the mage's eyes. "So you can kill me too? No way!"

Sayaka jumped back and went in for another slash, one that Nanoha dodged with a Flash Move. "Mami's just unconscious, and besides, she attacked me first!"

"I don't believe you!" Sayaka screamed while going for another charge. Nanoha flew up, transforming at the same time, but that only resulted in Sayaka deciding to give chase with a powerful jump.

Nanoha, who had just finished her transformation, managed to dodge the attack just barely, losing her right pigtail to Sayaka's cutlass.

[Master, returning fire would be appropriate.]

Nanoha bit her lip. She didn't want to blast Sayaka into next week too — she already had a "Befriend through superior firepower" reputation, and a double "befriending" would just worsen it — but it was clear that there was no other choice. "Raising Heart, load cartridge."

[Using cartridges again is advised against. Your body is still recovering.]

Nanoha dodged another of Sayaka's jumps. "Please."

[... All right, Master. Cartridge load.]

Nanoha loaded all the cartridges remaining in the magazine and took aim. Not a difficult task, considering that the Ally of Justice had an habit of charging head-first.

Sayaka stared in horror as her following jump was cut short by a pink beam of friendship and destruction. Mostly destruction.

Kyoko jumped down from her building and stared at the sorry condition the park was left in. The place looked like it had been bombed by artillery, and what made it even scarier was the fact that it was mostly done by a single person.

Nanoha landed, stumbling a bit before deciding to use Raising Heart as a crutch of sorts. The wounds inflicted by Mami and the rather big amount of mana used in such a short time were starting to take a toll on her.

"Don't shoot me please?" Kyoko asked with her hands raised when Nanoha started looking at her. The mage's intentions were destined to remain a mystery, though, as Nanoha fainted right afterwards.

"... Admiral, with due respect I insist that the situation is entirely under control."

Mami opened her eyes. She was in an unfamiliar room - one that looked like an hospital room - but the voice she heard from the other side of the partition sounded like someone in the military. "Where am I?"

The voice said some more hurried words that the blonde girl didn't understand, then a teal-haired woman wearing a blue uniform came from the other side of the curtain.

"Did I wake you up? I'm sorry, I received a call I couldn't turn down while I was talking with the medic who treated you and your friend."

Mami shook her head. "It's fine, miss...?"

"Oh, right. I didn't introduce myself. I'm Admiral Lindy Harlaown, of the Time-Space Administration Bureau's Dimensional Navy and captain of the ship we're currently on, the Asura."

Mami froze. That woman's introduction meant three things: first, Nanoha didn't lie about the TSAB; second, Nanoha very likely wasn't a Witch; third, she was in a lot of trouble.

Lindy seemed to understand what was in Mami's mind. "Don't worry, you're not in trouble. There will probably be a hearing, but considering your situation and the fact that you come from an Unadministered Planet, it'll just be just a formality."

"Unadministered... Planet?" Mami asked.

Lindy opened her mouth to answer, but was interrupted by what sounded like an office chair moved around.

"Nanoha! You should still be in bed!" the Admiral reprimanded.

"I'm sorry, I wanted to see if Mami was alright," Nanoha apologized as she entered into Mami's field of view. The mage was wearing an hospital nightgown and was dragging around an IV drip attached to her arm, but otherwise she appeared to be in perfect shape. "I'm sorry for blasting you that hard."

Mami shook her head. "No, I... I should be the one apologizing. I lost my head there."

"Don't worry, we know that you believed Nanoha to be a Witch. It's not your fault," Lindy interrupted her, "you, like all the Puella Magi, were just used by Kyubey. I'm sure that you have a lot of questions, but now you should just rest, Mami. I promise that we will explain everything once you, Nanoha and Sayaka are fully recovered."

"Sayaka? What happened to her?"

Lindy sighed while Nanoha fidgeted. "After Nanoha knocked you out, Sayaka thought you had been killed and tried to avenge you."

Mami nodded slowly. "... I can guess how that ended."

"She fought hard, despite her lack of experience," Nanoha conceded while running a hand through her hair. Only then Mami noticed that her hairstyle was different: the mage was wearing her hair in a ponytail on the left side of her head.

"Yes, it was her," Nanoha said when she noticed Mami's stare, "but I actually like this new style, I guess I'll thank her later."

Mami rested her head against the pillow. That girl was clearly insane.