Story Title:
Bound by Regret

Genres/'Tags':
Mystery / Supernatural / Romance / Yuri / Alternate Universe / Ghost

Summary:
Walking home from school, Takamachi Nanoha sees a mysterious blonde girl in the park. Entranced by the girl's mysterious air, Nanoha walks up to her and asks her who she is. The response she gets is not quite what she expected: "Y-you can... see me?" ::AU & Nanofate::

Disclaimer:
I do not own Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha. Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha and all related trademarks are owned by Seven Arcs.

On an unrelated side note: Today, February 4th 2014, is my 22nd birthday. Happy birthday to me!

*~-[ Chapter #4: A Lead ]-~*

Fate POV:
That morning I woke up in Nanoha's arms. I felt safe and secure, not to mention warm and comfortable. I snuggled a bit closer up to Nanoha; it was so nice to be able to make physical contact. I'd wanted to help Nanoha and Yuuno-kun the other day with their research but as a ghost, I couldn't touch the newspapers. The best I could do was read with them over their shoulders.

Ugh... It's so frustrating... I feel so... helpless!

I felt my fingers tighten their hold on Nanoha's arm.

"Fate-chan?" I heard Nanoha's sleepy voice.

*~-[ X ]-~*

Nanoha POV:
I woke up when I freely something warm pressing against me. Opening my eyes I saw Fate-chan in my arms, pressed against my body, her fingers clutching my arm with all their strength.

"Fate-chan?" I murmured, barely awake.

As she looked up to me I felt like those deep pools of burgundy would swallow me whole. And I wouldn't mind if they did.

Then I saw the frustration they held. I was fully awake in an instant.

"Are you okay Fate-chan?" It hurt me to see her like this; I couldn't begin to understand how she felt. Being either a ghost or an amnesiac would be hard enough, but both?

Slowly, she nodded.

"I'll be fine..." she whispered with little conviction in her voice.

I couldn't do much more than hold her as close as I could.

We have to figure this all out... Failure is NOT an option!

*~-[ X ]-~*

During school I was completely unable to focus. Even during lunch I could only think of going to the library and looking for anything, anything at all, that could have something to do with Fate-chan's death.

Arisa-chan glared at me more than once as she and Suzuka-chan tried to include me in their conversation.

"Like I was saying Nanoha-chan, Hayate-chan caught a flu yesterday. Ironic isn't it? She goes to the hospital for a check-up and promptly she catches a flu." Arisa-chan told us.

"We should pay her a visit! I'm sure that'll cheer her up." Suzuka-chan suggested.

At first I thought that was a great idea but then my eyes fell on Fate-chan and I remembered I had made her a promise. I was about to say I couldn't make it when…

"Um, I spoke with one of her relatives today, that middle school girl, Vita-chan I believe, and she said Hayate Chan is very weak and cannot accept any visitors. Should be fine in a day or two, three though." Arisa-chan said.

"Then how about were visit her this Sunday? It should be fine by then right?" I suggested. I figured that would give me plenty of time to find at least something.

"That's a great idea Nanoha-chan!" Suzuka-chan agreed. Arisa-chan nodded her agreement as well.

Fate-chan smiled and said: "I'd love to meet more of your friends Nanoha."

*~-[ X ]-~*

Once afternoon classes were over and I had waved Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan goodbye I made my way over to the library, Fate-chan in tow.

Once there Yuuno-kun walked up to me with a big grin on his face.

"Good afternoon Yuuno-kun. You look happy." I remarked with a smile of my own.

"Sure am. Listen Nanoha, you remember how I said the name Testarossa sounded familiar to me yesterday?"

"Yeah. Why, did you find anything?!" Hopeful didn't even begin to describe what I felt at that moment.

"Don't get your hopes up too much Nanoha, I don't know if this helps much but here." Yuuno-kun handed me what looked like a report of sorts. I took it from him and took a look at it.

"Precia Testarossa…" I read part of the title. "Wait, who is this? She has the same last name as-"

"Yup," Yuuno-kun interrupted me. "This is a report I made on Precia Testarossa last year." He started explaining.

"Precia Testarossa was a leading scientist in genetics. She was one of the most successful female scientists of the last decade. However, after she lost her daughter about eight years ago she fell into clinical depression and became addicted to alcohol. Two years after she'd lost her daughter she died due to acute liver failure." Yuuno-kun explained while I started skimming through his report.

"And you think she has something to do with Fate-chan?" I asked.

"Fate-chan? You sound like you knew her real well Nanoha. Well, they say most private detectives build up some sort of relation with their subjects." He snickered.

"Yuuno-kun!" I blushed slightly, though for other reasons than he might've thought.

"Anyway, yes I do. I first thought that the daughter Precia lost could be the Fate Testarossa you mentioned. But that wouldn't be possible if she died this year like you said, so I did some more digging."

"And…?"

"As it turns out, Precia Testarossa had a second daughter. It is not entirely impossible that this second daughter might've been Fate Testarossa."

My mind was working like crazy to process this stream of new information. Fate-chan might've been the daughter of a famous scientist? Sounds plausible. I glanced over at Fate-chan. She was staring off into the distance, probably trying to see if anything that Yuuno-kun just told me sounded familiar. I couldn't read her expression so I turned back to Yuuno-kun.

"Assuming she was the daughter of this Precia Testarossa, how does that help us?"

"Well, according to my research Precia died six years ago right?"

I nodded in confirmation.

"That means that Fate Testarossa was probably put into foster care. Believe it or not but Precia lived here in Uminari. It's not unthinkable that Fate might've been brought to the local orphanage."

"I see. Thank you so much Yuuno-kun!" I smiled heartily.

"Don't worry about it. It seemed very important to you so I just wanted to help. You can keep that report if you want, maybe it'll prove helpful. You never know."

"Thanks again Yuuno-kun." I said as I gave him a quick hug and a kiss on the cheek, causing Yuuno-kun to blush slightly.

"Just see that you solve this case, P.I. Takamachi." He laughed.

*~-[ X ]-~*

I rushed my way over to the local orphanage. Without thinking I ran inside where I saw an older woman sitting behind a desk in the front hall.

"Excuse me!" I said as I walked up to the older woman. The woman looked up from her desk and eyed me quickly.

"What do you want?" She asked, clearly irritated.

Her tone made me gulp subconsciously but I quickly collected myself and began speaking.

"I uh… was wondering if… a certain 'Fate Testarossa' has ever lived here…" The old lady eyed me for a moment before standing up from her desk and walking away with a quick 'Excuse me for a moment.'

Waiting patiently I made eye contact with Fate-chan. She looked incredibly nervous and to be honest I couldn't blame her; this was the best lead we had.

After a few minutes the old lady returned, holding a folder I could see was labelled 'Testarossa, F.'.

Managing to hide my excitement I walked up to the old lady.

"Fate Testarossa you said?"

I nodded, still trying to contain my excitement. This is great! We're another step closer to finding out who exactly Fate-chan is and what happened to her!

The lady opened the folder and started skimming through the files. Fate-chan moved behind the old lady and took a look over her shoulder.

"C-can I see?" I asked carefully.

"What? Are you stupid? Of course you can't! Why would I just let any random kid that happens to know the name of someone who used to live here take a look at one of these files? Scram!" She shut the folder harshly, making Fate-chan flinch before she started shooing me out of the building.

Once outside I wondered how she ever got hired with an attitude like that.

"I'm sorry Fate-chan…" I said, my eyes dropping to the ground. I was so sure we were going to find out more right then and there…

"It was not entirely wasted." Fate-chan told me, cupping my chin and bringing my eyes up to look at her.

"I saw something important on one of the papers she skimmed past."

My eyes grew wide. Of course, Fate-chan managed to look over that old lady's shoulder.

"So what did you see?!" I could barely contain my excitement; we still had a lead!

"I saw the name of the person whom adopted me. I believe it was a 'Lindy Harlaown'."

"W-w-wait!" I exclaimed at the familiar name. "You mean… headmaster Harlaown-san?!"

*~-[ X ]-~*

My mind was working overtime. Headmaster Harlaown-san had adopted Fate-chan? As far as I knew, the headmaster had only one child: a boy, Chrono-kun.

Then I remembered Hayate-chan had noticed how headmaster Harlaown-san had been absent during this year's opening ceremony. Did that have to do with anything? Gah, it doesn't matter! Headmaster Harlaown-san has the answers. I need to told to her!

I ran as fast as my feet could take me back to school. Fate-chan flew beside me. From what I could see she looked very determined and slightly nervous. My heart was pounding . It felt like we were so close!

*~-[ X ]-~*

"Headmaster Harlaown-san?!" I yelled as I threw open the door leading to her office. I was met with the startled face of the headmaster's secretary, Amy-san.

After she overcame her initial shock she explained to me that Harlaown-san had already left the school. I frantically asked her where she could've gone. Caught off guard by my insistence that it was extremely important, she told me Harlaown-san had probably gone to the cemetery.

I knew exactly for whom and why.

Storming out of the office, Fate-chan and I left the school and ran for Uminari Graveyard.

I was seriously out of breath when we arrived at the cemetery gate. Taking a moment to catch my breath I took a good look around the graveyard. The graveyard was well-kept as the gravestones looked pristine and the grass looked healthy.

Then I saw her standing in front of a small grave; headmaster Harlaown-san, her teal hair was hard to miss.

Not wanting to disturb her I came closer but kept my distance. Fate-chan stayed right beside me. I guess she was nervous to see if she would recognize the person standing at that grave. And I'm sure she was even more nervous to see the name on the grave.

We watched the headmaster place a small bouquet on the grave before putting another one of the grave beside it. Two people? Who else…?

Saying her goodbyes, Harlaown-san turned around and our eyes met. She looked shocked for a moment before her gaze softened.

"You're… Takamachi Nanoha-san, correct?"

*~-[ X ]-~*

We found ourselves at a small café in the shopping district. I watched in slight disgust as Harlaown-san put at least ten sugar cubes in her cup of green tea.

It was silent between us. She had led me here and I hadn't said a word except when we ordered our drinks.

"Harlaown-san…" I tried to start the conversation.

"Please, call me Lindy." She interrupted.

"L-Lindy-san." I tried again. She looked at me with gentle eyes and a friendly, though somewhat sad smile. I tried to explain why I had wanted to see her, but couldn't find the words.

After a few moments of silence in which I tried to find the words, any words to explain, Lindy-san spoke up.

"I must say, I wasn't quite expecting to run into a student at the cemetery."

I nodded nervously, still unsure of what to say. When Lindy-san led us to this café, I got a look at Fate-chan's face and from what I could tell, she did recognize Lindy-san.

"Care to tell me what you were doing there?" Lindy-san's voice held no anger or anything, only genuine curiosity.

"Um… I… uh…" I swallowed hard, gathering all the courage I could muster.

"Fate Testarossa." I almost yelled, closing my eyes and clenching my fists.

It stayed silent. Unsure of what was happening I slowly opened my eyes. I could see the shock on Lindy-san's face.

"How did you…? Where did you hear that name?" Her voice was slightly shaking and I immediately regretted saying Fate-chan's name like that, but I had come too far to give up now.

"It's… difficult to explain." I mumbled.

Lindy-san took my chin between her fingers and forced me to look at her. Her gaze wasn't questioning, rather it was like she was searching for something.

She sat back as she let go and sighed before a small smile appeared on her face, though there was no happiness in that smile.

"Do you really want to know, Nanoha-san? I warn you now, it's all rather… well… I don't have a word for it really…" Her voice was still shaky, but also very clear for some reason. I understood then that Lindy-san was a very strong woman.

But… I wanted to know. And from the look in her eyes, I could tell Fate-chan really wanted to know as well.

"Yes, please tell me what happened, Lindy-san." I spoke without hesitation.

*~-[ End of Chapter ]-~*

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*~-[ May we meet again, fare thee well! ]-~*