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.

*~-[ Chapter #9: Tome of the Night Sky ]-~*

Nanoha POV:
"Won't you introduce me to your new blonde friend over there?" Hayate-chan asked with an overly sweet smile, pointing directly at Fate-chan.

I had just taken a sip of tea in an attempt to gather the courage to try and explain about Fate-chan. Tea sprayed out my mouth and nose as I nearly choked. From the sounds of it Arisa-chan and Suzuka-chan weren't faring much better.

"Y-you can... see me?" Fate-chan stuttered, sounding very shocked as well.

A toothy grin spread across the short-haired brunette's face. "Sure can, miss ghost. My name's Yagami Hayate, who're you?"

"F-Fate… Fate Testarossa." Fate-chan awkwardly stuttered an introduction, still in disbelief that Hayate-chan could see her. I was still trying to process what was happening myself.

"Fate-chan, that's a nice name." Hayate-chan smiled.

"H-Hayate… chan?" Arisa-chan stuttered as she started to get over her shock. "You can actually see her?"

"Yes I can, can't you? I mean, it seems like you're very much aware she's there." Hayate-chan cocked her head to the side as she asked this.

"Uh, no. Suzuka-chan and I can sense her presence, but only Nanoha can see or hear her." Arisa-chan explained.

"Huh… interesting." Hayate-chan's face turned thoughtful.

I felt Fate-chan float close to me as if looking for support. I remembered then she'd been somewhat reserved about coming into Hayate-chan's house because she felt something was off. I took Fate-chan's hand in my own and gave it a reassuring squeeze, trying to tell her there was no reason to be so nervous. While I never knew Hayate-chan also had… this ability to see ghosts, I knew enough about her to know she wouldn't do anything bad to Fate-chan. The blonde ghost seemed to understand me as she gave me a smile back.

I turned my head back to face Hayate-chan when I was met by two very wide blue eyes. Wondering what was wrong I tried to decipher where she was staring.

"Am I seeing this? Is this for real?" I heard her mutter under her breath. I was confused; she seemed to turn a total one-eighty as she went from 'ghosts are the most normal thing in the world' to 'holy crap! Ghosts!'

She must've caught my questioning glance because she continued. "Nanoha-chan? Are you aware what you're doing right now?"

I cocked my head to the side as I wasn't sure what she was getting at. I just tried to assure Fate-chan that everything was fine by giving her hand a little… squeeze…

I turned my head to look at Fate-chan and my hands. Fate-chan did the same and we both stared at our entangled fingers for a moment.

Suddenly we didn't know how fast we had to get our hands separated. I felt my face heat up and I was sure it had to be just as red as Fate-chan's face was while she turned to face the ground, trying not to make eye-contact with anyone.

"I-it's not what you think!" I yelled. 'but I kinda wish it was. Where did that thought come from?!'

Hayate-chan burst out in laughter. I groaned in frustration because I was sure there was no way she'd let me live this down.

"S-s-sorry Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan, but… that was just too cute!" she wiped away a tear. I sent her a glare which only caused her to start laughing again.

*~-[ X ]-~*

Hayate POV:
Once I had finally calmed down I decided it was about time for me to do some necessary explaining.

"I guess I got some explaining to do don't I?" The three girls and ghost in my room nodded in anticipation.

"In that case you should make yourself comfortable." In response, Arisa-chan sat down on the chair at my desk while Suzuka-chan and Nanoha-chan took a seat on the floor. Fate-chan shifted into a sitting pose but didn't get any closer to the ground, staying afloat above it.

"I'm sure you remember back when the four of us first met," I started, indicating everyone in the room but the blonde ghost, "that I was wheelchair bound."

I was met with a nod and a smile from Suzuka-chan; she was the one I'd met first.

"By then, I already had Signum and the others in my life. But before that, I lived here alone."

"For real?" Arisa-chan interrupted.

I nodded and Suzuka-chan reprimanded the green-eyed blonde for interrupting.

"Anyway, before I met Signum, Vita-chan and Shamal I only had Zafira for company."

"Speaking of, where is that big blue beast?" Arisa-chan interrupted again.

"Oh, he's gone with Vita-chan, as it turns out, the old folks at the home really like him. Probably because he's such a calm little wolfy." I smiled happily; most people found Zafira to be very intimidating since he was such a big wolf-like dog. But he was one of the most well-behaved and calm dogs out there.

"Little?!" Arisa-chan yelled out in disbelief.

This time it was Nanoha-chan that spoke up. "Can you please stop interrupting Hayate-chan?"

Arisa-chan pouted but apologized with a quick 'sorry'.

I cleared my throat and continued: "Anyway, I lived here alone with Zafira for quite a while. Despite my condition with my legs I could do most things perfectly by myself. The doctors didn't understand where my paralysis came from and as a result hadn't the foggiest on how to fix it.

Then, shortly before I met Suzuka-chan, they showed up on my doorstep one evening." I smiled at the memory of Signum, Vita-chan and Shamal standing on my doorstep.

"We'd come because we knew about her condition, not to mention the reason behind it." Shamal said after she'd suddenly walked into the room. "Nice to meet you by the way, Fate-chan." She flashed a smile at the blonde in question.

"N-nice to meet you too." The ghost seemed to be a bit wary of Shamal. I noticed how she lowered herself just a bit, getting closer to Nanoha-chan. I felt my lips curve into a smirk. It was clear someone liked being near someone else. I could see it work too; the two of them gave off plenty of good vibes.

"Hayate-chan? Care to… continue the story?" Nanoha-chan's voice brought me back to earth.

I blinked a few times. "Oh right, sorry. I was a bit distracted."

"I think you were at the part where we came in." Shamal smiled at me. She had resorted to half-sitting on the side of my desk.

"Right, right, of course." I took a moment to get my mind back on track, "So one day, late in the evening, they'd appeared on my doorstep."

*~-[ X ]-~*

Third Person POV:
It was a day like any other; Hayate had just eaten dinner and had finished cleaning up when the doorbell rang.

'Who could that be…?' Hayate couldn't help but wonder as she had never had visitors before. Curious and slightly cautious she went to the front door. It was not out of the ordinary for her doctor to come visit; the two of them had developed a relationship beyond doctor and patient. There were times when Hayate considered dr. Ishida to be family. However, if it had been dr. Ishida, she would've called beforehand.

Opening the door with Zafira right behind her, being the protective wolf he was, Hayate was met with three unfamiliar women. One was a violet-eyed, short-haired blonde with a kind and gentle expression. One was a tall pink-haired woman with blue eyes and a very stoic demeanour. And the last one was a short redhead looking slightly younger than Hayate herself. The redhead looked like she had a permanent scowl on her face.

"Uh… good evening?" Hayate greeted nervously; she didn't know these people, why were they here? What'd they want from her?

"Yagami Hayate?" the pinkette spoke up. Sounding every bit as serious as her appearance led on.

"T-that's me… who are…" Hayate made a motion with her hand indicating the three women at the door. "you?"

Instead of answering the stoic woman said: "I knew we'd find you, Master Hayate."

Hayate blinked a few times, trying to comprehend what was going on. Here she was, having a normal day like any other and suddenly three women showed up and called her Master Hayate? "E-excuse me? M-m-master?"

"Signum, you're confusing her. I told you to be more tactful." The blonde spoke up before turning to Hayate. "Nice to meet you Hayate-chan, is it alright if we come in? It's quite important."

Hayate knew better than to let random strangers into her house, especially this time of day. But something about these people made Hayate think she could trust them. This was reinforced by the fact Zafira didn't seem to distrust these strangers either. "Okay, uh, please come in."

*~-[ X ]-~*

The three guests had settled on the living room couch while Hayate found herself in the kitchen preparing tea for four.

"So, what do you think Zaffy?" she asked the blue wolf who stood by her side.

His only response was a gentle nudge of his nose to the side of the short-haired brunette's wheelchair.

Hayate smiled gently. "Well, they don't seem to be bad people do they?"

Zafira shook his head. He didn't feel any malicious intentions from these women towards his owner.

Hayate smiled at the big blue wolf, glad he seemed to be sharing her sentiments.

Rolling her wheelchair back into the living room, carrying the cups of tea on a tray in her lap Hayate served the tea to her guests. Once everyone had a cup of tea and Hayate had positioned herself across from the couch her guests were sitting on with Zafira lying down at her feet the blonde woman started talking.

"I guess we should introduce ourselves first. My name is Shamal." She motioned to the pink-haired woman sitting next to her. "This is Signum. And that is Vita." She concluded, indicating the short redhead.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Hayate." Hayate introduced herself with a smile.

"Yes, we know. It is an honour Master Hayate." The pink-haired woman spoke up.

Hayate raised an eyebrow. "Um… can we take a step back? Master Hayate?"

"I suppose we should start at the beginning." The blonde smiled gently. "Hayate-chan, you're not like most people."

"Um, I know that. Don't worry though; I've gotten used to it." Hayate smiled, her eyes fixed on her legs. As far back as should could remember she'd been in a wheelchair, it didn't bother her much.

"That's not what I mean." Shamal took a deep breath. "Hayate-chan, you're paranormally gifted."

That caught Hayate by surprise. She forgot to breathe for a second. "Excuse me?!" she stared at Shamal in disbelief.

*~-[ X ]-~*

The rest of the evening was spent explaining to Hayate the exact details of her 'gift' as Shamal had put it.

As it turned out, the Yagami clan was a long line of people with this particular gift. The gift of speaking with spirits and ghosts. Hayate should've heard from her parents a few years ago but since she lost them they had never gotten around to tell her. And now Signum, Shamal and Vita were here to explain Hayate as well as finally hand her a special family heirloom.

The Tome of the Night Sky.

As rightful owner of the Tome of the Night Sky, Hayate held a special place in the world as the Mistress of the Night Sky. It was her destiny, her fate, to act as a connection between the world of the living and the world of the dead. While by no means the only person capable of doing so, it was thanks to the Tome that she would be able to connect to the world of spirits.

Whereas other people with certain supernatural abilities would be able to contact spirits residing in the world of the living, Hayate would actually be able to contact spirits in their own realm.

And indirectly, this was the cause behind the paralysis in the lower half of her body.

Her powers also attracted evil and vengeful spirits; they were drawn to her. One such spirit had attached itself to her legs, draining the life from them, causing the paralysis the short-haired brunette was suffering from.

Using the Tome of the Night Sky, Hayate was able to exorcize the evil spirit. This, of course was not the end all be all of her paralysis. She still had to go through physical therapy. It was during this time that she met Suzuka and, through her, Alisa and Nanoha.

*~-[ End of Chapter ]-~*

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