Gone Fishing

"Ok this looks like a good spot!" said Fate dropping her backpack. "Vivio what do you think? We have a nice view of the entire lake plus we have shade. Sounds good right?"

"Hm? Oh yeah I like it," said the young girl absentmindedly.

"Are you ok sweetie?" Fate knelt down so she was face to face with Vivio.

"Y-yeah I'm ok."

"Good." After patting her on the head, Fate started setting up their stuff. She set out the two folding chairs and placed the cooler between them. Vivio seated herself in one of the chairs almost immediately and just stared out at the calm water. It was around noon so the sun was shining bright. Fate grabbed the two fishing poles and handed the smaller one to Vivio. "There you go. Now I'm going to teach you how to use it so pay attention ok?"

Vivio nodded.

"Ok you put your bait on the hook like this, then once you've made sure it's on their securely you cast your line out like this!" Fate standing behind Vivio and moving her arms, cast out the line and sent the baited hook flying out into the water.

"What do I do when a fish bites?" asked the young girl clutching the rod nervously.

"Well when a fish bites you just reel your line in by turning this little handle here."

"Ok," Vivio nodded obediently.

"Ok now to get mine out. Let's see who catches a fish first huh?" Baiting her hook as well, Fate tossed it out then sat back in the chair next to Vivio and let out a relaxed sigh.

"I wish mama could've come with us."

Fate looked over at the girl. "I know honey but Nanoha had to work. You know she would have come if she could."

Vivio just sat still clutching her rod and staring down at the ground.

Fate took off her sunglasses and put them on her head then kicked off her sandals. Reaching into the pocket of her jean shorts she pulled out her cellphone and checked the time. Ok let's try this. "Vivio honey I know you wanted your mama to come but she just got tied up at work. But I know she'll make it up to you."

The little girl shook her head. "It's not that. I know mama has to do her job. She's a mage and a lot of people need her. Her job is really important so I understand that she can't always spend time with me."

"Well if you're not down about that then what's eating you?" asked Fate.

Vivio was hesitant to answer. She looked at Fate then adjusted her small straw hat on her head.

Fate leaned closer gently placing her hand on the child's shoulder. "Can you please tell me what's wrong Vivio? I want to help if I can."

Vivio looked at her with a serious expression. "Fate…what's a lesbian?"

"What?"

"Some of the kids at school were saying that you and mama are lesbians."

Fate was completely caught off guard. She remembered that Nanoha once mentioned Vivio getting curious and that they would have to explain things to her one day but she never thought it would be at a time when Nanoha wasn't around to help her since was always better at talking to Vivio than she was. But now the young girl was staring Fate right in the eyes eagerly expecting some form of response.

"Um…well Vivio you see…you're mama and I love each other. When two people love each other they want to be together. That's me and your mom. Nanoha is my best friend in the world but she's also my lover," explained Fate.

"What's a lover?" asked Vivio.

"What's a lover? Well a lover is someone who is closest to you in every way possible. It's someone you can depend on, confide in, trust, and someone who will love you unconditionally. You're too young to hear about certain things but a lover is also someone who you are intimate with."

"Intimate? What's intimate?"

Fate laughed a little. "Intimate is being very, very close with someone. It's being so close to them it's like no one else exists sometimes."

"Does mama feel that way about you?" she asked.

Fate nodded. "Yes she does."

"So…does that mean that you're my mama too Fate?"

Fate smiled gently. "Well I'm not officially but I wish I could someday."

"Why can't you?" Vivio asked.

"Because a lot of people don't agree with your mom and I getting married. They think it's wrong so they won't let us," Fate answered with a sad expression.

"But you just said that you and mama love each other right?" said the young girl. "Why wouldn't people let you get married?"

"It's complicated little one."

"But it doesn't seem very fair," said Vivio.

Fate smiled and tried to hold back the few tears that were threatening to fall from her eyes. "I know honey. It's not fair but that's life sometimes. You'll understand when you get older. The world is….not such a nice place all the time."

Vivio was about to say something else when the reel on her rod began spinning.

"You've got a bite Vivio!" cried Fate jumping up from her seat.

"W-what do I do?" said Vivio watching her line disappear.

"Hold on to it! Once it tires out start reeling him in!"

After a few seconds the reel began to slow down and Vivio grabbed it and with Fate's help started to reel in the fish. As it was being pulled towards them it leapt from the water several times showing itself to be of a pretty decent size. Seeing an opportunity to let Vivio finish it herself, Fate let go of her.

"Go on honey you've got it! Just keep pulling him in then lift him out of the water."

Vivio pulled her rod up and sure enough the fish came out of the water with a splash. As Vivio held it up in the air still hanging from her rod, the fish thrashed around getting water all over the two girls.

"Great job!" said Fate patting Vivio on the back. "Now let's put him in the bucket." Grabbing the large white bucket they had hauled with them, Fate dipped it in the water to partially fill it then dropped the fish inside. "There we go. That'll keep him fresh until we get home."

"Fate your rod!" cried Vivio pointing to the ground.

Turning around to see what she was talking about, Fate saw her rod and reel snatched from where she had left it. She dove to grab it and just barely managed to get a grip on the end of the handle but fell into the shallow water. She quickly got to her feet as Vivio helped her.

"Fate are you ok?"

"Yeah I'm fine Vivio. Man this one must be huge!" Yanking on the rod as hard as she could, Fate forced the fish to jump out of the water. It was in fact a large one; at least 2 ½ feet.

"WOW!" shouted Vivio after seeing the size of the fish.

"This one is so tonight's dinner!" said Fate pulling as hard she could on the line and reeling it in quickly. The fish however was not being as cooperative and was giving everything it had to resist being caught. Feeling some strain on the rod by her huge catch, Fate decided to implore a slightly different tactic.

Let's see you deal with this! She worked a small, but still somewhat powerful magic spell in her right hand then shot it out at the water. Once it hit, it caused a surprisingly large blast of water to go shooting into the air along with her big fish. Yanking on the line one last time, Fate pulled the fish through the air and landed it squarely in their large bucket.

Vivio cheered even as the water thrown up by Fate's spell, rained back down on top of them. "That was so cool Fate!"

"I know right? How nice of a catch was that?" Even if I did cheat a little, she said to herself.

"That was so cool how you made that big splash of water when you pulled him out!" said the young girl again.

Fate was about to answer when her cellphone rang. Picking it up and thanking god that it didn't get wet in her little spectacle, she answered it. "Hello? Nanoha? I'm surprised your calling I thought you were busy?"

"Oh let me talk to mama!" said Vivio jumping up and down and reaching for the phone.

"Here Vivio wants to talk to you," said Fate handing the little girl the phone.

"Mama? Hey mama! Guess what? I caught a fish!" the girl yelled proudly. "Yeah Fate caught one too! She caught a big one! It jumped out of the water and was like whoosh!"

Fate smiled as she watched Vivio brag on and on about the fish they caught and about her as well. After a few minutes she handed the phone back to Fate. "Yeah Nanoha it's me again. We'll be home in a few hours ok?" Fate laughed. "Yes we'll be having fish tonight. Ok, love you too. See you soon." Hanging up the phone, Fate made sure to put it safely in her backpack where it wouldn't be in danger of getting sprayed again. "Now let's try and catch some more for mama to cook what do you say?"

Vivio jumped up and down excitedly. "Yes! Let's catch lots of fish!"

"You know it!" Fate said as the two gave each other a highfive then cast there lines out again.

I thought I'd do some interaction between Fate and Vivio this time. I thought this was a really cute one.

Comments are appreciated and most of all enjoy!