hm... am i the only one questioning why is fate blushing and stuff ?
i mean she did say she is loyal to her "Nanoha".
I wonder if you are going to make the ending just like what i think it would be after reading chapter 6. Well just have to wait and see, as usual nice fic. :3
*hugs, glomps, squeeze, ect..*
XD
YOU'RE THE BEST!!!!!!
A new update of Alternates? Yay!!!
*non-sexual glomps
Now our poor Nanoha is going to have an even harder time with Fate... this is going to be fun xD
I like how you're portraying Fate's loyalty to her Nanoha's ^^
Oh my Gosh, you're so awesome!!
:3 glad you guys are still excited over this series after such a long break!
This is another excellent update, as usual :) I feel really sad for Nanoha's rejection, even though I understand Fate's reason for it. I've grown to really love this "Alt!Nanoha". While I don't know how things will unfold... but I have faith that she will find happiness in the end ^^
I think it was for the greater good Fate rejected Alt!Nanoha, Fate already has her family waiting for her in her world, and seeing Fate being unfaithful to Real!Nanoha would sadden me greatly.
And I can't help but think, that Alicia is in fact Alt!Fate.
Excellent chapter !
Great chapter as usual :)
This is one of my favourite fics here.
I can't picture so far Alt!Alicia going with Alt!Nanoha, but maybe next chapters will make me like her more or maybe not.
I wonder if there will be chapter told from real Nanoha perspective?
Somehow I would want to learn what Fate's real family and friends do in time Fate gone missing.
AlternativeS 7-1
When the morning light woke me from my restless sleep, I opened my eyes and stared at the ceiling above me. I heard soft snoring sounds coming from downstairs and last night's events lingered on my mind even more than before. I had made a huge mistake, and I felt as if I was going to throw up just thinking about it. After taking a deep breath, I rubbed my sore eyes to remove the remains of dried tears. I took a moment to steady myself and forced my body to move before I changed my mind. After claiming my wheelchair, I went downstairs to Fate and gently shook her shoulder.
By: Satashi
"Wake up," Nanoha's soft voice requested to her sleeping friend. "Fate-chan?" Red eyes slowly opened and she gave a weak smile for them. "You need to meet with Yuuno-kun, remember?" Fate blinked a few times and then nodded while pulling herself up to sit properly. "Hey... Fate-chan?" The blond looked down at the girl next to her and Nanoha felt her stomach turn in knots. "For what its worth... I'm sorry for what I did."
"...Yeah." Fate rubbed her eyes and the bridge of her nose. "Its okay, Alicia-"
"No," Nanoha shook her head. "Regardless, I let my feelings win over rational thinking. I used what she said as an excuse to lie to myself to make it seem okay... I shouldn't have. I'm sorry."
The honest tone in her friend's voice made Fate soften. "Apology accepted. Thank you for understanding... I know I don't have to but I'd feel a lot better saying this..." The girl let Nanoha nod before continuing. "I love my wife, and my family. I know you are her in a different world and all but... I'm faithful to her, and I know she will understand what happened. On my wife's behalf, I want to say that she would forgive you as well."
"...Thank you." Nanoha hung her head for a moment before nodding. "I know apologizing won't make it right, but I hope we can still be friends while you're here."
"Yes," Fate reached out and took Nanoha's hand. "Of course."
Feeling the awkward sensation course through her, Nanoha took her hand back and placed it on the red orb to control her chair. "Well, I'll go get dressed. You need to contact your sister and Yuuno-kun, 'kay?"
"Mmn," Fate nodded yet again and watched the girl move away from her. Once clear from sight, Fate let out a soft sigh, rubbing her temples. 'The next few days are going to be really awkward...'
I'm sure Alt!Nanoha will find her special person one day.
Nice little chapter, as usual. :3
Like some people here, I think it could be a good idea to see what happen to Real!Nanoha and Real!Vivio while Fate is missing.
Great! I'm glad they kissed and made up XD
Poor Alt!Nanoha... she goes crazy with without a Fate for herself =/ Well, maybe from now things will happen with "Alicia".
As someone said earlier, it would be nice to have a chapter about what is happening with Nanoha and Vivio in the canon!dimension.
Sorry, I have no intentions to do anything with Real!Nanoha at this moment :3 this is Fate's story <3
AlternativeS 7-2
~**~
Fate couldn't help but give a small smile when she saw her sister slowly sitting up in bed. She had allowed her twin to sleep in her normal assigned room, which was now being monitored once again. Even though Fate knew that Hayate was just being cautious, the feeling of being watched by her friends still left an uneasy feeling in the girl's stomach. "Good morning," Fate finally greeted when Alicia seemed awake enough to realize where she was.
The sleepy girl looked at the clock in the room and made a snorting sound. "I didn't even know there was a six in the morning," she complained only half serious.
"For all the trouble you caused yesterday, coming with me now is the least you could do."
Alicia blinked at Fate before rubbing her eyes. "I must still be sleeping, what did I do yesterday?"
"Nanoha, in the bath."
"Oh," Alicia grinned. "Did you have a fun time last night?"
Fate took a deep breath to steady herself. "Nanoha and I aren't really married."
"...What?"
Moving to sit on the side of the bed, Fate leaned forward a bit and looked at the floor. "This is going to sound a little weird, but stay with me." A quick glance let her see her sister nod. "I didn't tell you this before because I was so happy to finally meet you... I didn't want to push you away."
"What do you mean?"
"I'm... not really from this world."
Alicia clicked her tongue. "I'm not either, really, considering I grew up on another planet until I was about nine or so."
"No, I mean..." Fate moved her hands in an attempt to help her find the right words. "I'm from an alternate reality...One from where you had originally died." The girl took the silence as a request to continue her story. "You see, somehow I was brought to this world and found that I had originally died back in the past. At the same time, you somehow survived."
"...Okay, that is a little weird." Alicia moved so she was sitting next to Fate. "So you're saying you're from another dimension?"
"Time line, dimension, world, whatever you want to call it."
"...How did you get here?"
"I don't know." Fate turned to look at Alicia and brought up a hand to touch her cheek.
A gloved hand reached forward to touch the glass tube in front of it. The greenish liquid surrounded a sleeping girl inside of it, hair floating around her due to the random bubbles moving around. The hand moved to wipe away dust from the glass, but jerked back when her touch made the capsule activate. The girl's eyes opened, showing crimson even through the liquid.
"Sis!?" Alicia shook Fate's shoulders, snapping the girl back to reality. "What happened? you suddenly blanked out on me."
"I...sorry." Fate put a hand to her face. "I... had a flashback... I think."
"Flashback?" Alicia blinked a few more times before sighing. "Great, my sister is a nut case." Standing, she stretched out to make herself wake up more. "Tell me more over some coffee, I'm still too tired to understand all this." Looking back at Fate, she smirked. "You're one interesting girl, sis."
~**~
"...And that brings you to right now," Fate finished her story.
"...Wow," Alicia leaned back in her chair and looked at her sister sitting across the table. "And I thought I had it rough growing up on the streets..." She watched Fate take a small sip of her coffee. "So they are trying to get you back home?"
"Yes," Fate nodded slightly. "I normally spend my mornings with Yuuno, or the afternoons if he doesn't need me there. He said he has an idea on what happened, but without my memories leading up to the event, he's almost working blind on it."
"And that was a flashback you had earlier? Did you remember anything important?"
Fate sighed softly. "I remember a little bit, but its so foggy... I'll tell Yuuno when I go see him, maybe he will understand a little more."
Alicia hummed to herself and went to take another drink before stopping. "Wait a minute, I just remembered, you said that Nanoha wasn't your wife... So that means last night...?"
The older sister blushed and looked away slightly. "That was a real big problem."
"I see..." Alicia grinned despite herself. "I'm sorry."
"You don't sound sorry," Fate accused, a little upset.
"Well you lied to me first, so we're even." Alicia countered with a chuckle. "I was just trying to help out my sister, so this was technically your fault."
Fate tried to say something to denounce the fact, but shortly had to admit to herself that she had, indeed, caused most of what happened. "...Yeah. I just wish I realized it earlier. Poor Nanoha..."
"Whoa, this girl tried to make you cheat on your wife and you say poor Nanoha? She deserves what she got, even if I did egg her on to do it."
"No," Fate shook her head. "I know Nanoha, even if she isn't the one I grew up with... I can tell, she's so desperate and sad...She had a moment of weakness, and caved into her desires. Even if we did do something last night, I feel deep down that she would feel just as bad as she does this morning about it."
"From what you told me, and what I saw, I think she would want you to stay with her."
"...I know she would, but it doesn't mean she wouldn't feel bad. All at once, her world turned upside down. She has a child to look after now, and she latched on to someone so fast it made her blind to so many things... And now she suddenly crashed into a wall... I can't imagine how she feels right now."
"Its not very pleasant," Nanoha's voice made Fate jump in her seat, almost dropping her mug. The blonde turned to look to the side and saw Nanoha there with Vivio next to her. "Fate-chan, Yuuno-kun wanted me to tell you he needs to see you in the research room."
"O-okay..." Fate stood and knew she was blushing at having been caught in the act. Alicia stood as well and asked if she could come along as well. After agreeing, The girl looked down at Nanoha again and tried to think of something to say.
"Its okay," Nanoha replied in a soft, sad voice. "I need to go, I promised Vivio some breakfast." Turning to look at the small girl, Nanoha tried her best to put on a smile for her. "Ready, Vivio?"
"Mmn!" The girl nodded happily.
I'm glad Alicia has learned the whole story from Fate now. Maybe she'll be able to make Nanoha feel better? ^///^
Nice chapter Satashi, thanks for updating.
Now that Alicia knows Fate's story, it should be her turn to tell us her past, I feel quite intrigued about her character. Anyway, I don't know, but I think that "flashback" smells a bit like a plot device!
Nice update, thanks !
Now, I'm curious to learn more about Alicia, she's a quite mysterious character.
Thanks for the update ^^.
I´m agree with the others, I want to know more about Alicia, she is a little misterius. And these flashback... hm, really intriguing.
7-3
Yuuno looked over his shoulder when he heard the door to his room slide open. Upon seeing two blonds come in, he gave a slight frown, wishing to only have Fate there at the moment. "Good morning," he greeted both of them. "Before anything else, who is who?"
"Fate," Fate raised her hand embarrassingly while simultaneously making sure Alicia didn't play another prank. "Any news, Yuuno?" When she noticed his eyes looking at Alicia, she spoke up again. "I told her everything."
Yuuno groaned. "Fate, I can tell you're a trusting person, but this is something that seriously needs to be kept between as few of people as possible. If the wrong person got a hold of this knowledge then the results could be catastrophic.
Alicia cocked an eyebrow. "You saying I'm a bad person?"
"Your record speaks for itself, Thunderbird," Yuuno countered smoothly.
"Did your homework, I see." Alicia crossed her arms. "But this is my sister, I won't sell her out so easily."
Fate looked at Alicia curiously. "Thunderbird?"
"My alias," Alicia replied simply, shrugging. "You think I give people my real name and contact information for transporting jobs?" She snorted at the thought.
"Anyway," Fate tried to push the uneasiness aside. "What's new, Yuuno?"
The male sighed before giving in, turning to bring up a monitor to display information. "The good news is, like you know, this isn't the first time this incident has occurred. Normally the variance between exiting folded space is only in the matter of seconds, the most extreme case being a few hours."
Fate nodded at hearing this. "But that doesn't explain how I crossed dimensions."
"Let me get there," Yuuno chided her absently while he swapped pages of data. "Okay, here, this is a normal frequency for travel." A pictograph that resembled sound waves came up for them to look at. "And here is a sample taken from the park where you woke up at." Another image came up, showing a flickering stream.
"So there's a distortion?" Alicia asked aloud.
"An overlapping frequency to be exact. Fate, remember back on Earth, when you would listen to the radio and how other stations would bleed into it?" He got a nod. "Consider this to be like that. Your world crosses ours at this point. Where you came from on your side could be different, so if you can remember anything at all to help link these two together, it would help tremendously."
Fate rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I remember seeing a life tube... and touching it..." The girl shook her head. "But that doesn't make any sense! The only place on record that would have the required material would be-" He words stopped when she looked at her twin sister. "...Oh my god..."
"Fate?" Yuuno walked over to her. "Fate, what is it?"
"The Garden of Time," Fate almost whispered.
7-4
"The Garden of what now?" Yuuno asked.
Alicia put her hands on Fate's shoulders. "Our home? Do you know anything about it?"
Fate shook her head, trying to clear it so she could focus better. "I... I remember being at my desk... Getting a call from Nanoha... She said... She said a group found the Garden of Time while patrolling, We happened upon it by chance, and it was almost all destroyed but... that's right..." Fate began to pace. "Nanoha and I went there, we were in our jackets just in case the security system still worked... I split off with her and found the remains of where my mother always was. I went back behind the area and found the relic that the patrol ship picked up, along with..." Her red eyes turned to Alicia. "Myself..."
"Yourself?" Alicia blinked.
"Well, a version of myself, another Fate... I guess if I failed, then mother would try again... Only this time with a relic instead of a Lost Logia." The woman had to sit down, leaning forward as her memories started clicking in place. "I touched the capsule, and the relic activated... The pod exploded and the Garden started collapsing around us... I grabbed the relic to seal it, but I guess some debris hit me and knocked me out... when I woke up, I was here."
Yuuno rubbed his chin in thought. "Well, Relics are powerful, and there are many that are unorganized. If your mother, Precia I beleive her name was, wanted to make a perfect clone of her daughter, then pulling her from another universe would be the best option."
Alica shook her head. "No, I remember mother, she wasn't the type to-"
"She changed," Fate cut her sister off. "When you died, it broke her. She cloned you and made me, and when I didn't meet her desires, she was prepared to try again."
Yuuno nodded in agreement. "If that relic was designed to pull Alicia from this world into your original one, then I can only suppose it didn't work as intended. Instead, it sent you to this one. If that were the case, then it would have a sister-relic here as well, emitting the same frequency that it does."
Alicia scratched her head. "Wait, you lost me here."
"Basically," Fate spoke up, looking at Yuuno to confirm her thoughts. "There had to be a link between our two worlds, one that synced with the person who activated the relic. When I turned it on in my world, it sent me to this one thanks to my mother's tampering... which means..."
Yuuno picked up where she left off. "The relic in this world would be the exact opposite of the one in yours. If we got a hold of it then I could set the specifics and..." He trailed off, grinning.
"Send me back home!" Fate moved from her seat and gave Yuuno a tight, thankful hug. "Oh Yuuno, you're amazing!"
"Wait a moment!" Alicia yelled slightly to get their attention. "You're looking for a specific relic? There are countless relics, and even more that aren't registered, how in the world will you get your hands on this specific one?"
"Easy," Fate answered with a smile. "The fact that Erio is with Jail right now means that he knows about Project Fate. For Erio to be alive means that somebody, somewhere, at some time, picked up my mother's research. If that was the case, then Jail would more than likely have said relic at his base."
"How did you make that connection?" Yuuno put a hand on his hip.
"In my world, Jail collected Relics in order to take control of the T.S.A.B. He had artificial life cyborgs created to help him with this task. for him to start research on them, and develop project Fate, then he would have had to have his hands on a relic at one point in time. Seeing as how I wasn't here to influence the T.S.A.B to keep an eye out for the Garden of Time, it makes sense to think that Jail somehow found it and picked it up-"
"Getting that relic along the way," Alicia finished in understanding. "So that means we just have to get that Relic."
"Exactly," Fate confirmed.
Yuuno crossed his arms. "Well, Alicia, it looks like your connection with Jail will have some use after all."
So that's what happened! Very intriguing scenario... and nice explanation. I like it ^^
Great update, thanks ^^. Everything starts to fit, and, as Yuuno sais, it is a good explanation :)
And the plot thickens!
Thanks for the dual update Satashi~
Thanks for the update, now we know how Fate end up in the alternate world, and how she can return home to her family.
This story certanily is AWESOME!!! your writing is beyond commendable! I just finshed reading all the way from the first chapter to your last update =) my eyes had been focusing on the screen, so I did not notice at all that 2 hours had passed already lol.
Thank you so much for this great story and I am looking forword to your next update. ^_^
this is so awesome!! i can't believe i didn't read it sooner!!! what will happen to nanoha now...when fate leaves. aahhh
Awesome awesome story so far! A very interesting plot compared to alot of other fics, and it's keeping me on the edge of my seat after each chapter.
Thanks for the update, now we know how Fate end up in the alternate world, and how she can return home to her family.
Let's just hope that whatever it was that knocked Fate out didn't also destroy the life pod she was trying to protect. We can only hope for the best for our beloved Fate-chan!!
7-5
~**~
"So that's how it is," Hayate mused at hearing the story. Leaning back in her desk chair, she put her hands together in thought. The three blonds in the room allowed the commander to dwell on this a few moments, waiting eagerly to hear the response. "For now," Hayate finally spoke, "I want Yuuno and Fate to go back to the research area and work out some more details. Report back to me when you have more solid evidence. In the mean time, Alicia-san, I would like to have a word with you."
Alicia glanced over at her sister before giving a curt nod. The two friends left the office together and she walked up to stand in front of Hayate's desk directly. "What's up?"
Hayate disregarded the lack of formal speech and instead brought up a monitor to send to the girl. "As you may have guessed," she began while Alicia looked over the criminal record report. "I did my research on you, Thunderbird."
Alicia seemed amused. "Didn't take you long at all, I'm impressed." Alicia curiously flipped through the records, almost laughing as she recalled doing them. "So what you, you going to arrest me?"
"Actually," Hayate replied while looking at her. "I'd like to cut a deal with you."
"Oh?" Alicia closed the monitor down after storing a copy of it in her device. "What kind of deal?"
"I'd be willing to make all that go away, if you co-operate with us." Hayate replied simply. "Completely removed, as if it were never there. A fresh start."
"Not that I care about having a record, but what's the catch? I already agreed to help you with Scaglietti."
"You are fast, and are linked to so many underground circles it actually impresses me. In all your time, you have never been caught nor hide."
"Thank you."
Hayate blinked, not really meaning that as a compliment. Picking up where she left off, she continued. "So, my proposal to you, is for you to join me after this mission is over."
"And help you bring down the people I work for," Alicia added on.
"Exactly."
"Sorry, no can do." The woman shrugged simply. "Scaglietti is one thing, but the others have my respect."
"Honor amongst thieves?"
Alicia nodded. "Something like that."
Hayate felt rather flustered from the response and disregarded protocol by not letting the deal drop. "Why are you so hard headed? I'm offering you a chance to live normally!"
"Once my sister is gone, I have no reason to be normal." The blonde answered, voice starting to show sadness in it. "When she leaves, this place will become meaningless, and I'll be alone again..."
Hayate grabbed the chance and held on. "Don't be silly. This deal comes with a job."
"A job?" Alicia's interest was perked. "Not just using my information?"
"No, I want you on my team. Training here under Nanoha, learning how to live the correct way with a real job that pays well. We hunt for lost technology that is being misused, as well as train many different types of squads. As I said, you are fast... Fast enough to be my personal retrieval agent."
"A 'Get Backer', huh?" Alicia crossed her arms and leaned her head back while thinking about it. "From a transporter to a retriever..." Her head titled slightly to look at Hayate with one eye. "And if this operation fails? Will you throw this deal away as well as use the chance to capture me?"
"If I wanted to capture you, I would have already."
Alicia smirked. "I like you."
"Why thank you."
Turning to face Hayate directly, Alicia gave a playful salute. "Well then, commander, you just got yourself one soldier who will give you countless headaches and property damage reports."
Hayate chuckled nervously, feeling as if the woman wasn't actually joking. "A-ah... Thank you. You can go back to your friends now, I will call for you again once we have a more solid idea of exactly what we will be doing."
"Till then," Alicia grinned. Turning, her long hair flew out behind her, and Hayate noticed that her hairstyle now mimicked Fate's exactly, minus the ribbon color.
When the door closed, Hayate leaned back in her chair again. 'I guess finding your family really can change a person...' Her desk drawer was opened and she took out a small photo album. Turning it to the last page, she smiled fondly at the picture of Reinforce before the woman willingly ended her own life to prevent the Book of Darkness from going berserk once more.
I'm happy all of you are enjoying this! Please don't hesitate to comment on the story itself sometimes too if there are any flaws (besides spelling since I don't check that in these beta releases) then be sure to point them out please <3
Thanks for the update, Satashi.
"Get Backers" was the first thing I thought when we knew about Alicia's job.
(6-6)
~**~
“I can’t wait to take a nice hot bath,” Alicia spoke while walking next to her sister. “After a long day of running around with you, I could sue some, rest and relaxation.”
“The bath here is really large,” Fate told her contently. “There are shower stalls, but also a Japanese style bath. Hayate grew up in Japan and she had a say in how her base was built.”
“Japanese style?” Alicia blinked. “What do you mean?”
Fate smiled at her. “You’ll see. Here’s the showers.”
“What are we going to change into?” Alicia pondered while looking around at the stalls and then the huge soaking area. “Oh wow.”
“I forgot clothes,” the older sister realized. “Here, go ahead and get clean and soak, I’ll run get us something to change into.”
“Okay,” Alicia watched Fate jog off a moment before going into the bathhouse section. Clothes were stripped down and placed in a small cubical section for them, then she walked to the bath area first, grinning as she saw a wheelchair not far from a soaking Nanoha. “Well hello there.”
Nanoha jumped lightly, turning to look at Alicia. “Fate-chan, you startled me.”
“… I’m sorry,” Alicia smirked, walking the rest of the way to the girl. “Enjoying your bath?”
“Yes, it was a stressful day.” Nanoha sighed out and sank down lower into the water, bringing the towel over her breasts up a little more.
“Don’t hide,” Alicia teased her, sitting down on the side of the large tub so only her feet were in the water. “I want to enjoy your lovely body.”
“Fa-Fate-chan!?” Nanoha blushed hard. “Don’t say things like that.”
“It’s okay; there isn’t anyone else here right now…” Alicia scooted closer to Nanoha and leaned forward a bit. “Know what I would really like to help me relax after today?”
“Wha…what?” Nanoha looked at her skeptically.
“Just you,” Alicia told her softly, one hand going to touch Nanoha’s cheek. “Tonight… let’s be intimate, okay? Nothing better to melt away the stress of the day than being with the one you love, ne?”
“Ah...I…” Nanoha was spared having to answer when Alicia stood up. “Fate-chan?”
“I’m going to clean up, Alicia-oneechan will be here soon as well.” With that, she walked from the bath area and to the shower stalls just as Fate came into the room. “Hey, get some clothes?”
“I did,” Fate answered simply. “Decided to wait on me?”
“Mm, I’ll do your hair.” Alicia grinned, pushing Fate to the stalls.
~**~
“Nanoha,” Fate’s word made the girl look over at her from her spot on the bed. “You seem a little distant.” The blonde walked over to her. “Is it because Alicia is staying at the base? Hayate has my room under surveillance, and Vivio is staying with her tonight with all of her guardians playing bodyguard. There’s no way she’ll be in danger.”
“No, it’s not that… well not entirely.” Nanoha sighed softly. “Today was just… really weird.”
“Yeah,” Fate sat down next to her friend. “Really stressful on some parts, huh?”
Nanoha stiffened. ‘Is she trying to talk about what she said earlier?’ Shyly she looked over at Fate, who seemed content just sitting with her. “Uhm, yes… really stressful…”
Stretching out, Fate let out a pleased moan as her back popped. “I really need to unwind a bit. So much going on, it’s hard to keep thinking straight.”
‘She’s hinting at it!’ Nanoha fidgeted, recalling the words spoken to her. ‘She wants to, but is too shy to do anything because she’s not sure how I feel? Is that why she ran away after saying it earlier?’ Carefully she moved her hand over to Fate’s, placing it on top of hers and finding their fingers instantly interlaced. “Fate…-chan?”
“Hm?” Fate looked over at her happily. “What is it?”
“I…was just thinking…” blushing, she scooted closer. “How happy I am that you’re here.”
“Oh?” Red eyes looked at Nanoha curiously.
“Yes… I just… don’t feel as alone anymore…You know?”
“Mmn,” Fate bumped against Nanoha’s side playfully. “I know, I can tell in the way you’ve been acting… I’ve only been here two weeks but you’ve really seemed to warm up to me… I’m happy.”
Nanoha nervously moved her fingers along Fate’s, taking comfort in the fact that her friend didn’t pull away. “Uhm… Fate-chan?” She got a curious hum again and a soft smile. “Really… you being here… right here… really makes me happy…”
Fate felt her cheeks darken. “I’m glad to know I could make your life a little better.”
Realizing that Fate wasn’t taking the hint, Nanoha took a small breath to try again. “I mean… you make me happy… Fate-chan.” Leaning over against Fate more, she made them both fall over so she was lying halfway on top of her. “Ever since you came… I’ve felt like I was needed… Like I could do something for somebody else. I wanted to know about you, and it made me so happy when you told me things, that you would listen to my stories as well.” Moving a hand to Fate’s face, she traced her cheek with two fingers. “I know I jumped the gun at the start, but I learned that things don’t happen instantly like that… which is why I felt so bad about it.”
“Nanoha?” Fate looked at her, confused.
“So… so I want to do this properly.” Pushing up with her free hand, Nanoha moved on top of Fate some more. “I want to be intimate with you, as myself… So you can see the real me, and I can learn more about the real you…” Smiling down at her, Nanoha moved forward to kiss her, eyes fluttering closed.
“Wait,” Fate quickly turned her head so the kiss missed. “Nanoha, what’s gotten into you?”
“Eh?” Pulling back lightly, Nanoha blinked down at Fate. “What do you mean?” Her voice was obviously hurt at the sudden rejection. “You said you wanted it too… it made my heart beat so fast when you told me you loved me.”
“I… I what?” Fate shook her head. “Nanoha… what? I’m married, I have a family… I… I love Nanoha, my Nanoha…”
“But… but you said… in the bath before Alicia came in-“
“Alicia went in first; I went to get us clothes.” The two girls looked at each other as realization washed over their faces. “She… She talked to you, didn’t she?” Nanoha moved off of Fate and turned away, holding a hand to her chest. Her slate blue eyes were wide, moistened lightly around the edges. “Nanoha…” Fate sat up as well and placed her hands onto her friend’s shoulders. “What did she say?”
“She… She said she wanted to be intimate with me… You… you and me…”
Fate tried to absorb this information. “She thinks you're my wife like everyone else does, you know I wouldn’t want to…” her words trailed off slowly as she started to understand the situation.
“But I obviously do,” Nanoha whispered, making the room go into an awkward silence.
Fate stayed still, looking at the back of her lover from another universe. The blurred line from platonic friend and curiosity had obviously been breached, leaving them sitting on the bed they shared together. “Nanoha…I-”
“You don’t have to say it,” Nanoha cut her off sadly. “I was wrong, I’m sorry.”
Fate looked down at the sheets, replaying the scene over in her mind again and again. The look of love in Nanoha’s eyes, the sincerity in her voice, and the warmth of her breath that came so dangerously close to her lips. “I… I think I’m going to sleep on the couch tonight.” Her friend didn’t say anything in return. Slowly ate picked two pillows to take with her and crawled over the side of the bed, glancing back once at the girl who was obviously fighting back tears. “Sweet dreams, Nanoha,” Fate told her as softly as she could. When nothing came back, she turned and walked down the ramp leading to the living room. The couch was sat on and the throw blanket on the back was pulled down to drape over her shoulders. Upstairs a small gasp of air came and Fate tried her best to block out the sounds. ‘Now what do I do…?’