Taking a sip she quietly asked that the hospital bed call up the window of the data system, the white screen appearing in midair before her. Looking through it she waved at the nurse who was walking by her room, getting a wave and a smile in return. She let the responding smile fall from her face as she decided to get her task over with.
She had begun recently, in the last month, to start to learn about the world outside of the hospital walls. Important since she had been informed of the time between her last memory and the actual date; being trapped in a healing chamber unconscious while it made miracles happen would do that for you. Now she was going to reacquaint herself with the worlds she knew once again.
Time passed without event, her daily studies eating up her days with as much activity as her physical therapy did. She would come back exhausted but refused to fail in either task, the determination to reclaim her life waxing and waning as the physical and emotional exhaustion cycled up and down. Occasionally the two would be minimal and it was the best of times, and then they would be both in full force and out of control and it would be the worst of times.
Eventually she was able to move first to the wheelchair and then, later, to a walker. The wheelchair was a triumph of such a degree that she was unable to describe the joy when she finally achieved the pleasure of that much limited mobility. Her physical therapist, trainer Noel Maxima, was as happy as she was.
Patients such as herself were not supposed to have their diet disrupted with unnecessary sugars. Dr. Nicholas Boeing was not a happy camper with either his patient or his fellow medical personnel. The ice cream sundae, a multi-scoop vanilla dish layered in hot fudge, peanuts, whip cream and a berry that resembled a strawberry from Mau Gram had actually done more for the young lady’s morale than anything else that she had received as celebration of milestones.
When she and Noel were finally through laughing at his tirade, Noel told him where in the kitchen she had stashed the supplies and the two ladies had another laugh at the comical grin and over acted physical movements as Dr. Boeing was off and ‘running’ toward the supplies.
When he returned with his own sundae, they figured it was okay to just relax for the rest of the day, the young lady just enjoying the company of her two doctors. After all, they were what was her family at the moment and she was sure to tell them that.
She smiled at their concerned looks and just shrugged. No one else was able to come.
Both the passage of time and, somehow, her own efforts had made sure of that.
* * *
When she entered the second year of her physical therapy she had finally managed to move to her walker; this being an administered world in the Mid-Childan Federation, it was a simple medical device that was upgraded to go from her wheelchair to her walker and back again. She was having the worst time learning to make sure she was either sitting in a chair or leaning against the nearest wall as she ordered her device to switch from the walker to the wheel chair when she could no longer use the walker.
Her studies had been intense, focusing her on what she had missed in her time away from everyone and had brought her to her age level. She had always been a good student but now she was a driven student, executing her studies to such a degree that impressed the instructors attached to the medical facility for people like her.
She especially seemed intent on her magical studies, learning spells that no one expected her to know, much less cast with her level of education. When she had finally made it to the point where she could actually practice the magic, her instructor’s were scared with how fast she was moving through the air.
She was born to fly.
Nurse Rekord was never happy with her; he had learned early that if he wanted her to be safe in the medical facility he would have to track her and fly to wherever she had collapsed in joyous exhaustion.
She was panicking the first few times before she asked that her medical device be upgraded with a ranged tracker, the solution so obvious everyone was embarrassed that they had not thought of it themselves.
Noel suggested to her boyfriend that he have his brother in the TSAB arrange a standing order for medical transport for her. Since the TSAB were the ones who had rescued her, she had a bit of hero worship going on for them so convincing her to have her medical device upgraded was no problem.
The fact that Nicolas was dealing with the grief and paperwork his brother foisted on him was secondary to the raw joy that she felt when she could fly.
* * *
Pretty much at the half way point in her second year of recovery she was able to walk on her own, slowly, and with no theatrics. Her device, long since upgraded with a personality, was her constant companion. She had long since moved to wearing dresses like she had with her parents though she did like it when Noel snuck pants into her daily outfit.
She didn’t mind the panty shots she gave people as she took off and landed but the lack of air resistance made her happy when she was disobeying the TSAB and screaming through the skies at unsafe speeds.
Well, unsafe for them. She was born to race and she did, the local aces unable to keep up with her.
It was a fully integrated posting here on Pallas, Administered World 49. The naval office would track her as she broke every civilian flight rule and regulation. At some point, the air force would send one of their aces out to pick up the exhausted young lady as she would just drift in the air, her speed having taken her at least two if not four cities away depending on her direction.
One time she had managed to make herself go farther than expected and ended up on the next continental plate, over six cities away and inland. The earthquake scared her but not as much as the fact that she was looking at a naval detachment instead of her usual air force chaperones.
Normally the air force would transfer her to the ground forces but that time the naval officers, one stern middle aged enforcer leading them, returned her personally to the medial facility.
She was not allowed to fly for a week. That was not a problem because she had relapsed and was not able to get out of bed for the week or out of her wheel chair for the following month.
Enforcer Scion had made it abundantly clear that she was to stay in her normal flight path from then on. While the position she was assigned was actually the third in command of the enforcers, everyone knew that her advice was given as much weight as her commander and his executive officer’s. Even the air force and the ground forces tended to listen when she commented.
It was a series of names that one of her normal air force escorts talked about that made her decide to find out about what her family was like in this time.
* * *
Being very careful since she had not declared her identity to anyone she linked into the planetary grid from her bedroom at the recovery center and started to search through the entirety of the dimensional news archives. Confirming that her original access to the Mid-Childan library system was expired she got a new number from the Pallas branch. Armed with it she started her search.
First she looked up her hometown, horrified to learn that an explosion at the power plant had devastated it. The loss of life had been a shocking high number; she wondered if any of her family’s friends had made it away in time? Did not look like it given the fact that no one had any idea the new system that was active at the time was so unstable.
Eventually she learned all that she could about it and closed the data window on it. Loss of life like no one had known would occur. It looked like corporate greed all the way. The only fitting news was that the investigation had gotten the people who had ordered the new system fully active as though it was fully tested, which the notes to the effect of all the technicians stated quite clearly it was not. At the least another month if not more of tests had been needed.
No one, according to the articles, knew if the corporate villains were limited to the ones in prison or if there were more that were higher up or even to the side in the chain of command.
She put off looking up her father’s name for a few days, the data on her family’s hometown to horrifying to follow up on at the moment. Finally she decided to do so, carefully calling things up after her lessons and physical therapy was over for the day.
She really wished she had not done so.
He was clearly psychologically unfit for society, taking manic-depression to an unheard of psychotic degree. As brilliant a mind as she had heard her mother talking of him, he had gone into biological research, first creating the healing chamber she had been found in and then going on to research human augmentation. A reference back to the healing chambers left a horrified feeling in the pit of her stomach as she realized what might have been planned.
Leaving the research into her father alone and in standby so she could look it up again, she laid back, letting her mind wander.
It was another two days before she decided to start looking up information on her family. She carefully pinged the public files from the TSAB, partially for more information on her father and his psychotic actions. Partially because she feared what she would find when she searched both her and her mother’s names.
Her mother’s name was confirmed as involved in a dimensional incident; one that involved several of the names the air force officer had spoken that started her search. Details beyond the officer’s were still classified. She was getting more and more spooked by the moment as she looked up the files on the people involved. Three members of the TSAB naval office, one an enforcer, two civilian contractors, the girl was from the non-administered world it took place on, one a member of the famous Scrya clan, and then a girl and her familiar who were later adopted by the admiral in charge.
It was the girl with her familiar that scared the young lady so completely.
Two more weeks passed after she finally went back and finished all the public information on her father and his psychotic actions that brought him against the TSAB. A situation and the resolution to that she was very grateful for. While her mother had never been comfortable talking about her father she was clear that he was brilliant and a man with vision. A vision that might never be viable but it was a vision nonetheless.
She took her time thinking about the situation, allowing another two weeks to pass before she decided what she was to do. Carefully studying all the data on the one woman in question she decided to just contact her. Routing the request through her office she included enough information to hopefully show that she was aware of facts that she had not found in the public database.
Transmitting, she sat back against the raised mattress of her bed and hoped for the best. After all, this woman was the best link she had to the family she no longer had. Fear had kept it’s grasp not only on her stomach and heart, but also had at least a third hand clasped around her very soul she though to herself. It shocked her when twenty minutes had passed the view screen popped up with a face.
It was clear that the woman who was on the other side was at a picnic with her family, the fields appeared to stretch for miles around her. In the distance she saw the former civilian mage, now her wife, laughing at their two daughters. The older of the two was in the air, keeping the younger one struggling to catch up. A basket with several dishes waiting to be put in the garbage bag sat behind the woman in the screen.
Thirteen-year-old eyes met twenty-six year old eyes and both claret orbs widened as they recognized their twin. Yes, twins despite the fact that they had such radically different birth dates, birth years to be exact. They took in the other’s appearance in shocked silence, mouths agape and neither really remembering to breathe.
It was the young lady that broke the silence first, with the question that mattered most to her.
“Fate, what did mother and father do?” Alicia Testarossa, daughter of Precia Testarossa and Jail Scalietti asked her younger sister.
* * * * * *
Please tell me what you think of this. It is a snapshot that might or might not be expanded. I know my track record is lousy, given that I never did get the second image fanfiction I planned written after I posted 'Family Photograph' to the image it was inspired by.
Thank you for your time and your comments in advance. =)
Alicia Edit: Placed in spoiler
Oh~ the drama, the angst, the family fluff... such possibilities! [dies of excitement]
I demand a continuation! NAO!
This story looks quite promising with plenty of possibilities.
To add a title to the spoiler, you have to add an = into the initial tag. So (replacing parentheses with brackets) it'd look like (spoiler=Title Goes Here)(/spoiler).
This story looks amazing I hope you continue it.
Thank you Jokulhaup for the instruction for the spoiler title.
To everyone who was waiting from Sunday on, I apologize. I do not have internet at home and was also trying to finish the story. I hope to have the third chapter ready by Sunday or Monday, depending on when I can get internet access. The good news is that it is about half written.
Enjoy
There were few things that were quite as disturbing, disquieting and out right terrifying in the Mid-Childan Federation of allied worlds as three enforcers walking toward you. Personnel in their path made the only option of moving out of their way as fast as they could, be it by escaping into adjacent hallways, available rooms or, the worst case option, pressing themselves against the walls. The fact that they did not have any hospital administrators with them just added to the emotions.
“Amy, status check?” the enforcer on the left quietly asked the audio link, his device keeping the reply to the earpiece on his ear, and the earpieces of his companions.
“Rein, Shari and I are just about done verifying things. Give me another five minutes to finish the triple check Chrono,” was his wife’s reply.
“Understood,” the tall lady in the middle of the three said, her turquoise hair falling to her waist, no signs of graying to be seen despite the fact that she was the birth mother to her son of thirty-one years and adopted mother to her daughter of twenty-six, both of who were in place with her.
Two days ago her daughter had received a comm. call that had basically shut all of their various projects off. Once her daughter-in-law had contacted her and her son in a three-way call while her daughter was on the comm., all plans and current projects were canceled. Favors were technically called in to get the teams that their extended families made up assigned to them for the duration; technically because if this was accurate, which all the preliminary data said yes, all they were doing was taking command of a reopened case file they had participated in originally.
Lindy Harlaown looked over at her daughter; it was then that she had first met her. Originally their enemy because of the fact she wanted the jewel seeds, lost logia that Lindy and her crew were reclaiming for safe keeping, for her birth mother. Neither commanding officer or the earnest child had known why until the climax of the battle when it was revealed that the girl had been created as a means of getting the jewel seeds for a plan to resurrect the girl’s older sister.
An older sister that seems to have been able to escape the space between dimensions where magic did not work, only to have her preservation tank recovered by the local Saint Church hospital and TSAB outpost. Alicia Testarossa had apparently recovered from her injuries and the medical teams had proceeded to breach the healing chamber as they thought of the tank and revived her.
That was eight years ago, since the girl that contacted Fate was now thirteen. Seventeen years had passed from the Harlaown family’s perspective. The rough math that they had done in the conference room on the interdimensional warship Claudia was that the preservation tank had drifted in null space for nine years approximately. Approximately because they did not know how long it took for the tank to return to real space.
Given the apparent power supply, should the tank have been equivalent to the ones recovered from Jail Scaglietti during the JS Incident, the tank would have functioned for another ten years at least. Their friends Mariel and Shamal both indicated that, Mariel knowledgeable in the technological elements and Shamal being their family’s doctor and thus able to decipher the medical elements of the tank’s operation.
Looking forward, tracking what Fate was looking at, Lindy saw a doctor standing in the hallway, hands in the white medical coat he wore. Straight brown hair, just long enough to stand askew from the wind this morning, complimented the hazel eyes that were locked on her face. Slim build, he clearly carried himself like a weekend athlete.
“Dr. Nicholas Boeing,” he said, focusing still on Fate, the neutral expression still on his face.
“Enforcer Commodore Fate Testarossa Harlaown. My adopted mother Admiral Lindy Harlaown and my adopted brother Admiral Chrono Harlaown, TSAB administration and the Bureau Warship Claudia respectively. We are here for a patient of yours.”
“I figured as much. You look like Alise’s twin sister,” Dr. Boeing said quietly.
“According to the records she identified herself as Alise Rossa. She never corrected the records,” Amy spoke up, reminding them of the information from the initial access of hospital records, falling silent as the pause between Fate and Dr. Boeing continued.
“I…am indeed her twin sister. If we may speak with her primary care physician before we meet her we would appreciate it,” Fate managed to say, wishing while she could just take a page from her wife’s book and just use Plasma Smasher the way Nanoha uses her Starlight Breaker to clear the way to Alicia.
“You are talking to him. If you will follow me to my office?”
“Lead on,” Fate replied, Lindy and Chrono falling into step behind them, Fate walking next to Dr. Boeing.
“I figured something was up because Alise never contacts anyone outside of either the local branch of the Infinity Library or the officers who have a habit of bringing her home when she takes off flying and exhausts herself. And then when two days ago not only did Alise send a personal message to the main office of the TSAB we also had their central system begin a search for all the data pertaining to her.
“The timing was a little obvious, especially to our hospital IT head. She said it was as good as a cadet she knew in her last years of service named Amy Limietta. Anna Maverick said she would have been a goddess of the computer systems had she stayed in the IT division.”
“Officer Maverick was a task driver; she is how I learned to be as efficient as I am,” Amy mumbled.
“My wife says to tell her hello Dr. Boeing,” Chrono spoke up, a smile on his face despite Amy’s shouting his name into his earpiece.
A raised eyebrow was initially the only response that Boeing gave. “I will pass the message on Admiral. It will explain her complaints the past two days. I will leave any pertinent questions to Mrs. Maverick should she wish to know the details.
“Now, you want me to give you what we have re: Miss Rossa’s arrival here, correct?”
“Yes please,” Fate said as she took the seat indicated for her, Lindy sitting in the chair next to her’s while Chrono remained standing.
“Noel,” Nicholas sent heart to heart.
“Yes Nick?”
“Alise’s sister and adopted mother and brother are here. She is the Ace of Aces for the Navy, Fate T. for Testarossa Harlaown.” He started to pull the patient data for Alise Rossa up on his terminal.
“Well, that answers why she insisted her name was just Rossa like we first logged when she was capable of responding to our questions to any degree. I will stay with her.” The last was added bittersweetly.
“Thanks,” was the equally bittersweet reply as the heart to heart conversation ended. “Here we are.”
“And how are you today?” Noel Maxima asked her favorite patient, who she regarded as family, as she walked in today, a smile on her face.
“I am good; yourself?” Alicia responded with a matching smile on her face.
“Same old, same old,” Noel stated with a smile.
“What!” Alise shouted, bringing her rehab nurse to a stand still. “How can you say that when,” she grabbed her wrist and twisted her hand up, “Nicholas finally proposed!” she shouted as she looked at the engagement ring that was not there before the weekend. “Oh, it’s a ruby! Just like you like!” she said as she bounded out of bed and hugged Noel to her.
“Tell me all about it!” gushed Alise as she picked up Caduceus from her dresser, never leaving her room without her storage device, and grabbing Noel on their way to the rehab gymnasium.
“All right, all right!” Noel answered as she started to laugh and follow her friend from the room. “Well, he took me out to dinner Tuesday as you know from our session that afternoon…”
They were leaving the equipment when Nicholas’ heart to heart touched her. “Noel,” Nicholas sent heart to heart.
“Yes Nick?” she replied as she helped Alise get Caduceus set up for her as a walker; they spent too much time on the treadmill today.
“Alise’s sister and adopted mother and brother are here. She is the Ace of Aces for the Navy, Fate T. for Testarossa Harlaown.”
Noel blinked, facing away from Alise at the moment, thankfully, as she schooled her expression. “Well, that answers why she insisted her name was just Rossa like we first logged when she was capable of responding to our questions to any degree. I will stay with her.” The last was added bittersweetly.
“Thanks,” was the equally bittersweet reply as the heart to heart conversation ended.
“Hey Alise, want to do something technically bad in celebration of everything today?” Noel asked as she turned to smile at the teenager.
“Sure, what?” Alise asked, a ready grin on her face.
“Want a sundae?” she asked conspiratorially as she leaned into Alise’s face.
“Yes,” was the slowly but clearly pronounced reply, a matching grin on her own face.
“You are a clone?” Dr. Boeing looked at Commodore Harlaown as the genetic data made itself clear on the screen to his side.
“Yes, an artificial mage made to continue Alicia’s life. Our birth mother was more than a little devastated by her death.” Fate was clearly willing to be forthright if it got her permission to take her sister from here, Lindy thought with admiration as she sat next to her. Amy had reported that the triple check was complete and Shamal had entered the conversation. It was her idea to be blunt on the proof of Fate and Alicia’s blood relationship.
A proof Fate was willing to go with since it seemed to be the best option at the moment.
Nicholas Boeing rubbed his face as he contemplated things. His and Noel’s plans were no longer an option, even the part that they had discussed with Alise about the future. He looked up at the woman who was taking the teenager they felt was a member of their family away…and could feel no resentment.
It was clear that Fate wanted the best for her sister, even stating that she was Alise’s clone to confirm the relationship. Her public record spoke for her, being a series of commendations after another with only the scuff mark of needing three tries to pass the enforcer exam. Even that was due to the fact that her now wife had been critically injured to a feared mortal level according to the quick timeline that Anna had just assembled for him as he had typed a request to her while he had pulled up the supplementary data on Alise.
“All right Ms. Harlaown, lets get you the paperwork to take custody of your sister,” he said, hiding the pain in his heart.
“Dr. Boeing, my name is Robyn Fiesta and I am contacting you regarding your email this morning. Is now a good time to talk?” the blond haired woman asked as she focused on Dr. Boeing and what she concluded was his fiancé in the doctor’s office, neither looking happy.
“Actually Ms. Fiesta Noel and I won’t be needing your services to place or eventually adopt Ms. Alise Rossa with us. She contacted her family Tuesday and they came and picked her up today,” he dryly responded.
“Oh, my wishes to her and condolences to you,” Ms. Fiesta replied, an expression of sympathy on her face.
“She will be back for the wedding,” he offered. “She agreed to be one of the bride’s maids.”
“Thank you for your call Ms. Fiesta,” Noel said as she managed a smile.
“Then I will leave you then. Goodbye,” Ms. Fiesta said as she closed her comm. line.
I'm eagerly waiting to see how the family reunion will go.
Thank you for the comments Kasirganin and Langrisser. Your requests for more will be answered - I just have to decide how I am going to open the next part. I have the scenes figured out already, just a matter of opening it and then typing things in place.
Alicia thank you for editing in the 'spoiler' function. Spying the link to the formatting options I see that bracketing spoiler and then bracketing /spoiler will add the spoiler box. How do I add the description of 'Story' to it since I don't see the how-to readily readable?
Expect it in the next few days, Sunday at the latest.
Thanks again you three and thank you to whoever took the time to read it as well.