Ninth [Action]

[thunder_ace]

[Fate is a very family-oriented person. It didn't take much for her to think of her friends as family, but there are those - the people she's been with for years or people she's formed extremely close bonds with - who she considers real family, on the same level as Lindy, Chrono, Amy, and their kids. Hayate and the Wolkenritter are such people

Comments

B

[headedforhope]

[Mami wanders into the kitchen for a drink, the smile on her face even brighter than usual- warmer, more real. Madoka forgave her, and it's like a great black cloud has been lifted from her heart; the times she's felt this happy can be counted on one hand.

So please, Fate, don't think too badly of her for not noticing your drop in spirits just yet. Seeing the world in a rose-tinted haze obscures faults and flaws and cracks in armor.]

-Oh, hello miss Harlaown!

[headedforhope]

[No, she hadn't; even this response is small and very slow in coming. Fate's hand is warm under hers, almost to a painful extent. Mami fights the impulse to break the contact, to escape the burn.

Such is the price of rebuilding one's faith in others, piece by piece.]

What is it?

[thunder_ace]

Now isn't really the best time to be saying it, but... [Her grip tightens just a tiny bit. ] Two of my friends disappeared recently. You know one of them; Hayate, the short-haired brunette. [Remember, the one that groped you.] And... I've been thinking about it for a while.

[Her smile fades a little now.] I guess... I don't want you to be upset, if anything happens to me. I don't want to leave... [It's both the truth and a lie. She misses her friends terribly, and she's worried, but... she can't bear the thought of leaving her new daughter figure now.] But I might not have a choice.

I know I can't ask you how to feel, but I just want you to know that I wouldn't willingly leave you here.

[headedforhope]

[It's true, that unpleasant truth makes her face fall just a little. She had always been aware of that reality, of course- Mami's not stupid. It's hard enough for to her to get close to others as it was, without having to worry about them suddenly disappearing one day. In this moment of closeness, she had merely done her best to shove those thoughts to the back of her mind.

She lets out a slow breath.] ...I see. I had been wondering where miss Yagami had gone, truth be told. Mm.... [For the moment, Mami can't think of anything else to say, and it's here that her young age for once bleeds through her mask of maturity.]

[thunder_ace]

[Sob, she didn't really want to upset Mami...]

But believe me, I'll do whatever I can to stay here as long as possible.

[She had already denied one offer to go home, after all, when she met the Queen in the Labyrinth. She wanted to make sure everyone else was sent home or safe, and if that took a long time... well, that would just be better for them.]

[headedforhope]

[Which isn't much, Mami can understand. They were all at the mercy of chance, weren't they?]

.....just don't promise me anything. I can't expect that of you.

Because if you had to leave, I don't want to be bitter at you for failing to keep it. That's childish, I know- but there you have it.

[thunder_ace]

... Right. I won't promise, then.

[It seems like a harsh thing to say, but Mami has a point. The last thing Fate wants is for the younger blonde to be bitter towards her.]

I don't think it's childish. It's... understandable, to feel that way.

[headedforhope]

Thank you.

[And she sounds relieved, just a little. For all that she builds up her failures in her own mind, Mami still knows herself well.]

No, it's definitely childish- a mature person would be able to avoid feeling something so selfish.

[thunder_ace]

I guess I'm not very mature, then. [She laughs a little.] I should feel happy that Hayate's back home... I should've felt happy when Nanoha was sent home too. But I was upset.

Even though they're back where they belong, it hurts when those you care about can't be with you.

[headedforhope]

But there's a difference between being unhappy...and blaming the other person for something they can't control.

You know, Miss Harlaown, the Queen said she brought us here so we wouldn't be alone. But then people we're close to have to leave suddenly, for no apparent reason. [....] I don't think she's very mature, either.

[thunder_ace]

[Hm. To be honest, Fate hasn't given much thought to the Queen. Not since their meeting in the Labyrinth.]

I agree. And... I pity her. It could be that she's only saying that to manipulate us, but if that's not the case... I have to wonder if she's fully in control of who comes and who goes.

[She frowns a little.] It must be horrible, not being in control of an ability like that...

[headedforhope]

You met her too, didn't you?...back then.

She....didn't seem like an adult. Not focused or anything. So maybe she doesn't have any control over it. [She says nothing about pity; it's still easy to blame the Queen for the horrors of the Labyrinth, unfair as it is.]