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"Alright, class!" The teacher clapped her hands. "As you all know, Mother's Day is this weekend! Don't forget to give your mother something nice!"
"Yes!" The class agreed.
"Mother's… Day?" Fate was confused, and looked to her friends to help her understand.
"Fate-chan, you’ve never celebrated Mother's Day?" Suzuka tilted her head.
Fate merely shook her head. "No." ' How could I have, when my sole reason for existing was to get Jewel Seeds to make my mother happy. I never stopped to think what the days were… though I think I should ask Chrono more about it. It's still awkward between Lindy-san and I…' she thought sadly.
"Well, Mother's Day is a day where we thank our mothers for giving birth to and nurturing us, and for everything else that they have done for us." Arisa explained to her friend.
"Birth, nurture, and everything…" Fate mumbled as she thought about how Presia and Lindy treated her.
How Presia called her a useless doll, while Lindy was kind and patient with her…
Nanoha noticed the slight change in Fate's mood and placed a hand onto her shoulder. "Fate-chan, you don't have to think so hard about it. I'm sure that Lindy-san would love anything you give her!"
"I don't need this junk. I told you to bring me the Jewel Seeds!" Presia slapped the box of pastries out of Fate's hands.
"Yeah…" Fate gave her a weak smile.
Nanoha felt as if Fate still wasn't convinced, and tried to think of ways to help her.
Fate sighed as she walked into her home. "I'm home."
"Welcome home, Fate-san." Lindy smiled from the kitchen. "I just finished making some desserts. Would you like some?"
"I ah… no, thank you. I think I'll turn in early today." Fate apologized and quickly left to her room.
Lindy watched Fate leave and sighed to herself. "I wonder how we can leave this awkward stage?"
"Mom? Is something wrong?" Chrono asked as he walked into the room and walked towards the fridge to grab some orange juice, pouring himself a glass.
"Fate-san was acting a little funny. I wonder what's wrong." Lindy placed a hand on her cheek in thought.
Chrono took a sip of his orange juice as he glanced at the calendar. "I'll talk to her."
"Chrono, we don't want to pressure her to talk if she really doesn't want to, remember?" His mother scolded.
"I'm not going to pressure her.” Chrono smiled as he turned towards Fate's room. “I’m just going to give her a reminder." He then walked towards his sister’s room and knocked on the door.
Fate jumped when she heard a knock from her room. "Wh-Who is it?"
"It's Chrono." Chrono answered from the door. "Fate, you don't have to open the door." A pause. "I just want you to remember that you can take your time getting used to a normal life. Mom and I understand. We all do."
Fate didn't answer. She was just feeling guilty. They did so much for her, yet she's acting like this.
"I'm sorry…" Fate mumbled as she pulled her knees to her chest.
She knew that she was her own person now, especially after rejecting the world that the Book of Darkness threw her into. That it was alright for her to live this life how she wanted, but the mere thought of giving Lindy a gift terrified her. The more rational thoughts reminded her that she's not like Presia. But after all those years of torment and rejection…
"You're just a useless tool. I've always hated you!"
Fate gasped for air as she clutched her head, trying to block out her mother’s words. No. She couldn’t. Even though she knew that her new family wasn't the same, she couldn’t let go of that fear.
‘Fate…’
Fate tensed at the familiar voice.
‘You were nothing but a useless doll.’
She turned and saw that her arms were chained, like they usually were whenever she came back.
‘Ever since I created you, I’ve always hated you!’
“Mother!” Fate gasped as she jolted from her sleep, tears falling from her eyes.
“Fate?” Arf sat up from her bed and jumped onto Fate’s bed, nudging her hand.
“Sorry, Arf. Did I wake you?” Fate smiled sadly as she rubbed Arf’s head, quickly wiping her tears with her free hand.
Arf whined as she nuzzled Fate’s hand. “Don’t worry about it, are you ok?”
Fate shook her head. “I’m fine.” She shifted off the bed. “I should get ready for school.”
Arf watched Fate from the bed. “You don’t have to if you dreamt of that woman…
The blonde stiffened, knowing how much Arf hated her mother, and gave her a rueful smile. “It’s ok, Arf. I’ll be fine.” 'She never gave me wounds that wouldn't heal, after all.'
Fate ate her breakfast and thanked Lindy for the meal before she walked towards school, yawning.
"Good morning, Fate-chan!" Nanoha ran towards her side, then looked concerned. "Are you ok? You look really tired…" The brunette placed a hand onto Fate's cheek.
"I'm fine, Nanoha." Fate lied as she blushed a bit. She took Nanoha's hand and smiled at her. "Thanks for the concern though."
"Any time!" Nanoha smiled as she held onto Fate's hand, then frowned a bit. "Is this about Mother's Day…? Or is it about your mother and Lindy-san specifically…?"
Nanoha felt Fate's hand twitch and pulled her into a tight hug. "I’m sorry, Fate-chan. It's ok. Whenever you're ready, I'm sure that Lindy-san would love whatever you get her!"
"Un…" Fate held onto Nanoha back.
"Fate-chan?" Nanoha frowned as she moved back to look into her friend's eyes, reminding her of how they first met. 'They’re sad again… Oh Fate-chan, what's going on? Why won’t you tell me what’s on your mind?'
"Nanoha?" Fate turned away. "I…. We should hurry to school." Still gathering her thoughts about everything in her life.
"Eh? Wait! Fate-chan!" Nanoha ran after her.
Throughout school, Nanoha watched over Fate, worried by how normal she was acting and was scolded by Arisa when it was lunch time.
“Nanoha! Stop giving Fate your lovey eyes again!” Arisa sighed deeply.
“Eh? I wasn’t!” Nanoha blushed, then watched Fate leave the classroom. "Ah, I'm uh… going to the bathroom!" With that, she ran after Fate and followed her up to the rooftop. "Fate-chan?"
"Nanoha? Shouldn’t you be eating lunch with the others?" Fate turned towards her friend, part of her was expecting Nanoha to follow her.
Nanoha shook her head. "I don't want to leave you alone." She looked away. "But if you want to be alone, then I can go back."
"Thank you." Fate gave her a soft smile then looked towards the sky. "I need some time to gather my thoughts."
"About everything…?" Nanoha tried not to press too much, but she was worried about her friend and didn't want her to be lonely anymore!
"About how different mother and Lindy-san are." Fate smiled sadly. "If it wasn't for mother, I wouldn't have met any of you. But Lindy-san's hands are… warmer. Like yours." She walked towards the edge of the roof and sat down. "I still don't know how to thank all of you for what you have done for me."
"Fate-chan…" Nanoha walked closer to Fate and fell to her knees, hugging Fate closely. "Just being here is enough."
"I hope so." Fate hugged her back just as close.
"Fate~!" The wolf familiar in puppy form ran towards Fate as soon as the door opened. "Fate~! Welcome home!"
"Arf." Fate giggled and patted her familiar's head. "I'm home."
"Did you hear that tomorrow is Mother's Day?" Arf nuzzled against Fate's hand, missing the twitch. "We should get Lindy-san something nice."
"Ri-Right…" Fate nodded slowly as she carried Arf into her room.
"Fate?" Arf looked at her master and frowned. She remembered Presia's words and what she did to Fate's gift. "Lindy-san isn't that woman."
"Arf. It's ok." Fate smiled sadly as she changed out of her uniform. "I'll think of something to give Lindy-san…"
"Fate… I'm sorry…" Arf whined from the bed.
"No, Arf…” Fate shook her head. “ I'm sorry."
Arf whined again and was about to retort that, but looked towards the door when she heard it ring.
“Do we have a guest?” Fate turned towards the door and peeked outside.
“Fate-san! You have a guest!” Lindy’s voice called.
Fate blinked. A guest? Who could it be? She made her way towards the living room and saw Nanoha talking with Lindy with a smile.
“Na… noha?”
“Fate-chan!” Nanoha smiled brightly and waved.
“Why don’t you two go to Fate-san’s room and I’ll get you some refreshments.” Lindy smiled as she walked towards the kitchen.
“Thank you!” Nanoha smiled back then walked with Fate towards her room.
“Do you need something? We just saw each other, Nanoha.” Fate sat on her bed and watched her friend sitting next to her.
Nanoha gave a playful pout. “You sound like you don’t like to see me.”
Fate blushed and shook her head. “No! I love spending time with you!” She pouted when the brunette laughed.
“You’re so cute when you’re flustered, Fate-chan!”
“Mou…” Fate continued to pout until she felt Nanoha’s hand over hers, their hands interlocking together easily. “Why are you here? Not that I mind, but you could’ve told me before if you wanted to visit or something.”
“I guess you’re right about that.” Nanoha chuckled as she scratched her cheek with her free hand. “I just had this urge to see you after school earlier.”
“See me?” The blonde tilted her head in confusion.
The brunette rested her head onto Fate’s shoulder. “... I just realized that… we’ve been pushing you too hard about Mother’s Day… I’m sorry.”
Fate frowned, then turned towards the door when Lindy knocked. “Come in.”
Nanoha quickly sat straight and smiled at Lindy as she came in.
“Hello, I hope that I’m not interrupting.” Lindy apologized as she set some juice down onto the table as well as some sandwiches.
“Not at all. I’m sorry for coming in unannounced.” Nanoha apologized.
“You’re always welcome here, Nanoha-san.” Lindy smiled then stood up. “If you need me, I’ll be in the kitchen.”
The brunette smiled. “Thank you!” She then turned back towards Fate. “Do… you want me to go?”
“Never.” Fate shook her head and shifted off the bed, wanting to avoid one of her problems at the moment. “Should we work on some homework?”
“Nyahaha… That’s actually another reason why I came.” Nanoha sheepishly chuckled.
“We can finish this, then hang out as much as we want.” Fate smiled at Nanoha.
“Right!”
Nanoha groaned and rubbed her eyes when she felt something shaking her. She looked around for a moment then realized she wasn’t in her room, but in Fate’s.
“Right… I stayed over because we were working on some homework and it got too late for me to go home…” She mumbled to herself and yawned.
“Nanoha?”
“Hmm?” Nanoha blinked and was surprised to see Fate in her Barrier Jacket.
"Fate… chan…?"
"I'm sorry." Fate apologized. "I know it's late, but I… wanted to fly with you." The blonde blushed as she looked away, offering her hand towards the brunette. “I know how much you love the sky.”
Nanoha smiled brightly. "Un!" Nanoha took Fate's hand and yelped when she was carried bridal style.
Fate flew towards the sky and held onto Nanoha tightly. "Are you cold?"
"No, Fate-chan is warm." Nanoha giggled as she wrapped her arms around Fate's neck and nuzzled close. "So, what's on your mind? You don’t normally ask me to fly with you like this."
"I… Mother and Lindy-san…" Fate sighed. "Everyone keeps reminding me to take my time, but… it's difficult. Even you had to apologize on their behalf." The blonde shook a bit. "It… feels so good, being appreciated and… happy. Almost as if I don't deserve this."
"Fate-chan, you do deserve this!" Nanoha frowned as she shifted a bit within her friend's arms. "You never deserved that pain your mother caused you. I…" She bit her lip, thinking of what else to say. They were young, and maybe she'd never understand what was going on within Presia's mind, but there was one thing for sure…
"I'm so happy that we met, Fate-chan. I really am." Tears fell from Nanoha's eyes. 'How can I get you to see that you’re not just a clone of Alicia-chan…?'
"Nanoha…" Fate appreciated the effort and kissed the tears from her eyes. " I… Thank you.” She sighed then looked across the horizon. “You know… when I was trapped within the Book of Darkness… I saw mother and Alicia-oneechan…”
Nanoha nodded slowly. “You broke out of that happy, dream place to save me.”
Fate smiled sadly. “That I did. It was too nice. I’ve always wanted that for so long. To see mother smile like that.” She sighed. “But I didn’t belong there. I realized that I belonged here with you and the others.”
“Fate-chan…” The brunette smiled.
“I only mentioned it now because… this reminded me of how I felt when I was trapped.” Fate frowned. “It was too happy, but I know that the book was an illusion, and this is real life.” She looked up at the sky. “I… I’m almost ashamed to admit that, despite all of your reminders that I deserve this, being trapped within the book made me realize that I’m more than a clone of my sister.”
Nanoha frowned and hugged her tightly.
“I know that I ask a lot of you, and it’ll take me a long time to get used to this.” Fate looked down at Nanoha. “I’ll make mistakes… but one step at a time, right?”
"Of course!" Nanoha smiled. "Anything for you, Fate-chan! I love to help you!"
“Then for starters…” The blonde blushed. “Can you teach me how to bake a cake?”
Fate shifted uncomfortably as she watched the oven.
Nanoha giggled as she saw how cute Fate looked. "Fate-chan, just a few more minutes."
"Ok…" Fate stood up when she heard Nanoha moving bowls around. "Ah! I'll help clean up!"
"It's ok, Fate-chan! Just continue watching the cake." Nanoha giggled. "Besides, we still need to add the cream and fruits on top."
"Ok…" The blonde pouted a bit and went back to watching the cake until the timer went off. She looked at Nanoha for permission to take it out before putting oven mittens on and taking out the cake.
Fate set it on the cooling rack to cool, then took her place by Nanoha's side to whip some whipped cream before covering the cake with it.
"Really, Nanoha. Thank you for this." Fate smiled as she blushed.
"Any time, Fate-chan!" Nanoha grinned, helping Fate decorate the cake and boxing it for her.
Fate smiled as she looked at the box. "I hope she likes it…"
A memory of a broken box and smashed pastries on the floor came to mind.
"Fate-chan!" Nanoha gripped Fate's shoulders worriedly.
"Ah. S-Sorry. I spaced out for a moment…" Fate chuckled weakly as she scratched her cheek.
Nanoha frowned. She hated how Presia had so much control over Fate's life like this, even after her death.
"Fate-chan, it's ok to be scared." She slid her arms around the blonde's neck and held her closely. "No one will harm you ever again. I promise."
Fate wrapped her arms around Nanoha and nodded. "Yeah…" 'I won't let anyone harm you, either. Not if I can help it.' She silently promised to Nanoha.
"You should give that to Lindy-san. I'm sure she'll be happy." Nanoha pulled away and smiled. She then kissed Fate's cheek. "For good luck, nyahaha."
Fate blushed then smiled. "Thank you."
Fate nervously walked into the house. "Lin… Lindy-san…?"
"In the kitchen, Fate-san!" Lindy called as she was cooking dinner. "You're home late. Are you ok?" She smiled sweetly.
"I'm fine. I was with Nanoha and we lost track of time…" Fate walked towards the kitchen. "Uhm… Lindy-san… Happy Mother's Day." The blonde held out the box of cake that she made shyly while looking away, in fear of what her mom would think.
Silence filled the room until Fate heard soft sniffles.
"L-Lindy-san? I… is this not appropriate?" Fate lowered the box, the fear of rejection already eating at her.
"No! I'm just so happy!" Lindy quickly took the box before it fell and set it on the counter. "Is it ok if I hug you?"
"Eh?" Fate blinked and nodded slowly.
The blonde stiffened as she was pulled into the embrace and slowly hugged back. "I'm… sorry. This… it's still new to me."
"Fate-san, we told you many times before. It's ok to take your time adjusting. You don't need to force yourself." Lindy smiled as she pulled back. “But it does make me happy seeing you open up more.” She giggled and patted Fate’s head.
Fate blushed as Lindy patted her head and held her hand. “Uhm… Lindy-san.” She looked into her mother’s eyes. “I-I’ll make mistakes. It’ll still be… awkward… but will you wait?”
“Of course, Fate-san. I’ll wait as long as I have to. I’m your mother, after all.” Lindy winked, which caused Fate to cry tears of happiness.
“Thank you.”
Years later.
Fate stretched as she made her way home, then let out a sound of surprise when poppers popped near her.
“Happy Mother’s Day!” Vivio grinned as she ran and jumped into Fate’s arms. “And welcome back, Fate-mama!”
“Vivio.” Fate smiled warmly as she carried the small child and heard a familiar laugh.
“Nyahaha, she was so excited to see you.” Nanoha chuckled and walked towards her wife and daughter, kissing Fate’s cheek. “Welcome home, Fate-chan.”
“I’m back, Nanoha.” Fate held her family close, kissing their foreheads.
“Fate-mama.” Vivio waited for Fate to look at her. “Thank you for helping Nanoha-mama raise me. I know that because of your job, you're not here as much; but when you do come home, you still take the time to help nurture me.” She smiled as she wrapped her little arms around Fate’s neck. "Thank you."
Fate teared up at that. “I’m glad that I’m here too. Thank you, both of you…”