Per request from Sacred Heart

Innocent Raccoon presents :

Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fiction

It's Gonna Be Alright

/AN : Thank you for clicking on this, Innocent Raccoon here, a pleasure to meet you.

This is a request from a reader made through a review left as a guest under the name Sacred Heart, the main idea belongs to that person alone, and everything here is merely my interpretation, and as with any other part of this story, I claim to hold no rights on anything written here.

I didn't find the suitable tags, so I opted to do it by adding a warning in chapter : A Word of Caution - This story is an emotionally deep one, and may contain themes and scenes that could be disturbing to those easily influenced or those of faint heart. I still believe this does not warrant M rating, and that you should give this story a go. I only wanted you to be prepared, not turned off.

With these words in mind, I let you try and enjoy this humble work to any and all of it's possible extents.

"Hope is being able to see that there is light despite all of the darkness." – Desmond Tutu

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright

"You'll, You'll pay for that Bureau bitch!" The blue haired woman screamed and hissed with the pink bindings pressing her. The TSAB had somehow succeeded in creating effective countermeasures for their powerful anti-magic field, nullifying the only advantage the terrorists held over the policing military they had waged an open war against.

Fate dodged an oncoming blow, stepping aside from harms way her black short skirt with it's lower hems laced with white frills fluttering as she did. Her sleeveless black shirt had took serious damage, and made her look even fiercer while holding her intelligent device 'Bardiche' in 'Zanber Form'. The yellow blade gleamed pointed at the tall man approaching her again.

"Vivio, stay back!" The blonde enforcer yelled to the amber haired girl who had assumed her 'Sankt Kaizer', or Adult Form as they had come to call it, to help her mamas fight and capture the vicious criminals plaguing the whole multiverse. She had been training hard to become able to protect the mamas she loved dearly, and now it was time to put some action behind her words, even if the women she wished to help disagreed with the notion.

The tall muscular man in his thirties swung his blade down, and as the swords collided, he jumped aside having figured out the blonde enforcer's basic battle tactics far faster than she had thought, hoped, or counted in. The battle that had finally seemed to turn in their favor, was taking yet another unpleasant turnaround. The man's tank top was torn and shred to pieces even worse than the shirt the enforcer wore, but the cuts didn't seem to wound the man, they were barely scratches, if even that.

Fate barely dodged the sudden slash the man threw at her from a dead angle, having teleported after a series of faints to lure the blonde some distance apart from her partner who had started to load some strange and powerful spell the moment the man's compatriot had been secured.

Vivio gritted her teeth, she didn't want to disobey her mamas any more than she had already done by following after them, but she couldn't bare to watch her Fate-mama fight such a dangerous opponent. Not if she could be of any use. That was the sole reason she had started training Strike Arts, and while she had begun enjoy facing other girls in the ring trying to reach out to the title of the strongest teen in Midchilda, her original desire hadn't faded one bit. If anything, it only grew stronger alongside the growth in her own powers.

The pink magic gathered glowing, it would still take time before the mage in white and blue jacket with a matching skirt could release her famous trump card. The man grinned, it was now or never, he stepped a few steps apart from the blonde, a seemingly clumsy effort to disengage from their battle, but it made the enforcer alarmed. What could he be planning? It was obvious that there was a meaning behind the obvious retreat. Was he trying to lure her into a trap? Or was he trying to buy time?

But if it was the latter, it should only work in the favor of Nanoha and Fate, as it would allow a complete release of a Starlight Breaker, and that would mean the end of the battle.

In other words, if it was about that, it would implicate they either had a way to counter, or..

"Nanoha!"

Fate yelled as she realized the man had used a crude, yet so effective strategy, having deduced the TSAB agents' abilities to read and counter complex plans, he devised a more simpler one. Relying on the enforcer's apparent habit of carefully analyzing every turn, an essential skill for a field agent, even more for a elite one, he led the blonde to believe there had been a deeper meaning behind his seemingly random movements.

Focused on carefully examining their positions, and the time Nanoha required to finish charging up, she had forgotten a simple, basic detail about the abilities of male terrorist. He didn't need to move around carefully in his search for a weak spot or to gain a better footing. No, he had the ability to relocate in an instant, and in fast succession, via teleportation, whenever and wherever required.

The very reason she hadn't been able to capture him despite her superior speed and skill.

Yellow blur swirled through, leaving the cloud of dust to fall lingering from where Fate had stood. A faint pink barrier rose in front of Nanoha, she couldn't cast a proper one, or it would've hindered amassing the magic required for the blast she hoped that could put a final end to this prolonged struggle.

The blades clashed, again, and again, the rapid flurry of blows exchanged echoed throughout the streets they had engaged in their battle after the two mages had finally caught up with the terrorists trying to escape and release their captured companions. Screech. Clang. The hard metallic blade drew back with the last blow. He knew he had damaged the weapon of the blonde enforcer. Now, it was time for the phase two. The other mage seemed to be just about ready collecting the magic from the surroundings, it was now or never, later would be too late.

Just as planned.

The man lunged forward, and Fate stepped aside blade readied in hand, this kind of straightforward blow would never connect, but it didn't hurt to be cautious, the man had proven himself to be unpredictable.

The blurry figure approached slicing fast, from an odd angle, it made the blonde curious and alarmed. Even as Bardiche had been severely damage, such a strike wouldn't have enough power to bash through.. Something was amiss, badly. The yellow blade cut through the air as she aimed to propel the oncoming sword aside, in her hopes to disarm him.

Afterimage!?

The held up blue haired leader of the terrorist squad sprung up, grinned as she was cut free, and picked up the weapon left lying close to her and flung herself right towards the mage ready to blast her powerful magics, while the man appeared behind the horrified blonde, restarting their fight with a surprise strike.

The woman smirked as she drew her blade on Nanoha ready to pay back the earlier humiliation. The metallic edges gleamed as the sword cried out it's thirst more than eager to feast on the blood of the white and blue mage. The brunette wouldn't make it in time to release her spell. The tip was almost touching her already.

"Don't you dare try hurting my mama!"

The amber haired girl in the body of a grown woman slid in from the side punching the blade aside carefully without touching the sharp edges that were left without the red offering they craved for. The blue haired woman was in shock, but not left helpless, as she drew her attention on the younger blonde that had thus far only watched from the sidelines. Her sword came only thirstier, and so did she.

The woman struck, once, twice, thrice, all nimbly dodged by the girl who dared to mock her by challenging her unarmed. The Bureau dogs who kept interfering with her business were a different matter on their own, she hated them for it, but it was only a natural disposition as enemies. This little brat, however, had the audacity to insult her in a manner no other had ever dared. Her head boiled in anger, and she swung again, this time, she read the response of the girl correctly, and hell bent on having her regret her foolishness, she struck down on Vivio with a fierce killing intent surpassing any and all she had shown ever in her life before.

The young blonde had Kris reduce attacking output and focus more on protection, but the sword came in too hard, and pierced through the magic barrier, cutting the girl on the side raising a grin on the criminal woman battling her. She had forgotten the glowing mass of pink now fully charged.

"Starlight – BREAKER!"

The streets were covered in the massive blast blowing a crater on it as it landed over the terrorists.

"Vivio!"

Fate cried out as the dust fell covering her sight. She had been worried that the girl had been caught in Nanoha's attack, or that the madwoman had hurt her.

"Vivio!"

Nanoha followed suit, and hurried onward to the blast site. She hoped her little girl had been able to pull away in time as she would've known from the mock group battles they've had at Carnaaji.

"We did it, mamas.. We di.." A faint voice echoed from the edge of the crater, causing the approaching women to feel alarmed by the sound of it. Their little girl sounded hurt, and in severe pain. They both feared she had been injured, but as they stepped closer they were met with a small girl now rid of her adult form who faced them with a smile..

"We g-*burp*"

..Their relaxation had come too early, as their fears from before were replaced by nightmare. A nightmare of their little girl vomiting blood and collapsing right in front their very eyes.

"No..."

"Vivio!"

"No!" "Vivio~!"

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright...I'm Still Here

"What's the status? Quick update, please," The blonde doctor turned her raspberry eyes to the paramedic team bringing the adopted daughter of her two good friends. Such a small girl, barely even in her teen years, she felt her stomach turn at the sight, and at the thought, but she couldn't falter here. She had to keep herself calm and professional, for everyone's sake, and even more for the little girl's, her very life depended on it.

"Fractured ribs, lungs punctured on the right side, nasty cut, this kid was hit hard," A man with a short dark blue hair and mysteriously gazing gray eyes reported with a calm voice as they rolled the patient in, and only the way his lips made a slight twitch at the end of his words told he hadn't still numbed to the point of indifference on his job.

"Aw-ah..We also suspect a minor damage to the spinal core, a-and i-it's not impossible that there could be i-internal bleeding, despitelotofitg-go-going out, a-and I'm worried t-there's severe d-damage to the internal o-org-*burb*-gans, sorry.. She's not responding, to anything.." The bright red haired young woman had to avert her golden eyes from the poor young girl lying on the stretcher. She was still a mere intern, and was yet to obtain the collected calmness of her senior partner training her.

"Thank you, Tahoe-san, Leon-chan," Shamal nodded at the two before turning her attention on the ocean blue haired woman, whose lime green eyes belied her unfazed facade. She had already seen more these kinds of incidents than the young paramedic to be, but she recognized the girl as the child of the two mages she looked up to and adored as superheros. "Impreza!"

"Oh! Ahem, yes, sensei!"

"We need to operate, ASAP, get her a transfusion ready, NOW," The blonde doctor raised her voice involuntarily when her eyes fell on the two worried mamas gazing their hurt daughter in horror. She had no idea who had let them here, and there was no time to start pointing fingers, the small fracture of a time they had, was all reserved to saving the girl.

"She's going in shock!" Impreza yelled the moment she had took over moving the gurney.

"Get her to the E.R. Free room or not, we're going in operation!"

"Move! Move people! Out of the way!"

The two women were joined in by a few others as they hurried on with the amber haired little girl, leaving her worried mothers behind. Nanoha did all she could to stop Fate from running after, but the blonde had a hard time listening.

"Let's.. let's let them do their job, Fate-chan. It's going to be alright, let's believe in Shamal-san. I believe in her.." She tried to reassure herself as much as the woman whose hand she was gripping tight. There was nothing more to be done but to put their faith in their friend and her colleagues. There was no room for doubts. The alternative was too.. No, there was no other option. They would surely save Vivio, surely..

The burgundy eyes glistened in frightened tears as they watched the little girl being pushed through the doors to another section deeper in the trauma center. Her body shook and quivered as her head fell on the shoulder beside her, and as soon as she settled on the embrace of her girlfriend, she let out a wail she had been holding in through the long ride here from the site of the incident.

The brunette held her shivering girlfriend in her arms, and unable to hold her own tears any more than the blonde could, the women cried against each other's shoulders.

They had no words, nothing they could say would sound convincing, and it would only remind them how the hope really was all they had.

They needn't to use common courtesies, no phrase could offer consolation. The little comfort they needed to survive the long wait, they drew from the arms of the other.

The blonde felt a hand slowly petting the hair flowing free on her back. The fingers had a strange unfamiliar feel to it, something that she couldn't remember being there before, and it made her momentarily forget their whereabouts, and the horrid situation they had been thrown in.

The unfamiliar feel she was yet come accustomed to, was a bright new addition to the day to day attire of her girlfriend, a promise, their future, a sign, a proof of their love.

It was the engagement ring she had given the woman caressing her a few nights before that she felt on her back.

A promise carrying over ten years back, at a time they graduated Seishou-middle, and left Earth behind. As the love they had harbored deep within from since their early childhood had only grown, and when finally revealed to have all along, despite all their fears, being reciprocated, they had sworn to make a fast rise in their careers, to settle down and get married after Nanoha had had her 25th birthday. It was a promise made by kids impatient and anxious, and girls who had had enough of waiting, but who were forced to learn the hardships of life at such early age that even as they couldn't bare to wait for the day of their dreams, they knew it couldn't happen in an instant.

They had both been working hard for this, and now that the moment of their promise fulfilled was right here knocking at their doorstep, they faced another hurdle. And Fate couldn't help but cringe at the thought.. Why was the world so set against for their happiness? Was it wrong for someone like her to be happy after all? Even if she was acting like one, she wasn't a real person, but an artificial life after all, maybe she didn't have the right to steal the place by Nanoha's side, a place that should be reserved to someone real..

..And now her little girl had to pay for the blonde's insolence. Only because she hadn't learned her lesson in time.

Fate clinched Nanoha tighter, feeling helpless, despaired, she knew her girlfriend, her fiancee, would scold her for her thoughts, but she couldn't keep them from emerging.

The brunette felt the change in her blonde future wife, and lifted her head to gaze in the enchanting red eyes now stained by worry, grief, blame, and apprehension. She lifted her left hand, brushed a tear from the corner of her girlfriend's right eye, and spoke softly.

"It's not your fault, Fate-chan."

"But.. but.. what if-?"

"Nu-uh, no buts," Nanoha shook her head slowly, and assumed a gentler expression, while brushing along the cheek of the blonde before her. "Vivio's going to be alright.. We're getting married, and we can't have our ceremony without our cute angel standing right beside us. And I know that she'll never in the million years going to miss out on it, she's been waiting for it more anxious than we. So I know she'll fight to her fullest to be there," A smile rose on the brunette's lips, driving her unease further, making everything feel nothing but a bad dream that will be all over once she wakes up.

However, it only served to increase the malaise in Fate.

"Um.. Nanoha.. I- I haven't had the chance to tell her about it.." She averted her eyes in shame as her fiancee widened hers involuntarily.

The brunette tried to approach it calmly, she knew there hadn't been that much time for a proper conversation as Vivio had been training with her friends, and Fate had to be on stand-by.. But she couldn't help the thought from arising, the cursed if, that if she'd been at home and not on the emergency conference she had been suddenly called in, she would have found the time to break the news to the girl who had been asking when her mamas are finally going to get married. And she would've ensured the little girl wouldn't be following after while they chased dangerous criminals.

No, she tried she shake the thought away. It wouldn't do any good thinking about it, much less trying to point fingers. They needed each other, now more than ever, this wasn't the time to start fighting over matters neither of them could no longer affect.

"It still won't change anything. She won't give up, she's grown up so strong, she.."

Even as she tried her best to reassure the woman blaming herself, Nanoha couldn't hold back her tears, and felt them gushing through as she fell on the arms of her fiancee.

"She is.. She really is.."

Fate's voice quivered as she held the love of her life in tight embrace, waiting for the light of her life to pull through her fight and return back at her side. Their side. To the place she belonged. To home.

Home, the word a nice ring to it, she had learned and grown to love the sound of it, but now it echoed even sweeter. She couldn't wait to get home, with everybody, and the wait kept burning her from within. How long? It has been already so long. How long still? The time passed too slowly. How much more until everything fell back on it's rightful place? The world had been too long out of it's proper order. How-?

"Nanoha-chan, Fate-chan.."

"Sha-" "Is she!?"

Fate cut in her fiancee's words shouting her question at the approaching blonde doctor, who looked so worn and lacked the gentle expression she so often made that her appearance only served to increase the unease instead of alleviating the blonde's fears. It couldn't be? There couldn't be..?

"She's stabilized.."

The women sighed relieved at the words, their little girl would be alright, she would have her well earned rest after her tough battle, only to wake up as, if not more, filled with young vivid life epitomizing her bright essence.. She...would, wouldn't she?

The brunette grew worried watching her friend's face. That wasn't all, there's still more. Something, that did not seem like good news.

"..I'm sorry," It was all she managed to say before Fate ran up to her.

"For what? Where's Vivio? Tell me she's alright! She is, right!? You saved her, right!? Tell me she is alright!?"

"C-calm down, Fate-chan! Fate-chan, let her go!"

Nanoha tried to pull her panicking girlfriend away from Shamal, but the tall blonde was in too panicked state, and too strong to be controlled.

Fate clinched the collar of the blonde doctor for a while before finally calming down enough to ask her for the truth.

"Tell me, how is she? Will she.. Will she be alright?"

"I can't promise you anything, I'm so sorry. We managed to stabilize her, but I can't guarantee the worst has passed. She's still in critical condition.." Shamal had to swallow a few tears that kept creeping up, and after a deep breath, she laid out the rest of the nightmare. "..She's.. Vivio-chan is in a coma, and we don't know if she'll ever wake up."

Nanoha ran up to her collapsing girlfriend, but couldn't keep her from falling on her knees, and slowly felt her own legs crumbling as well. It's.. It was too cruel to be true, it couldn't be.. Both women fell in deep darkness unable to hear their friend's words any longer, their world was at it's end, whatever was said, could hardly matter. She didn't blame the blonde doctor, she couldn't, but she didn't want to hear her apologies or excuses either. They wouldn't bring Vivio back. None of it would. The only thing that could wake their little girl, would be a miracle.

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright...I'm Right Here

Darkness – was the first word echoing in her mind.

Deep, deep darkness, a bottomless pit – she couldn't describe it in other way.

No matter how she struggled, her eyes wouldn't open, she could feel that there was light somewhere, some place near, but she couldn't reach out to it. Nor could she see.

She could only – feel.

There was someone close, really close by, right beside maybe? She wasn't sure. She couldn't tell. She knew, and she didn't. It was a strange feeling. There might have been a hand touching something, there might have been a voice, but was there words? What did she say? She? Hmm.. Yes, it is a voice of woman, and a hand of another, two women, showing her their love. That she was sure of, and she could feel it carrying a deep meaning. A bond unbreakable. A history filled with so many memories.

Her mind wandered off, and she could feel herself leave the dark box holding her in captivity.

Her eyes were blinded by the sudden intrusion of light, and it almost made her fall back inside the comfort of the blackness, but something stopped her. A feeling that there was something she needed to do, to convey, and that she wouldn't achieve it inside the cage of flesh laid in still slumber.

The hazy vision projected a foggy image, a dream like mirage so distant it made her doubt it's realness, but even if it was a mere illusion, she couldn't brush it aside.

A young woman in her mid twenties, her long blonde hair half covering the tired red eyes tainted further by the large dark bags under them, was sitting next to a young girl laid still in bed, a hospital bed, it would appear. The amber haired child seemed to sleep peacefully. It really did look as if the girl had been merely resting, that she would wake any minute, and hug the woman holding her hand with a smile on her face.

She would have wanted to, the girl knew, and she tried do it in the sleeping beauty's stead, but only pushed through the woman unable to hold her. Despaired, she tried to seek out the attention of the other woman in the room, a woman around the same age as the other, her long auburn hair tied on a ponytail on the left side.

The girl was almost certain that the brunette had, if not seen, then at least acknowledged her presence, but as she floated closer, she couldn't hold her either, and the blue eyes only passed through her with a dull numbness staining the gaze that was only ever filled with love before.

Before? She couldn't tell where the word came, she had no memories, but it was just the way she felt things should have been, in another distant world. In a world where she would protect the women so dear for her from all things that could hurt them.

"Fate-chan.. you need to get some rest. You haven't slept in a whole week."

"How..? How could I? How could I just sleep like... like there's nothing! When Vivio's still fighting for her life.. I can't leave her. She needs me, she needs her mama.."

"What she needs, is you to take care of yourself. You can't support her like this, you really do need to rest," The brunette hugged the head of the blonde gently, cutting the other woman's complaints before she could voice them out, and started slowly caressing and brushing the long hair that had begun to entangle in messy dreads being left without a care. "Look, your eyes are drooping. You're going to fall off that chair the way you keep drowsing off."

She closed her blue eyes and swallowed between her sentences, before continuing.

"And I can't bare to lose you too, I.. I'll watch over her for you, and I'll let you know as soon as she wakes, I promise."

The auburn haired woman hugged the tired blonde, kissing her lightly on the cheek, then on the lips, and let her hand caress on the back of her lover. The woman rising from the chair parted her lips to say something, but her voice fell silent for a moment, before she turned to face the child on the bed once more.

"Mama will be right back, okay, Nanoha-mama will stay with you, so.. be a good girl, and keep fighting. I love you," She blew a kiss on the girl, and turned to face the woman taking her place by the bedside. "Nanoha, please, let me.. please call me as.."

"Yes. I will call you, if there's any change, any change at all. Just get some rest, hm? I'll take of care of our girl in the mean.. I love you," The brunette brushed along the hand of the blonde, gave her a one last kiss as goodbye, and having watched the other woman leave the room, she turned to face the girl resting peacefully taking the girl's hand in hers.

"Gee, Vivio~ You can't keep worrying your mamas like this.. Good little girls don't make their mamas cry.. not sad, or worried sick anyway, only happy tears," She lifted the small hand, blew a kiss on it, and placed the hand carefully back on the bed, letting her hands rest on it. "..I.. Mama's not mad, so don't be afraid, don't worry about it, hm? So, please come back.. We're waiting for you, everyone, whenever you're ready. Please, Vivio.."

Her calm posture broke as she was left alone with only the silent little girl seeing her brave facade collapsing, and opening the dam, letting the veil of tears fall over her beautiful face, flowing down on her lap, soaking the brown skirt.

The girl hovering beside her, tried to hug the auburn haired 'mama', to ease her pain, and worry, but her hands fell through again, and could only watch the woman wailing in sobs that shook her whole body. A body that used seem, and feel, so strong, warm, and loving, was left so frail in her broken state that the girl felt a sharp flash of sudden guilt running through her astral body.

"It's.. alright, Vivio.." The woman's sudden words alarmed the girl floating by her side. Did, did she..? Does she know after all? The woman raised her head and caressed the small hand lying on the bed. "..Mama's really mad, really not. You're mama's little hero after all."

"You've always been. And now, in another way as well. You protected me from that woman trying to prevent my attack, you saved me, just like you have been training. Oh, gee, don't try to hide it, mama knows it all, honestly.." She paused for a mock frown and shook her head. "You've worked so hard to become strong enough to protect us, but it's no good if it gets you hurt.. We need you there to take care of us when we grow old you see." She smiled mischievously as she poked a little on the cheek of the resting girl, and went on to brush along it right after.

"Or if.. If you're going to get a little sister or brother, who's going to take care of them if you're lying here injured.." She complained with a warmly loving voice, before falling silent for a minute closing her eyes, and resumed after she opened them up again. "..We've talked about having another child after we get married, and uh.. See this, Vivio? We're.. Your mamas are getting married, finally," See showed the ring her fiancee had given her, and smiled beaming genuine pure happiness as she talked about it.

"Fate-chan was supposed talk to you about it, she wanted to surprise you, *giggle* you've talked about it more than we have, after all. And.. She wanted to ask you something regarding it, so.. don't tell her I already told you.. It'll be our little secret, hm? *sigh* There's so much to do, so many things to plan. It will be good for you to know just how much of a hassle just one ceremony can be, so you'd know not to make any rash decisions about it," With her light joke, the tears began to crawl up, and fall down again, tainting her happy smile with the salty cascade. "So.. Please.. Vivio.. We need you there.. We love you so much, please, don't go away.."

With the teary plead echoing in the still room, the girl felt a twinge, and herself being pulled inside the dark dormant cage.

Her last thoughts, feels, were her hopes to sooth the pain away from the woman's eyes, screaming ; Don't cry mama, it's gonna be alright...I'm right...here.

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright...I'm Here, Even Now

A young teenage girl wearing a Saint Hilde Uniform approached a white door with a tag beside it, letting the girl with a long green hued silver hair know that she had found the right room, and knocked lightly, before slipping in through the crack left open.

"Excuse me.." She turned her eyes on the auburn haired woman sitting on the bedside, and bowed to the kind mama of her junior, her teammate, her closest friend. "..Is it-"

"Yes, please come in, Einhart-chan," Nanoha nodded, and offered a warm smile to the girl visiting her daughter.

Einhart stepped in, bowing politely again, and walked next to the girl lying still in her hospital bed. The sight hurt her heart, but she didn't feel like turning back, she felt she needed be there for her friend, even if it was merely vain self-delusion made in make-belief, she wanted, and felt, she should be there to lend her strength to the young girl fighting for her life. She wished for nothing more than to see the amber haired packet of joy bounce back up and offer her luminous angelic smile once again.

"Um, hello.. It's me, Einhart Stratos, um, remember?" She frowned at her own conduct, but couldn't come up with anything better, while still feeling she should keep talking to let her dearest friend know she was there. That she had come to see her. That she was there waiting for her to get better. That she cared. "How are you feeling? Oh, a dumb question, I know, this is hardly my area of expertise, I apologize for my inadequate vocabulary.. But uh.. so, fight, Vivi-san, I am here cheering you on, so – do your best."

The silver haired girl frowned again unsure if what she had said had been proper, she wasn't familiar with the etiquette of visiting a patient, the times she had come to visit Vivio had been while the amber haired girl had only had a minor fever or a slight training injury, and had always been able to respond, or at the least acknowledge her presence. This was something completely different, and unnerving, but this wasn't a time or place to start faltering. No, she had to be, or at least appear, strong enough for the other girl to know she could rely on, and borrow her strength.

"I'm sure she will. With such cute and caring senior standing by her side, I'm certain Vivio will be back to her usual self in no time."

Nanoha tried her utmost to reassure the worried teen, speaking with a soft tone while offering a warm motherly smile, but Einhart was too perceptive to be fooled that easily. She could see it in the blue eyes that lacked the brilliance of the woman's smile that there was only a little hope for Vivio's recovery, if any at all. She wanted to ask about it, but was too afraid to know, in the case her fears turned out to be true. She wouldn't know what to do if the girl lain in stillness would never wake again.

The brunette could sense the growing unease in her daughter's friend, and realized she couldn't hide the truth, but didn't have it in her to break the news either. She hadn't lost hope, but aside from Shamal, all other medical staff had begun to doubt the little girl would ever open her eyes again, much less recover to her usual self even in the odd chance she did awake. And most likely, even their friend harbored deeper doubts than she let her and Fate knew.

"I'll let you two have a moment alone," Nanoha smiled gently to the silver haired girl, as she stepped out to call her fiancee, it was time to wake her. Even as she felt Fate could do with a little more rest, her girlfriend wouldn't be happy if she let her sleep more than they had agreed on.

Einhart nodded at her friend's mother, watched her leave the room, and stepped by the bedside the woman leaving had occupied just before. She leaned closer to the figure lying still in her peaceful sleep, and for a moment, she couldn't believe it really was her energetic friend. The girl beside her was too much like a doll laid out for display than a real person.

"Vivi-san.." She had a hard time swallowing her unease, and tears, but was afraid her own weakness would somehow catch on the girl if she showed it, she wanted the opposite after all. Instead of hindering her progress and recovery, she wished to accelerate it, and ease the pain the amber haired girl must feel being unable to show her love for all the people coming to see her, not being able to respond to the pleads made.

Einhart was sure Vivio knew all about it, she could feel the presence of her friend somewhere near. Not in the silent doll resting at the white bed, but from behind, from beside, right in front, and sometimes, she could feel it inside her as well, as if the girl tried to come closer, hold her, only to fall through at the end. She didn't believe in ghosts, but there were many other things just as, or even more, unbelievable in the world than a girl reaching out to her loved ones.

"Vivi-san.. Are you..? Are you there?" She turned around, trying to place the feeling of the presence sensed, but fell short in her efforts, and could only frown at her failure. But the feeling she got in response only seemed to reaffirm her suspicions, Vivio must be watching this, somehow, from somewhere. The thought soothed the pain of separation, as well as made the silver haired girl weirdly nervous at the same. And scared, for some reason, as heartwarming as the linger presence felt, it wasn't a good sign.

It felt like goodbye.

"I.. I have something to tell you.." She shivered, both in nervous embarrassment, and in the fear of losing her friend before she would have the chance to convey her feelings. "..After you wake up, so please, Vivi-san, don't leave me."

Einhart blushed at the plead she blurted out involuntarily, swept in the moment in her heating and desperate emotions. Her heart ached more than she had prepared for, and could only barely contain the emerging feelings within. She closed her eyes, and felt her mouth disagreeing with the silence the girl had fallen in.

"I will await, for eternity if need be, all I ask is, for you to return – to stand beside me.." Unbeknownst to her, a hand had traversed, and entangled to another, during her confession. Opening her eyes once again, she saw the fingers intertwined, uncertain if it were of her doing, her body acting on it's own, or if it were an answer from the girl beside. A sign she had heard, a sign she had accepted the love so far only nurtured in the privacy of the older girl's heart alone. Or was it..

"Vivi-san?"

..the girl's final farewell.

*Beep beep, be-be-be-be beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-*

"Vivi-san..!" The silver haired girl shouted her eyes wide at the shock. "Vivi-san! Someone! Help!" Unsure on what to do, she tried to get the machine monitoring her friend's heart rate to work, it had to broken, it can't be..

"Nanoha-san! Please help, Vivi-san! Vivi-san is!" She cried out at the brunette entering the room, unable to phrase her panicked screams properly, but she needed not to. Nanoha could hear the dreaded sound as well. The sound of death.

"Shamal-san! Please come! Now! Vivio is- Save her, please! Don't let her die!" The brunette didn't waste time by making a call, or waiting an emergency response. She opened a telepathic link to contact the blonde doctor directly, the time was of the essence, and the proper routes would be too slow, they always were. It wasn't her mistrust on the nurses, but more her faith in her friend, and her despair for the nightmarish scene played out before her eyes.

Awaiting for the help to arrive, Nanoha stepped in closer. She wanted to believe, wanted to trust the words she spoke as she hugged the shivering teen.

"It's going to alright.. It's going to be alright.."

And she prayed her words come true.

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright...I'm Here, Always

Darkness..

Familiar Darkness..

"No response!"

Unfamiliar presence.

"Raise 300!"

Unfamiliar voice.

"Still no response!"

"Come on..! Don't give up on me little girl, don't give up.. Again!"

Pain.

Immense pain.

Loud noises, screaming, shouting, people, machines. I'm ripped apart from inside. Shocked, violently, attacked, mercilessly. My sleep's turned hurt. Agonizing twinges pull me away from the dreamless peace.

Cold.

It's cold, again. I thought the feeling subsided, disappeared, now – I'm freezing.. I need to – get – some – place – warm..

A bright light took over her senses, and for a moment, she thought she saw a room full of people she did, and didn't recognize. They called out to her. She didn't know if she had answered, but she knew – there was a warmer place out there than the darkness embracing her.

She wanted to return, to the world echoing nostalgia with a promise of many memories more to come caressing the heart that wouldn't give up.

MSLN – It's Gonna Be Alright...I'm Here, Forever By Your Side

"Jeez, mama~ Can you stop fuzzing already, I'm fine!" The amber haired girl complained in her wheelchair, she couldn't still walk properly, but she did get by just fine in a case of emergency.

"You've just been discharged, it will take more than a few hours for you to be fine enough to be left alone, if ever," Her blonde mama disagreed with the notion, however, she wouldn't let anything hinder her little girl's recovery, and would safeguard around the clock if needed be.

"Vivio~ Cut Fate-mama some slack, alright? We've just got you back, and she can't help herself. You know how she is," The other mama teased the woman pushing the wheelchair on, and gave a wink at her daughter at the end of her sentence, causing her to giggle at the jest.

"Ooh~ It can't be helped then.. Just a bit more, then I really need to rest," Vivio turned her head aside rolling her eyes, but the wide smile on her face belied all efforts on acting as if she wasn't actually happy about the attention given. But it did raise a slight frown on her blonde mama's face.

"Hey! Why are you both treating me, like I'm the kid?" Fate complained to the two women having fun at the expense of her extensive love.

"Hmm~ That's 'cause you are~ My big, big, cute little baby, Mmh~!" Nanoha leaned in closer from the side, pushed gently on her fiancee's cheek with her finger, before she gave the blonde a light yet loving kiss as she turned her head.

"And speaking of babies.. Hmm?" The brunette tried to be vague in case her wife to be hadn't still had the chance to inform their little girl of their plans, but Fate only blushed shyly in response. So she didn't, after all..?

"I would love to have a little sister, or a brother, or two, of each!"

"Now, that would be a bit.."

"Hmm~ I dunno.. Let's see what happens, hm?" Nanoha took her lovers hand and resumed with a voice blown under her breath. "But first we'll need some practice," causing the blonde's already heated cheeks to flush in pink that much more.

"That- That's not how it works, i-in this case.." Unable to bare the embarrassment, she tried to argue with reason, even if she knew her fiancee had only been playful.

"We don't know, if we don't try," The brunette didn't flinch a bit at her lovers efforts, as it only made her intensify those of her own. Her gaze diving inside the burgundy, she licked her lips, slowly, and arched her eyebrows in a suggestive manner. And she saw it worked, from the eyes she stared right into.

Seeing Fate hooked fast in her seductions, Nanoha turned to give a wink at the blushing friend of her little girl, who had stayed a bit apart from the other three, and spoke with a knowing smile on her face.

"Take good care of our Vivio. Good luck~"

"Wha-?"

"Let's give the girls a little privacy. Don't go too far, and don't stay out late, we're having a feast tonight!" The brunette didn't give her fiancee time to react, or to intervene any matters about to unfold, as she grabbed the blonde's hand, dragging her inside their house for the sake of their 'much needed practice', and to give the two young teens a little private moment.

"Um.." Einhart stepped forward, hesitating, unsure if she should place herself behind, ready to push the chair her friend sat in, or if she could walk to stand beside her, and as her wavering steps drew in closer, the young blonde decided on behalf of her friend, turning her wheelchair around, wanting to meet, and see the other girl's face.

"So.." She, however, even as more determinate she was at her actions, she struggled in finding the words just the same, leaving the girls only open and close their mouth in mumbled silence.

"Vivi-san.. I.. I-"

"I have.. something I want to say, to ask, from Einhart-san," Vivio cut in her friend's speech, not wanting to let go of the brief weak spur of courage she had managed to muster. "I.. um.. Y'know, um.. Kind of, like you, I mean a lot, not kinda.. um.. so.. I.." She had to stop to take a deep breath. She wasn't sure how she knew, but she felt she had received a confession from her friend while she lied bedridden in hospital, and now, she wanted to convey the feelings of her own, not only as to answer something that could've been a dream, but to let her dearest friend know how she tugged her heartstrings.

"I.. After I get out of this stupid chair, I.. I want to stand beside you," She had to resort to the words from her dream, as her own kept evading her. "That is, not as a friend, or a teammate, but as your girlfriend. I... I love you, Einhart-san, please let me be your girlfriend?" As she forced her feelings come laid bare, she nearly stuttered, and made her confession turn to a plead.

"Yes.. Yes, Yes!" Einhart, however, didn't mind at all. Her attention wasn't on the minor details, but on the real big news that mattered the most. Their feelings, they were mutual. Her hopeless infatuation just got answered in kind. And nothing could push that away from the spotlight. She leaned to hug the girl she had loved in secret, who now had become her girlfriend.

The girls never noticed the figures watching their clumsy interaction from the window, and let their lips lock briefly on their first kiss that wasn't any less clumsy as their words had been, but all the more sweeter.

"Hm?" The brunette turned to face the blonde gazing at the scene with mixed feelings, unwilling to let her daughter grow up enough to start dating, but feeling such joy seeing the happy face on the girl she, only a little while ago, had been so close to losing. "See, I told you it's going to alright. Everything will be alright, believe in it, and believe in her, she's our daughter after all."

Responding her fiancee's reassurances with a tender kiss, Fate felt she now didn't only believe, but knew, how Nanoha's words were nothing but the truth all along..

"Weren't we supposed to practice something?"

..And now, it was her turn ; to lay out another more recent 'truth', and to lead on her lover by her hand further in, both their bedroom, and to their future together.

/AN : The villains can be thought as Huckebein, or not, personally I have less than zero love for them, but do admit they serve their purpose as the bad guys, and being uncreative and lazy, I used them as basis for the criminals here.

On a more personal note, I must thank Sacred Heart for giving this idea, as it allowed me to go through emotions and memories held inside, and give them a happier end here, and hopefully lay the ghosts in their eternal rest. And on that note, my heart goes out to everyone having lost a loved one, especially a child, losing a child is the worst that could happen to a parent, and I'm so glad I got to write a happy ending for this one, and hope for many more to come, in real life as well.

Thank you for reading this, and my apologies for the personal stuff, writing this story just touched me so deep that I felt like sharing it.

*Innocent Raccoon bows in deep gratitude, praying for the end to all tragedies*