Lies

epilogue

Nanoha fidgeted with the silver band on her ring finger. She twisted it back and forth as she stared blankly at the screen in front of her. The pie charts and the random financial figures didn't really interest her too much. Unfortunately, it was the mandatory monthly review meeting that all the higher ups had to attend, the two hours of all their lives that had to be wasted. Luckily, Fate was exempt because the enforcer actually had to direct one of her own meetings with the board members of the TSAB.

At the thought of the buxom blonde, Nanoha started grinning. In actual fact, Nanoha was sure that she would rather enjoy Fate's meeting more than anything. Seeing Fate in her 'serious work mode', wearing her sexy horn rimmed glasses would really make her day…

Again, she fingered her ring, her smile almost erupting into giggles as she lost herself in her fantasies.

"…stimulus for the growth of the R&D sector in the upcoming years…"

The presentation droned on and Nanoha just sat there, her head propped up on her hand as she stared at the board with a huge smile on her face. Periodically, she chuckled quietly to herself. It was rather hard to keep her voice down but it was a good thing that everyone else was as bored as she was to have her behaviour go unnoticed. Unfortunately, Hayate noticed and the newly appointed section chief was rather jealous that Nanoha seemed to be having the time of her life while she sat there half asleep.

"Nanoha-chan…" Hayate threw a glance Nanoha's way as she opened her communication channel.

Hayate's voice surprised Nanoha and the long haired brunette nearly jumped out of her seat. She shot a glare back at Hayate. "Y-You scared me with that!"

"What? I interrupted your Fate fantasies? What position did you imagine her in now?" Hayate commented off handedly as she pretended to still be paying attention to the speaker at the front.

"S-Stupid Hayate! Y-You always have your mind in the gutter!" Nanoha's face was bright red, ashamed that she had been found out.

"Ahaha…You're becoming more and more like me every day, Nanoha-chan. I'm so proud of you!" Hayate suppressed a smirk as she twirled her pen in her hand, jotting down imaginary notes.

Nanoha scoffed, rolling her eyes as she hunched over her notepad, scribbling furiously away as she doodled in the margins. She was going to ignore Hayate and have her own fun until their time in purgatory was over.

"I see what you're drawing there." Hayate caught a glimpse of the random chibi figures that Nanoha sketched in her notes, glad that Nanoha hadn't lost all traces of innocence.

The instructor continued her artistic masterpieces, perfecting the clothes on her people. She looked up periodically, pretending to be taking down the oh so important things they were supposed to care about.

"We are such mature 19 year olds, aren't we?" Hayate wasn't much better as she chided Nanoha, drawing her own kitty cats in the margins of her made up notes.

Stealthily, Nanoha stuck her tongue out Hayate, making sure that no one else in the room saw how she affirmed Hayate's statement.

"So, are you going to eat Fate- Oops. I meant. Eat with Fate today." Hayate smirked evilly as she witnessed the reaction she was expecting.

Nanoha's cheeks started to redden, her thoughts wandering off to the gutter to join Hayate's corrupted mind. "Just so you know, your influence has made me a very different person." Nanoha bit her lip as she imagned Fate as the main course, sprawled out on the table for her taking. She chuckled lecherously to herself, the images of licking food off of Fate's body was just tantalizing.

"I'm so glad. In a few years, Fate-chan'll be ruined as well and all of section six will be under my reign! Muahahaha!" Hayate bit her lip, trying to hide her insane smile as she laughed madly in her head.

Nanoha had snapped out of her fantasies as she took Hayate's words to heart. "Then…Fate-chan won't blush at the flirty things I says…She won't be my sweet innocent little girl anymore!" Nanoha cried out across the telepathic communication channel, hoping that Hayate's corruption wouldn't spread that far. "At least I get to have Fate-chan all to myself for lunch today…She's going to be as tasty as always." The S class mage grinned widely at this, but her parade was going to be rained on.

"Nanoha…You two are so loud that I can hear your whole conversation from an entire two floors below you. You better hope that no one else is listening in…You two made it hard to concentrate during my closing."

It was a new voice this time, shocking both Hayate and Nanoha.

Nanoha swallowed hard, hoping that she was just imagining things.

"Nanoha." Came the singsong voice.

Hayate tried hard to stifle her laughter, listening in eagerly.

"Y-yes, Fate-chan?" Nanoha gave her complete attention to Fate now, hoping that Fate hadn't been listening for very long.

"What's that about wanting to eat me?" Fate's voice danced around in Nanoha's head and the brunette could hear the smirk in the other girl's voice.

"Nyahahaha…I just just thinking how nice it would be to have a nice private lunch in our room today…" Nanoha bit her lip, hoping the blonde would get her drift.

Fate chuckled at Nanoha's words, amused at how childish Nanoha could sound even when she was soliciting her for favours of a certain nature. The blonde had an huge grin on her face as she thought of the perfect idea. "Instead, why don't we have a nice lunch first and work off the calories after with some very vigorous exercise?" She was demanding, not asking in the slightest.

Nanoha was taken aback. No more bashful Fate-chan already? Hayate must've been rubbing off on the enforcer more than she thought, but… it's not like it was a bad thing.

"Clear your schedule, Fate-chan. We're going to be very busy." Nanoha was now doodling hearts and scribbling Fate's name on her papers as she said this, looking forward to the end of her meeting.

Hayate was giggling so hard that she couldn't hold it. She had her head on the table, her laughter muffled into her sleeve.

Before Fate could reply to either Hayate's laughter or Nanoha's bold proposition, all three mages heard a sigh.

"I know this isn't the first time you guys have used your telepathy to have a private conference, but it's not very…private." A young man sitting in his office sighed again as he chimed in on the conversation.

Nanoha and Fate paled at the voice.

"C-Chrono-nii!" Fate was literally stopped in her tracks in the hallway. It was embarrassing to say the least to have her brother listen in on her…afternoon plans with Nanoha.

"Nyahahaha…I guess we should've made it a little more private…" Nanoha chewed on the back of her pen, feeling helpless as the damage was already done.

Fate slumped against the wall as she clutched her folders to her chest. Her hands were damp with sweat, her face bright red.

"Hello! I wasn't going to say anything, but since Chrono-kun said something, I guess I'll say hi too. Hi Fate-chan! Nanoha-chan! Oh and Hayate-chan too!" A melodious laugh followed, along with a comment about how nice it was be young.

The enforcer was attracted more stares than usual as she dropped her stack of papers on the floor, her mouth open in shock. She tried to swallow what was left of her dignity, but it was all gone. "L-Lindy…kaa-san…"

At this, Hayate burst into a fit of laughter, throwing the entire conference room into silence as all 15 pairs of eyes stared at her. Nanoha let out a deep sigh, shaking her head in disapproval. She and Fate were screwed over by low security settings, but Hayate…was just being Hayate.

Fate's head was just filled with excuses she could tell Lindy, but each one of them got shot down as she rehearsed them in her head. "Why did that have to happen today of all days…?" The blonde sighed as she shook her head at her own foolish mistake. Her brother even got involved… She knew he would never look at her and Nanoha the same way ever again.

Shuffling the stack of papers she was holding, Fate pretended to look preoccupied as she leaned against the wall, resuming her wait for Nanoha. Catching a glimpse of shiny metal, Fate's eyes were drawn to the thin silver band on her ring finger. She touched it briefly as she smiled to herself, lost in her thoughts of Nanoha.

Suddenly, footsteps resounded down the hallway, coming closer. Fate looked up, expecting to see Nanoha, but it was someone she didn't want to see in the least. An uncomfortable pressure erupted in her chest and Fate clenched her fists, rehearsing what to say in her mind. She hadn't seen him since the day that everything changed. It had been so long, nearly half a year ago.

"Yuuno." Fate acknowledged the young man as he approached her in the hallway. It was rare to see him at the TSAB. The boy had an armful of books with him.

"Fate-san." In return, he gave the enforcer a weak smile that didn't reach his once bright emerald green eyes.

Fate fixed her gaze on Yuuno Scrya.

"How are you doing these days?" Fate's eyes softened with compassion as she asked. She sincerely wanted to know. She couldn't be sorrier about what she had done to him, but…it was for the best. For herself and mainly, for Nanoha.

"I'm doing pretty well." Yuuno's voice betrayed nothing except for the slight fatigue that was visible in his eyes. He stopped momentarily, knowing that Fate wanted to say something.

However, Fate didn't know what else to say. She didn't know what she could say in order try and fix things between them.

People stared as they passed the two in the hallway. There was more fuel to feed the rumour mill, churning out constant gossip. The news of Nanoha leaving Yuuno for Fate was practically common knowledge the day it happened. Nowadays, there were new rumours about an upcoming marriage between the two S class mages.

"I…"

"It's okay, Fate-san. You don't have to be nice to me." The blonde boy gave the girl a forced smile. "Everything…will get better with time." He believed that he could forget about Nanoha, but half a year wasn't anywhere near enough for a girl like her.

"Yuuno, I'm sorry." Fate looked away, wondering why she stopped him in the first place.

"You're not sorry." Yuuno shook his head, chuckling humourlessly. "I know you're not sorry and that's okay. I just…want what's best for Nanoha."

"I love her as much as you do. I'm going to take care of her." Fate said this with the utmost determination in her voice, her burgundy eyes flickered like dark flames. She knew Yuuno loved Nanoha deeply. He was a good man. She wanted to reassure him, to let him know that Nanoha was going to be happy with her.

"I'm glad. I know Nanoha's in good hands, Fate-san." This time, Yuuno smiled somewhat sincerely, his words true to how he felt. At that, Yuuno continued walking. Fate stared at his back, watching him walk a defeated walk as he disappeared around a corner, leaving Fate alone in the deserted corridor.

"Fate-chan!"

Fate turned at the sound of her name, her smile brightening at the sight of the slender young woman making her way towards her. "Nanoha, you're finished early." The blonde tried to push Yuuno to the back of her mind as she walked over to Nanoha.

"Ahaha…yeah…After Hayate-chan had her little outburst, we decided to call it a day." Nanoha felt her cheeks redden as she remembered what actually happened. Hayate, not being able to stop laughing had to be dragged out of the room by the very able bodied White Devil. Like the well-mannered person Nanoha was, she apologized for her friend's behaviour while hauling the chuckling mass out the door.

"Lucky us then." Fate's face lit up as she met Nanoha's slate blue eyes. Her own burgundy ones burned darkly with passion and she had the urge to skip lunch and go straight to the vigorous exercise.

"I'm not really hungry anymore. Are you?" Nanoha's voice was barely above a whisper as she stood on her tiptoes to speak softly into Fate's ear.

The blonde was so glad that she and Nanoha were so in sync. She always knew what she was thinking. "Let's just have a late lunch."

"Sounds like a plan." Nanoha trailed off as she snaked her arms around Fate's neck, touching her forehead to the taller girl's.

"Oh, eager are we? I guess you're hungrier than you thought." Fate smirked as she held Nanoha close, her hands wrapped around the brunette's slim waist.

"I guess I am… We better hurry back to our room before this hallway becomes our downfall." Nanoha leaned in towards Fate, her breath tickling the blonde's rosy cheeks.

"What's the hurry…?" Fate asked no one in particular as she dipped down and captured Nanoha's lips, not waiting for an answer.

The two mages stood there, engaged in a furious liplock in the empty corridor, not caring if someone happened to stumble upon them. They were indispensable to the TSAB. They weren't going to get fired for indecent behaviour and it wasn't like they cared if this produced more gossip on them. If anything, it encouraged their bad conduct.

"Ahnn…Fate-chan…" Nanoha moaned into the kiss, fistfuls of Fate's blazer in her hands. Unbeknownst to Nanoha, who was enjoying her aggressive Fate-chan at the moment, the blonde kept an eye open for unwanted passer-bys. The enforcer always abided by the rules and this time was no different. She knew the security cameras were never monitored, so as long as the hallway was deserted…

Getting rather carried away, the taller girl pinned the petite brunette against the wall, ravaging her thoroughly. Fate didn't want to admit it, but her heart was pounding harder than ever, her blood pumping loudly in her ears. The situation they were in…simply made things more exciting.

Using all her strength to push Fate away for mere seconds, Nanoha pleaded with the other girl, breathless. "F-Fate-chan, I think we should go some place a little more private."

"Now you're getting self conscious?" Fate smiled slyly as she kept Nanoha against the wall, undoing the top two buttons on her dress shirt.

"You're so aggressive today…" Nanoha was starting to get extremely hot under the collar, swallowing hard as resisted the temptation to commit public acts of indecency. They would probably be put on probation for that.

"It's just some stress relief after a hard day at work." Fate kissed Nanoha again, checking both ends of the hallway before she did so.

Fate's sharp ears caught wind of a conversation fast approaching them from down the hall. Quickly parting from their kiss, the blonde whipped out her documents, running a rand through her hair as she pretended to flip through them. She was half turned to the wall, her face red, her breath short and shallow. The brunette herself was rather disoriented, fidgeting with her ring again as she acted as if Fate's upside-down report was the most interesting thing ever. The two struggled with made up office talk as they waited for the voice they heard to show themselves.

A group of young cadets appeared at the end of the hallway, chatting animatedly. As they passed, they stopped to salute the two mages before moving along. Making sure that the coast was clear, both Nanoha and Fate let out the breaths they didn't know they were holding. They paused, looking deeply into each other's eyes. There was a brief silence before the two women burst out in laughter.

Taking Fate's left hand in her right, Nanoha pulled the blonde along, grinning from ear to ear. "I knew you were just bluffing. You're still too much of a goody two shoes to do such a thing. I knew you were looking out for people coming down the hall."

"Haha…I was only half bluffing…" Fate blushed heavily. Maybe in a few years, she would be able to shed that good girl image of hers. "Well, we can go finish what we started , right?" Fate gave Nanoha's hand a squeeze as they made their way over to the elevators at the end of the hallway.

"Exactly right, Ms. Testarossa." Nanoha drew Fate closer, but at the feeling of a small metal band on the other girl's hand, she suddenly had a thought. "Wait…Would you still be Fate Harlaown Testarossa? Or…would you take my last name?"

Lifting up their intertwined hands to eye level, Fate eyed the engagement ring as she thought for a second. "Oh…that's a good question." The blonde furrowed her brows in concentration, murmuring to herself. "Nanoha Testarossa…Fate Takamachi…Takamachi Fate?"

Nanoha listened as Fate listed the choices. "Takamachi Fate has a nice ring to it, but I think Fate Testarossa makes you sound like a real hero of justice!" The brunette laughed at the ridiculousness of their conversation.

"Oh, I don't care whatever my name is or will be. As long as I get to spend the rest of my days with you, Nanoha." Fate chuckled at Nanoha's childishness. She was right though. Fate always liked how her surname made her sound so much more foreign and…cool in a way.

Nanoha swooned at the girl's words, feeling her heart ache as an uncomfortable feeling overcame her. "You're just so sweet, Fate…" Nanoha's eyes flashed with a profound sadness.

"Nanoha?" Fate looked over, wondering what she said to reduce the brunette to such a state.

"I'm so sorry, Fate-I…I promise we'll never be apart again." Nanoha held the blonde's hands in her own, her voice filled with stone cold determination, painful memories of that debacle with Yuuno working their way into her head. She felt guilty for making both Yuuno and Fate suffer for her selfishness.

Fate knew what the other girl was thinking, Nanoha's tone betraying how she felt. "Nanoha…it couldn't be helped…" Gently, Fate caressed Nanoha's hands.

"I know…but I-" Nanoha felt tears welling up in her eyes. "I just feel responsible…"

"Don't." Fate fixed the teary eyed girl with a reassuring gaze. "We should put the ugly past behind us and focus on living our lives to the most." The blonde smiled softly as she brought Nanoha's left hand to her lips, kissing the ring she had given her.

"Y-You're right." Nanoha blinked away the tears, smiling to match Fate's.

"Now, we're going to enjoy our lunchtime, not take any calls and just relax." Fate tugged Nanoha along, pressing the down button on the elevator pad.

"You always have the best plans, Fate-chan." Nanoha's smile spread as she heard the 'ding' of the elevator.

The two walked in, hand in hand as the doors slid open. Seeing that the elevator was empty, the two mages shared a knowing smile and decided that they might as well have some fun on their ride down.

A/N:Firstly, happy new year to everyone! 2011 is over :) Let's make this year a good one.

Secondly, it's finally done! I finished my first multi chapter story today :) Thanks to all of you who joined me on this ride. It was fun. Hopefully, my ending isn't too cheesy or inappropriate. Enjoy the rest of your new year's day!

I might be back for more :)

Thanks again!