Chapter 2:

* * *

* * *

"Good night, Nanoha."

"Good night, Fate. See you tomorrow."

Nanoha waved at the her friend, the last one to leave. She was now left alone in the dim light of her room. Vita hadn't come. She knew there must have been a good reason, but nonetheless she couldn't help feeling disappointed.

The surprise party her friends had held for her birthday had been lots of fun, but she just couldn't shake off the feelings of hollowness for Vita's absence. She had done her best not to show it, yet she was certain at least Fate and Hayate had caught on to it, as they had tried their best to keep her mind occupied with other, merrier things. But now that the party was over and everybody had left, Nanoha was once again taken over by the gloominess.

"Haaahh..." Nanoha's sigh echoed in the now empty room. It was almost midnight already, yet she did not feel like going to bed, even though she'd have to get up early tomorrow.

She just stood there for a moment, eyeing the room as if seeing it for the first time.

Then, after a while, she started walking. She let her feet lead the way, her mind totally blank. There was no need to think. She just walked down the corridors, and eventually her feet led her outside.

The soothing night breeze felt good as it flowed through her hair. Letting her hair loose, she turned to look at the night sky.

"Whooaa! So beautiful..." The sight of the star filled night sky was so breath-taking that for a while Nanoha could do nothing but watch it it in awe.

Soon, though, her feet started on their way again. But even while walking, she would not take her eyes off the incredible sight above.

Enjoying the night breeze and the stars, she slowly walked in the dark, finally arriving at the training grounds. Taking her eyes off the sky for a moment, she noticed how different the place looked in the dark.

Maybe we should do some night training sometime... Her mind, avoiding the subject closest to her heart at the moment, had already turned to work.

Soon she was busy planning a night-time training camp while walking around the grounds. At first, she was too focused on her plans to notice the small sobs. But as she got closer, and the sobs stronger, even her preoccupied mind was forced to take notice.

Curious, Nanoha slowly sneaked towards the source of the sobbing. What she found, though, was more than just shocking.

Crouched in the grass, leaning against a tree, was Vita, hugging her knees tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Vita...chan?" Nanoha asked nervously in a soft voice.

The sobbing stopped immediately and the petite knight's head shot up, hands quickly wiping off the tear trails.

"N-Nanoha?!" The voice sounded...almost frightened? There was also shock and...guilt mixed in it.

"Vita-chan...What's wrong? Did...did something happen?" All of the earlier disappointment and sadness had disappeared at the sight of Vita's condition.

There was only worry and concern left.

"Sniff...N-Nanoha...I-I-" Vita's voice broke down in the middle, and she was overcome by another fit of sobs. "Vita-chan...It's alright. Everything will be fine." Nanoha softly whispered, embracing the smaller girl.

For a while, they just stayed there like that. Vita's sobs were slowly growing weaker, as if Nanoha's warmth was calming the girl, soothing her uneasiness. After the grounds had become silent once more, Nanoha asked, "Vita-chan. Would you tell me about it?"

The silence grew longer, but Nanoha didn't try to press it. She had never seen Vita like this, even though they'd been so close for years now. She didn't want to make a mistake, not now, not with Vita.

She knew that even though Vita usually acted tough, inside she was still a little girl. Fragile, confused even, and desperately seeking warmth. And that warmth was something she wanted to be able to give her whenever the girl needed it. She wanted to be there for her, wanted to protect her.

The stars were shining upon the two silent figures, locked in an embrace, the wind softly caressing their hair. It was almost dreamlike, and perhaps that is why the two both remained so quiet, trying to maintain the dream for a while longer.

Nanoha did not know how long it had been, it could've been mere minutes or it could've been as much as hours, but suddenly, the silence was broken by a weak voice.

"Nano...ha?"

"Yes, Vita-chan?" The reply was full of warmth.

Vita fidgeted in Nanoha's arms, as if trying to escape, but then mustered up the courage to continue. "I'm...I'm sorry I didn't come to your birthday party!"

The smaller girl fell silent again, waiting for a burst of anger, or some such.

To her surprise, however, Nanoha smiled, embracing her even more while saying: "You don't have to apologize. But...why?"

Another long pause.

"I...There was this...doll. I saw it in the city once and...And I thought that you would surely like it." Vita's body started trembling again, and Nanoha patiently waited until she was ready to continue.

"I...I made a reservation for it. But..." Vita buried her face between her knees, another sob escaping her lips.

"But?" This time Nanoha thought it would be better for her to help the other girl with the story.

"But...Then I went to get it today...and...and..." The red headed little girl bit her lip, lost back in her memories.

"And?" Nanoha started softly massaging Vita's back to help her concentrate.

"..."

Nanoha drew Vita closer and kept massaging her back. The wind had died out, and even the light of the stars seemed to have lost its strength. After a while of silence, Nanoha decided to take a risk and calmly called out to the girl she was embracing, "Vita-chan...After you bought the doll? What happened?"

Vita hesitated for a moment before continuing, "After...after that there was...There was an emergency call. Gadgets. I-I was the closest, so..." Vita's voice trailed off for a moment but soon returned, "After that...After...after...sniff...Th-th...sniff-"

"The doll broke?" Nanoha asked quietly.

"Sniff, y-yeah...sniff...I-I tried to-to look for a-another one, but...but..."

"There were none?" Nanoha could see how painful it had been for Vita.

"Y-yeah..." Vita returned to hugging her knees.

"Is that why you didn't come?" Nanoha was looking at the small, shaking figure on her arms, trying to think of something to cheer Vita up with.

"Y-yes...I...just...couldn't...I know that I should've,but...I'm sorry, I'm so sorry, Nanoha!!" The small girl turned around and hugging Nanoha's chest tightly, repeating "I'm sorry!" over and over again between her sobs.

"Stupid. It's not such a big deal." Vita raised her face to look into the blue eyes that were gazing at her lovingly.

"I'm sure I would've loved the doll too, but the thing I most wanted at my birthday party was not it, but you." It was hard to say in the dark, but it seemed like Vita's face coloured up a bit from both the words, and the way Nanoha was looking at her.

"But...But-" The objection was quickly silenced by a finger pressed against Vita's lips. Nanoha voice became firm as she said, "It is the thought that counts, Vita-chan. And..."

A sudden realization struck Nanoha's mind, "If you still feel bad about it, how about you give me something else instead?" There was a bright, genuine smile on Nanoha's lips as she separated herself a little from Vita.

"Something...else?" Vita had a puzzled expression on her face, trying to figure out what the other girl meant by 'something else'.

"Uh-huh, like, for example," Nanoha put a finger to her chin, deep in thought,

A kiss, maybe?

A sudden yelp from Vita returned Nanoha's attention back to the training grounds, and she raised her hands to her mouth in astonishment. I...I didn't just say that aloud?!

The shocked expression on Vita's face was proof enough that she had, indeed, spoken out her mind. Ohmygod, ohmygod, what-do-I-do?!?

Vita's face was slowly turning red as the shock turned into embarrassment.

She was fidgeting nervously, avoiding eye contact.

"A, aha ha haa! J-just kidding. I-It's okay, I really don't need anything."

Nanoha laughed weakly, trying to make her slip of tongue seem like a joke.

"Nanoha...Close your eyes for a second." Vita's voice suprised Nanoha, but not having any reason not to, she obediantly closed her eyes. "Is this okay, Vita-chan?"

"Y-yeah..." The voice was still filled with embarrassment, but there was also something else - resolution?

For a little while nothing happened. Nanoha was beginning to get a little impatient, so she called out, "Vita-chan? Do I still need to keep my eyes closed?"

"Just a little longer." The answer sounded somewhat hoarse, but before Nanoha could inquire further, something unbelievable happened. There was a soft, wet feeling at Nanoha's cheek and her eyes shot open in utter disbelief.

"V-Vita-chan!?" Nanoha could not believe it. She softly brushed her cheek, where the light touch of Vita's lips could still be felt, blushing furiously.

Vita's face was also burning, though Nanoha could not see it, as the girl had turned away from her. Then, with a slightly embarrassed voice Vita whispered, "Happy Birthday, Nanoha..."

Nanoha's heart was overcome with warm feelings. She felt as if she was floating, and the night sky above them seemed even more beautiful than it had before. And of course, Vita. Looking at the smaller girl, she could feel her overflowing love for the little, red headed knight.

"Thank you, Vita-chan. You know...I think this must be the best birthday present I've ever gotten. Thank you." Nanoha moved to embrace the other girl from behind. The sudden hug earned her a cute yelp from the red haired girl. They stayed like that for a while, enjoying each other's warmth in the, as Nanoha had finally noticed, rather cold night.

After a while, during which Vita's face had lost some of its redness, Nanoha went on, "Say, Vita-chan? Why don't you come over to my room? There should still be some cake left, and you could even stay the night. My bed's way too big for just one person, anyway."

"E-eh-!?" Vita froze at Nanoha's words, her face flushing bright red again, and started weakly objecting, "B-but, t-that is...I mean, uh, um...i-isn't t-that a, uh, um..." Nanoha was taken aback, and while Vita was still going on, looking at her toes, she firmly cut in, "V-Vita-chan! J-just what were you thinking about?!"

This time it was Vita's turn to be surprised, and Nanoha used the opening to finish, "I meant that we could celebrate my birthday by the two of us, and that you could sleep over at my room. We have work tomorrow, you know."

Vita's eyes lit up in realization which caused her cheeks to further redden.

"Y-yeah...S-sure."

Nanoha smiled, releasing the smaller girl from her embrace and patting her head lovingly. "Then, let's go!" And with that, the two, Nanoha in lead, left the training grounds in favor of Nanoha's room.

* * * * * * * * *
Author's Notes
* * * * * * * * *

Yah, so this was originally meant as the 3rd chapter, but since I'm not sure if the second one will ever be completed, I changed things a little.
This chapter was also originally meant to be a bit longer, but when I finally got back to writing it (the beginning, that is), I just didn't feel like it and
ended up summarizing the birthday party thing instead. (It was supposed to start with Nanoha waking up in the morning and going from there.)

Anyhow, I'm glad I finally got it done, even if it's a far cry from what it was supposed to be. ^^'
After all, I've been wanting to write a Nanoha x Vita pairing for the longest time. I think they go well together.