This chapter is for RadiantBeam, who wanted to see what would happen if after the year passed Yuuno had found some one else.

Vivio paused as she placed her hand on the door to Yuuno's office, pondering if she should energetically burst in or be more reserved about it. The promised year had passed; she was eighteen and had finally graduated from high school.

The year had been a hard one to say the least. Vivio tried to hold her head high the entire time, to not let her longing for the older man get in the way of her daily life. She certainly didn't want to let her marks slip, which held the potential to make her repeat the grade, thus adding another year to her sentence. Her grades stayed steady and, while she still couldn't top Corona, she had graduated as one of the top in her class.

Two different emotions had fought inside her for dominance during the year. In one corner was the fear that something would change while they were apart. What if their extended separation allowed him to realise he didn't love her after all? What if he had found some one else?

In the other corner was her hope and faith that the words he said to her would never waver. She wanted to believe that when the time came they would be reunited and their love would prove to be as strong as ever.

The influence from both sides had put her into moratorium. She wanted to go see him as soon as possible, yet she hesitated from the fear of what she would learn. Other than her mothers' occasional reports that he was doing well, Vivio had no idea what had transpired in Yuuno's life while she wasn't around. As a result, she had spent much of her time pacing aimlessly around the house, promising herself the next day she would definitely go see him.

And now, three weeks later, Nanoha had finally gotten fed up and kicked her daughter out of the house, saying she wouldn't let her back in until she saw Yuuno. Her mother's brand of tough love not giving her much of a choice, Vivio was now in front of Yuuno's office.

"It'll be just fine." She told herself. "I'm sure he missed me as much as I missed him. Ok, then." She took a deep breath before opening the door. "Yuu…"

She froze in place long enough to see Yuuno moving his lips away from those of a raven haired woman who stood next to him.

"… Vivio…" He gasped slightly when he saw her. The unknown woman blinked in confusion.

"… I'm sorry for interrupting…" Vivio muttered before whirling around and walking away. She heard his footsteps follow after her moments later.

"Vivio, wait!" He called to her. The teenager stopped, but she didn't turn around.

"So…" She tried to keep her voice even. "Who was that?"

"Well, she's a colleague of mine, you see." He started. "We met on a dig several months ago and we hit it off pretty well."

"I see. You gave up on me rather quickly."

"No, that's not it." Yuuno shook his head. "She expressed her interest in me at first, but I declined, saying I already had some one. She was ok with that and we still spent time together as friends and I did come to like her a lot, but I thought I still had you. When I heard you graduated, I thought you'd come see me right away, so I waited for you. However, when you didn't show up for weeks, I thought that was a sign that you weren't interested in me anymore. It hurt, but I convinced myself it was for the best. So when she offered to take me out again, I said yes and… well…"

"I see." Vivio tried to keep her voice calm, but internally she wanted to cry out. If only she had acted sooner, this wouldn't have happened. If only she hadn't been so indecisive, she wouldn't have lost the man of her dreams. She only had herself to blame. "Do you love her? Does she make you happy?"

"Yes." He answered. "I really enjoy being with her."

"That's good then." Vivio spun around with forced cheerfulness. "The truth is, you're right. I did a lot of thinking, and I realised that we really wouldn't have worked out after all. I was just forcing you to play along with my childish feelings, nothing more."

"Vivio, that…"

"I just couldn't decide on the proper way to tell you, which is why it took me so long to come see you. I just want to thank you for indulging my little crush, Yuuno-san, it was fun while it lasted." Vivio extended her hand. "I still care about you a lot, though, so let's continue being good friends in the future!"

"Of course." Yuuno shook her hand.

"You be sure to treat your new girlfriend right." Vivio stretched her smile as wide as it could go "I wish for your happiness together."

"Thank you, Vivio."

"Now I have to get home." Vivio slowly backed away. "I promised Nanoha-mama I wouldn't be gone too long. I'll see you later, Yuuno-san!" She turned around and broke into a run when he was out of sight.

X-X-X

"I'm back…" Vivio called weakly as she walked through the door.

"Welcome back." Nanoha's voice approached. "How did it g…" The brunette stopped when she saw her daughter's downcast look. "What happened?"

"It's… It's…" The tears she had been holding back finally started to overflow. "Yuuno-san has a new girlfriend already!"

"What?" Nanoha reeled back in shock. Her best friend had made no mention of such a thing. How could he cast away her daughter and break her heart like this! "… Looks like I need to go talk with him."

"Wait mama, don't!" Vivio grabbed her mother's arm before she could leave. "It's not his fault! It's mine! Because I hesitated going to see him, he thought it meant I didn't want to be with him anymore, and he had met this woman awhile ago, so…"

"Why didn't you explain it to him?" Nanoha inquired. "Tell him that you still love him and want to be with him!"

"No, I… I think it's better this way…" Vivio hung her head. "He'll be much happier with her… No one will look sourly at him and call him a pedophile if he's with her. It's… it's for the best."

"Vivio…"

"I was naïve to think I could be with him…" Vivio sniffled as tears continued to fall. "There was no way it would have worked out. It was too unrealistic. What kind of idiot would think we'd make a good couple? No one would ever support such a relationship…"

"That's not true, Vivio." Nanoha drew her into a hug. "We disliked the idea at first, but we came to accept it eventually."

"None of that matters anymore. I wanted to believe we could be happy together, but it all ended in failure. Even after all this time, I'm still just a child, aren't I?"

Nanoha said nothing and simply rubbed the girl's back.

"I'm sure everyone would agree this is for the best." Vivio kept crying. "It's for the best, but… It still hurts so much!" Her sniffles turned into full blown sobs as she cried into her mother's hair.

"There, there." Nanoha petted her. "Mama's right here for you…"

"I guess it's true what they say…" Vivio muttered when she calmed down a bit. "First love never ends well."

"… As an exception to that rule, I can't really say anything." Nanoha chuckled sadly. "But they also say that time heals all wounds, so I'm sure it won't always hurt. In the meantime, I know we have an unopened tub of ice cream in the fridge." She offered a smile.

Vivio sniffled and rubbed at her eyes. "Is it chocolate?"

"It sure is."

"… If Fate-mama gets mad, I'll say it was all your idea." Vivio managed a small smile.

"Deal."

X-X-X

After gorging herself with frozen dairy product, Vivio flopped onto her bed. She stared up at her ceiling as she remembered the major events that had happened in the room. A tear fell down her cheek, but she decided to file those away as happy memories. It may have been fleeting, but she was glad to have experienced it. Now she had to look toward the future.

"Vivio, there's a call for you!" Nanoha yelled from downstairs. Vivio brought up a display and patched in the line, causing a purple haired girl to appear in the air.

"Cia! Long time no see!" Vivio brightened a bit at seeing Lutecia's face.

"Hello Vivio." The older girl greeted before pausing a moment. "Is something wrong? You don't look too well."

"It's… complicated." Vivio admitted. "It would take too long to explain."

"Oh…" Lutecia glanced away. "Well, I'm on Mid Childa right now so I thought we could meet up, but if you're not up for it…"

"No, I'm up for it!" Vivio smiled. "I think being with you would be the best thing!"

Since this is for RB, obviously I had to hint at ViCia at the end there :D Well, this is meant to be a "What If" but it can be the canon resolution if you want it to be, I guess. If anyone is interested, I do intend to write an ending where Vivio and Yuuno stay together.