Was this normal? Sitting for lunch with HER BOSS and listening to said boss' mother talking about wanting grandchildren, suggesting the woman find multiple wives with childbearing hips and being asked point blank if she thought Nanoha was handsome. Surely it couldn't be normal. But things had been keeping Fate on an uneven keel since she'd found herself in the hospital.
That last recovered memory, with her hands tying Nanoha's tie, had brought with it a flood of unmistakable warmth and… love she had for the woman. Past Fate had been in love with the Takamachi heir. The rich resonance of previous Fate's emotions had stolen her breath away and was the reason why it had taken her such long moments to get her feet back under her.
The strength and depth of past Fate's feelings had been overwhelming, like a riptide grabbing onto her hapless form, adrift and lost in her amnesia, only to submerge her in an all-encompassing knowledge. The one thing that defined her true self, the foundation of her being, was this woman who had been holding her up.
Unfortunately for Fate, this fresh knowledge brought with it as many questions as she had answers. Certainly, it explained why she had a picture of the heir in her phone, but it didn't answer the most burning queries she had - Did the other woman know? Had her past self told Nanoha? If so, what had been the outcome? Had they even been friends?
Sitting in the limousine awaiting the arrival of the bodyguards and the other women of the Takamachi family, Fate had ruminated on everything she could remember post-memory loss. Duty, obligation. That much she knew the heir felt when they spoke of the circumstances of her waking in St. Luke's with no recollection of how she got there. From the earlier ceremony, the blonde understood those were not words the executive took lightly. She was Nanoha's AVP, and a stranger in a strange land. Was that why Nanoha had risked so much to wrench her from the hands of those who had taken her?
From how the woman behaved with Fate, the blonde couldn't envision them being more than colleagues. Two people on good working terms, and not much else. Heart leaden, she had cast a side glance at the executive who had her back to Fate, torso angled to look out the vehicle's tinted window. Either her old self had revealed her feelings, and they were not returned, or the woman had never been told to start with.
She thought back to the organisational chart the woman had drawn for her, one of the few things her present self could claim as her own. Would someone with no regard for her do that? But, Nanoha was kind to a fault, placing the needs of others ahead of herself seemed to be what came naturally to her. So was Fate all that special to the heir?
'My fault.' The heir blamed herself for Fate's memory loss. Guilt could be as much of a motivator as other, more desirable to past Fate, emotions. And she still had no clue who this Tenshi, or Angel, was. The woman had been speaking to this Tenshi when she had woken up delirious from her surgery that one time, emotions raw and filled with tenderness. All this uncertainty and thinking was giving Fate a headache and she had sighed audibly then, rubbing at her temples.
She had caught blue eyes watching her, a mild air of concern settling over the heir's haori-clad shoulders. Offering the woman a small smile of assurance, Fate crossed her arms to hug herself around the icy cold that had settled in her gut. Just as Ginga had said, naturally chivalrous and revealing nothing beyond what Nanoha allowed on the surface.
What hints they were privileged to see in the ceremony were just that, a privilege. No rights had been given for any present to ask for more. She was certain their little sojourn with the koi was just a polite way to pass the time before the bodyguards were done being dressed. The heir had said as much, how she made calculations for everything.
It was only in these tiny moments, like when Momoko had caught her off-guard with talk about selecting wives and producing grandchildren for her, that the woman beneath the guarded exterior showed through. She hadn't even been flustered when Fate had come across her and Rein lying on the floor together, covered in sweat. Every little bit of evidence convinced Fate that there was nothing between past, or present Fate, and the Takamachi heir, and that knowledge saddened her beyond belief. She simply couldn't tell if that grief was for her old, or current self.
The nail in the coffin had been the little scene outside of the restaurant, when the Takamachi heir had left the table, ostensibly to get some fresh air. The woman had been increasingly fidgety when Momoko was nagging on about grandbabies and wives. In spite of the evidence Fate had consolidated, she couldn't resist imagining herself in that role, complete with a tiny, doll-like version of Nanoha for a daughter.
From the redness spreading over Ginga's features, she could tell the woman was having similar notions, going so far as to cast Fate and Rein speculative looks, as if she were thinking about all of them being taken into the clan as the heir's wives. Then the silver-haired bodyguard had left, saying she would check on the absent guest of honour.
The sight of her boss kissing Rein immediately revealed to Fate she could never accept sharing the person she loved with another. Viciously pushing down the green-eyed monster that tried rearing its ugly head up, Fate miserably knocked back the last of her saké.
Someone was refilling her cup, and looking up, eyes reddened, she saw Ginga giving her a sympathetic look. "Guess we've both lost." Fate shook her head, unable to voice that she had never even been in the race in the first place, but her words caught in a throat too choked up to say anything.
"Is too soon to decide, hai?" Momoko's voice was serene, hiding the surprise she had felt to see her youngest locking lips with the candidate at the bottom of the matriarch's list. What was that infuriating child up to? It was clear her attentions centred around the gaijin hime, or foreign princess. Why else would she have risked life and limb to save her that night?
Fate glanced over to the matronly matriarch who continued to regard her warmly. "Patience is virtue. Sometimes, must make horse chase for water," with that cryptic encouragement, the woman fell silent. The Takamachi heir had returned, her injured shoulder once more under the layers of her kimono, though it continued to lie askew. It was probably just an excuse for Rein to touch the woman, though with that earlier display, did she even need an excuse?
Another intense wave of jealousy swept through Fate and only decades of hiding her emotions in her parents' court kept her seated calmly next to Nanoha. Pride wouldn't allow her to appear lesser, and her hands remained steady while refilling the heir's cup. A faint smile was given when the woman thanked her, the blonde encasing herself in ice to protect against the urge to fall to pieces. Was this what her past self endured working with the woman? Loving so heedlessly and deeply whilst maintaining a facade of professional distance?
Momoko studied the candidate at the top of her list. The usually warmly innocent gaijin had shifted quite drastically in disposition, displaying a steely poise that frankly impressed the matriarch. This was no fragile orchid seated by her youngest and this test of the woman's resolve was good, Momoko felt. Her daughter's marginally banked fires, versus the blonde's bitingly cold poise. Who would concede first?
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"Haya-chan!" Pulled to the present by the urgency of Vita's voice, Hayate glanced over to her other screen. She had set up shop in a serviced apartment in the business district, not too far from TSAB's Singapore offices. Since the incident in Japan, she had decided to extend her stay in the island nation indefinitely until things could get back to normal. Much as Vice Granscenic was a capable stand-in for Nanoha, he was still a far second in choice to run the Operations department while her friend was convalescencing.
So Hayate had been channelling some of the workload to herself, on top of her usual duties. "What's up, Vita-chan?" She peered at her cousin from over her half-frame computer glasses.
"Nanoha was on the phone. She wants to fly back this coming Friday."
"What?!" The Operations E.A. had Hayate's full attention now, and she nibbled worriedly at her thumbnail. "I thought she'd be another month recovering!"
"We thought wrong." Vita grumped, "I don't even know why we should be surprised. She was just as bad the last time when Yuuno…"
The sound of swift keystrokes came over the line, "I'll push up the schedule to get the condo ready." Vita could see Hayate frowning at her screen, the brunette leaning on TSAB's vaunted resources to accomplish things that would normally take a month to complete, to happen in a few days. "I'm glad I got Shamal's recommendations for the best course of action for Fate-san first."
"Nanoha is going to flip," Vita felt obligated to point out.
"Let her. She's not going to argue when she hears it's for Fate-san's sake."
Both women fell silent, remembering Shamal's full detailing of how close they had been to being less one EVP of Ops.
"You saw the bulletin about Nanoha being appointed the Takamachi clan's heir?" Vita asked.
"Took them long enough," Hayate muttered. A series of inter-marriages in the past had linked the Yagami clan of Japan to the Wolkenritters of Germany, something her radical clan head at the time had declared to be for the sake of strengthening both bloodlines. Hayate had never questioned that decision, and though that had set her family up for being the mavericks of this shadow world they straddled, she had always been grateful for the connections and ties that decision had fostered with her colourful little family unit.
This included the sanguine acceptance of Signum's marriage to Shamal. Nanoha never had that luxury, and her voluntary expulsion from the Takamachi clan's register was something Hayate's own clan's elders had vociferously opposed. Anyone with a working pair of eyes could tell the girl could herald in a new age of excellence in the Arts, but the maverick clan's voice was muted in that world, despite the fact that their holdings spanned the globe. Money mattered less than purity of bloodlines, unfortunately.
She applauded Shiro and Momoko striking whilst the iron was hot. It was known that Nanoha's actions had saved an immense amount of face on behalf of the Japanese government and the shadow world that continued to serve the interests of the country. The loudest voices denouncing her friend were also thankfully, dead and buried. The ones remaining could bleat like ineffectual sheep at most.
Even if Nanoha never found that soul-bonded pairing Hayate knew she envied her parents for, at least she would have her honour restored. Hayate swallowed the urge to spit on this 'honour' that had stripped so much away from her oldest friend.
"Vita, I need you at Nano-chan's place to let the delivery guys and workmen in. I've registered your face to the recognition software and security has your license plate. I'm expecting people to show up 9AM tomorrow."
"Sure. I'll go pack some stuff and head over tonight."
"Thanks." Cutting the video call, Hayate leaned back in her chair with a sigh, steepling her fingers and resting them against lips pursed in thought. Reaching for her mouse, she made a few clicks to initiate another video call.
"Hi Haya-chan, all done moving in?" Shamal glanced over to the screen from the pile of medical reports she had been going through, all with the name Takamachi Nanoha stamped at the top of them.
"Just done last night. Shamal-chan, Nanoha wants to fly back this Friday…"
Frowning, Shamal flipped open the most recent reports, the papers not yet yellowed by the passage of time. "Well, if she continues to keep herself in braces and not push, two things I'm sure she's not doing…" Both women sighed over their hopeless friend. "I see she has another reconstructive surgery coming up on Monday, with a follow-up on Thursday. If we can get her back into casts, inclusive of her chest, they might clear her for the flight."
Hayate watched her cousin-in-law flip through the sheaf of papers, "It'll help if you can get your uncle to put her on the special clearance list, too. They've had to add some reinforcements to her ribs that'll set off metal detectors at the airports."
Hayate nodded, "I'll get on that."
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Back in the Takamachi compound after lunch, Rein was in the process of helping Nanoha out of her formal get up when the bodyguard felt the phone vibrating in the woman's hakama. Fishing out the device, she handed it to her client who answered.
"Nano-chan."
Alto cautious, Nanoha greeted her oldest friend, "Haya-chan. Can I come home yet?" Rein set the stiff trousers to one side and proceeded to peel off the outer jacket displaying the heir's crests next.
"Shamal is done transferring yours and Fate-san's medical records to her office…" Nanoha nodded, expecting as much, "I hear a 'but' somewhere." Easily recognising the hesitance in her friend's voice.
"She's not letting your doctors in St. Luke's clear you to fly so soon without casts," Hayate finished in a rush.
The expected outburst never came, only the faint rustling of fabric on fabric could be heard, and the slow, even breaths of her friend, now the Takamachi heir.
"Yagami Hayate," 'Oh crap, she's using my full name.' Stepping out of the blinding white of her kimono's outermost layer, Nanoha exuded a sense of danger no amount of bandages could hide, "I just got out of casts, and you want me back in them?"
"Not me, Shamal!" Hayate squeaked in defense, "I mean, have you been taking it easy? Or wearing your braces all of the time?"
"Is that Miss Hayate?" Was that Rein Eins she was hearing?
Leaning close whilst drawing off the next layer of kimono, Rein spoke into Nanoha's phone, "She hasn't. I even caught her with weights yesterday." At the expected glare of betrayal, the bodyguard shrugged, "Miss Hayate was the one who contracted me, not you."
"Nano-chan, you can't be using weights yet, even I know that much," the censure in Hayate's voice was clear.
Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.
Hayate heard a low sigh, "Fine. I'll get the arms back in casts…"
"Body, too."
"Excuse me?" Voice approaching a growl, the heir straightened in affront, uncaring that she had been stripped down to chest bindings and her loincloth.
"I'm just repeating what Sha-chan said, okay? You've had traumatic levels of injuries to your chest, it has to be stabilised for the flight, and a long time after, in fact."
Rein could see the conflict in the auburn-haired woman's eyes. Knowing what her own, immediate task was, she retrieved the braces, abandoned by the woman earlier for the sake of being more comfortable in the formal kimono. Resigned, Nanoha held out her left arm for Rein.
"If that's the only way I can get Fate-san home sooner, then so be it," Nanoha grudgingly conceded. The sound of velcro straps being adjusted could be heard through the line. "Thanks, Rein."
The tanuki's ears perked. She would have assumed Fate would be helping her friend. "How is Fate-san doing?" She asked casually.
What a loaded question that was. "She's getting up to speed with work," Nanoha shared, sidestepping any mention about the woman's memory loss, "The cuts in her arms have healed, and she's learned how to make gyoza, I think."
Hayate bit back a sigh and pinched the bridge of her nose. Goddam Nanoha and her goddam stubborn arse. "Cool, but does she remember anything from before?"
"I'd rather she not," Nanoha countered soberly, switching her cellphone to the other hand for Rein to slip on her other arm brace. "Nano-chan…"
"She gets blackout headaches when they come back. If no one's around, she could fall and be seriously hurt," voice tight, Nanoha held back her need to pace. There was no sense in making her beleaguered bodyguard's work any harder, the woman was already going above and beyond to cater to her ridiculous pantomime.
Dressed now in a twin-layered yukata to combat the cooling weather, she grunted a little when the sash was tied a little too tightly, "Looser please, Rein."
The bodyguard nodded, "That body cast sounds like a good idea." Had she deliberately tied the sash a smidge too tightly over the woman's wounded waist to make a point? Surely not.
"Don't you start ganging up on me." If the tanuki's ears could grow, they would be reaching the ceiling of her serviced apartment. Returning to the subject at hand, Nanoha's voice remained strained, the loss of Fate as a friend a constant tear in her soul. "Anyway, it's best that she leaves it behind. It's too dangerous otherwise."
"That's why I had Ginga assigned to her…"
"That reminds me, can you re-assign Rein to her, too?" In the middle of clasping Nanoha's sling back around her neck, Rein's hands paused, "I would prefer if another agent be added to the roster for Fate-san." The bodyguard cut in seriously, "You are far from out of the woods, Nanoha-chan. Hairline fractures alone are a six to twelve week ordeal to heal from. You're barely past your third week."
'NANOHA-CHAN?' Hayate's brain screamed her question.
"Miss Hayate, I should have some agents freed up by the time Friday comes around. I could forward their credentials to you and Miss Signum for your perusal? We can renegotiate my price-tag so there shouldn't be a significant rise in cost."
Mouth opening and closing, Hayate stammered, "O-Of course, sure, yes, do that." 'Oh my kami-sama, what's going onnnnn?'
Nanoha had settled on the edge of her bed and was blinking up at the suddenly chatty woman. Smirking faintly, Rein took the phone out of the heir's numb fingers to address the CEO of TSAB directly, "Contrary to your warning, she has been a most pleasant client to work for, and she will continue requiring my aid for a while longer, I believe."
Handing the phone back to Nanoha, Rein moved to her side of the room to begin removing her borrowed kimono.
Eyeing the elegant woman now out of her stiff sash and peeling the first layer off, Nanoha supposed she could have picked worse to carry on this farce with.
"Er, I guess that's settled then," she muttered to her friend on the line. "Do you need help with that?" She asked Rein, noting the woman was having some issue removing the inner layer.
Rein glanced up from her struggle with the inner sash, "I'm afraid so. It's a little awkward to reach the knot…"
"All right. Matta, Haya-chan." Later. Ending the call, Nanoha closed the distance to help with her one free hand. Her rebellious heart wished it was Fate she was helping and she supposed there was nothing she could do about that. No matter how beautiful her bodyguard was, there existed no one who could replace the Tenshi who had claimed her so easily, mind, soul and body.
Nanoha flinched slightly when she felt fingers tracing the frown her brows were drawn into, down the side of her face to cup her chin, and her eyes met Rein's. "I know I'm not her," the woman said softly, "But it doesn't mean we can't have a bit of fun in this little charade, hmm? Look, I think she's heading to the baths." Through the partially open shoji door, they could see the blonde strolling by with Ginga to get to the bath area. Not waiting for an answer, Rein closed the short distance between herself and her client, covering sinfully soft lips with her own this time.
"Mmph…" As always, Nanoha found herself having to consciously tamp down on the urge to regain her personal space. Mindful that they had an audience, she forced herself to commit to the show and curled her fingers into the thin fabric covering Rein's chest, pulling the woman closer as if to deepen the kiss.
"They gone yet?" She whispered against the other woman's lips.
"They stopped moving," Rein whispered back, swallowing her laughter.
"Shit…"
"Here, I'll help." Eyes twinkling, Rein crouched low and picked up her client in a princess carry, kicked the shoji door closed and with the help of lights and shadows shifting across the opaque paper of the doors, very obviously brought the heir to her bed to lay her down in it.
That had the Takamachi heir huffing out a faint sound of amusement in spite of her dour mood, "Gods, you must have been a hit in your school's theatre club."
Smirking, Rein climbed into bed, her remaining layers of kimonos hiking up to her upper thighs in the process as she carefully straddled the other woman's injured form as if to take their kiss further. Leaning over, she propped herself up on one elbow, causing their fronts to brush against the other while she looked over her shoulder. The hasty sounds of rushed footsteps moved past the room's door and the shadows of two women disappearing into the depths of the main house could be seen.
Chuckling, she pushed off easily, flopping into the empty space beside the executive, "I hope you're ready to take responsibility. This is going to ruin my reputation." Not sounding worried, she cast an amused glance up at the executive who had thrown the arm not in a sling up to cover her eyes.
It hurt to have to do this to the blonde. 'The sooner she makes new memories with someone else, the better.' Nanoha thought grimly. One azure eye peeked out from under her arm to peer back at her bodyguard, "Kaa-san will be delighted if you were to get pregnant from all this," she muttered drolly. That sent Rein into a fit of laughter that echoed through the thin walls of the old building.
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Resting in her room after yet another round of reconstructive surgery on her bullet wounds, Nanoha sat in her bed, propped up by pillows. A bed desk allowed her to have her laptop open before her, and she scrolled absently through the news, catching herself up on current events around the world, of which there were far, far too many. Her lids were heavy, her body still fighting off the effects of all the drugs in her system.
She knew she was in for a few more rounds if the bullet wounds were to be managed to the point where the faint scars would not elicit questions or pity, both reasons enough for her to endure further trips under the knife. At least she'd not felt so dead tired waking from this surgery. The worst of it was the following procedure of being put back into casts. She fucking hated how she itched when things began healing.
Rein was seated at the kotatsu, her own laptop open while she caught up on her own work as head of Ein Stein Security Services, or ESSS. She explained to Nanoha that she always had fun saying she was the head of 'ass' when introducing herself, prompting the executive to only sigh in extreme disappointment with her fake paramour.
Rising at the sound of a knock on the shoji, Rein cracked the door open before sliding it wide to admit Takamachi Momoko. It was evening and the woman had made some nutritious rice gruel for her youngest's dinner. Eyeing the heaping big bowl of ramen Momoko had served her bodyguard, Nanoha made disgruntled remarks about favouritism. Rein merely saluted mockingly to her client with her ramen spoon and dug in once she was done bowing in thanks to the clan matriarch.
Blowing on the first spoonful to cool the steaming gruel to an edible temperature, Momoko eyed her groggy and cast-encased child, feeling her heart twinge once again at the reminder of how close they had come to losing their heir before getting her back.
"What are you doing, my Nacchi?" Enjoying the savoury porridge, Nanoha could tell her mother had used a generous amount of dried scallops in the making of the gruel.
She swallowed, "Recovering, and being pampered?" Azure eyes so much like Momoko's peered past overly long red-tinted bangs.
Momoko brushed back those bangs, "Silly girl. I mean about Feito-san." She fed her daughter another spoonful.
"Nothing."
"That is what's wrong. I see how she looks at you. How you-"
"Haha ue," Nanoha intoned warningly, "I repeat, I will do nothing about her. She has suffered enough for having had me in her life." Momoko's lips thinned in frustration as she spooned another helping into her daughter.
"I refuse to believe that to be true." Eyes stony, Nanoha bored holes into the blanket covering her legs, "Believe what you will, it changes nothing."
"Mmmhmm. Changes nothing for how she feels for you, or how you feel for her. What manner of solution is this, Nacchi?"
"The safest one for her," Nanoha asserted tiredly, though with quiet, unshakable conviction.
Tsking, Momoko kept spooning the gruel into her baby, gratified that the child was not rejecting the food, even if she refused to listen when it came to the sweet gaijin guest.
"Ginga," eyes downcast, Nanoha clenched her jaw before forcing the next name out, "And Yuuno, taught me that such connections are not in the cards for me, Kaa-chan. I'm a jinx and I hope to all the kami that Tou-chan and you don't regret taking me back."
Momoko gasped, "Nacchi! We have never thought that of you!"
"Doesn't change the fact that it is true." Alto so low to fair be scraping across the tatami floor, Nanoha swallowed the last mouthful and laid herself back against the pillows. "Gomen nasai, haha ue, I wish to rest. Thank you for the food." Sorry, honoured mother. Head turned towards the wall, the Takamachi heir effectively shut down any further discussion.
Gently divesting Momoko of the thermos the gruel had come in, Rein helped the matriarch back up to guide her out of the room, "Rest assured I will feed her the remainder should she wake and ask for more."
"All right then. Let me know if she is still hungry." Standing on tiptoe, she raised her voice to ensure her stubborn child could hear her, "FATE-SAN can help me make more if needed." Closing the door behind the departing woman, Rein turned around to see the expected narrow-eyed look on her client's face. "Bring the rest of that damn porridge over," the woman growled. Vastly entertained by the heir's preposterous predictability, Rein chuckled and went to spoon every single last grain of porridge into the woman's grumbling mouth.
Eating to the point of bursting out of her new chest cast, Nanoha scrunched herself back down into her pillows and fell asleep almost immediately, leaving Rein to clear up their dishes and leave them outside in their tray for a staff to clear. Carefully setting aside the woman's laptop and phone to charge, the bodyguard tucked the covers more snugly around the sleeping form.
"What she doesn't know will, or won't hurt her, hmm?" Spreading out her futon to grab what forty-winks she could, Rein turned off the lights and allowed the dimming of the day to lull her into her own rest. It was tiring guarding an insomniac.
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The next morning found Nanoha seated in seiza outside the door to her parents' section of the main house. She was dressed in a less elaborate version of the formal kimono she had donned for her rebirth ceremony. It was the same white kimono, with only one layer of dark blue inner robe beneath it. She had left the hakama and haori out of her dressing as well. Granted entrance by her father's voice, she slid open the door and bowed, indicating she wished to be granted formal audience. Rein remained outside to keep guard.
Momoko was just done putting on her yukata while Shiro sat by the kotatsu, chewing on the stem of his unlit pipe. "Na-chan?" Twisting her hair up into a simple bun, the matriarch clipped it with a small butterfly clip and settled next to Shiro to receive their heir.
Turning to fully face her parents, Nanoha placed her right palm down on the tatami and bowed as low as her body cast would allow, "Chichi ue, Haha ue." Honoured Father and Mother. "This unworthy child humbly thanks you for providing Fate-san and herself a roof over our heads. We will be departing on the fifth day of this week and wish to beg for your indulgence to offer up your blessing." Finally rising from her bow, she settled back onto her heels, face set in a mask of calm implacability.
The pipe's bowl shifted while Shiro considered his youngest's lowered head. Once it was raised, he grated, "So soon?"
Momoko had a hand over her heart and exchanged glances with her husband, "My child, you were in surgery but a day ago."
"Hai. This unworthy one will rest as ordered by her doctors and will be able to travel when the time arrives." Azure eyes growing bright, Nanoha clenched her hands around the part of the casts across her palms, "I have received more than I could have ever dreamed." The husk in her voice grew as she continued to speak, "There is no greater honour you could have bestowed upon me than to be named your heir. I shall carry this with me wherever I go. To the ends of the earth, until the end of time, I am the Takamachi heir, but above all, I am your child."
In a flash, her father was on his feet, showing why he was the premier shinobi of the clan before his daughter had wrested that title from him. Nanoha's eyes remained downcast, refusing to mar the moment with unseemly displays of emotion, so she was shocked to feel his hand over her head. "Never in all your deeds have I felt you unworthy or undeserving," the man articulated, the gravel of his voice rough, "If ever you have felt so, it is because I was a fool who could not see clearly. Our regard for you has never, ever faltered. Go in peace and safety, and should your heart find someone to call mate, present them to us, so that we may rejoice with you."
Bowing low once more, Nanoha spoke to the floor, "It will be as my clan head commands." Her voice held no hope for the last of his words, but to argue would demean the seriousness of their exchange. Hoping enough for all of them, Momoko simply came forward to draw her daughter into a warm embrace. "Having you back has made me the happiest woman alive. The only thing that could make me happier would be if you told me I had grandbabies."
Nanoha choked out a shaky laugh, "If the kami are willing." Settling back onto his heels, Shiro took a moment to light his pipe for a morning puff, "You know your Kaa-chan won't let go of this. Best you step up your search once you are well. We have already received queries from the Yagami clan. That Inoue girl seems interested in meeting you." He coughed delicately, "Officially, that is."
Blue eyes widening, Nanoha bit back a groan. "With your status, the Nakajima clan has also quieted over Ginga's divorce. We may get a query from them soon, too," Momoko looked smug, she knew there would be offers from many families. Which sane girl wouldn't want to make grandbabies with her gorgeous Nacchi? "They relaxed enough for Subaru-chan and Teana-chan. Why not for Ginga-san, also? The Gracia branch of the Wolkenritter clan has a girl of suitable age. They might request for an omiai, too."
"Kami save me…" Nanoha murmured weakly.
"The kami won't save you here, child. Only a ring on a willing girl's hand can." Shiro puffed happily at the tobacco Fate had gifted to him, "You should really consider that hime, Na-chan. She looks at you the way your Kaa-chan used to look at me."
Nanoha sighed, "I highly doubt that, Tou-chan, and I've already explained to Kaa-chan why it is a bad idea."
Her father eyed her keenly over the rim of his pipe's bowl, "That is what Na-chan thinks. As heir, I expect you to show courtesy to ask what she thinks. Do not embarrass our clan by assuming you know what is best at all times. That was my mistake for you to learn from."
Put that way, Nanoha considered her father's words for long moments, "If… Shamal deems it safe, I will ask." The man nodded, trusting that his heir wouldn't say frivolous things just to get out of her obligation.
"Return to your room to rest further, it is far too early in the morning for you to be wandering around so soon after surgery. I will send Kanae obaa-chan with your breakfast. You are to reduce your walks to once a day in preparation for your flight." His word final, Shiro dismissed his youngest.
Mouth open to protest at first, Nanoha snapped it shut, supposing this was as much of a concession as she might get out of her parents. "Understood, Chichi ue."
Outside, she regrouped with her bodyguard to return to her room as ordered. "That went smoother than I expected," Rein remarked, slipping in front of Nanoha to take the stairs before the heir did. This allowed her the ability to catch the woman, if she tripped on her way back down to the ground level.
Exhaling a breath shortened by the unyielding cast around her torso, Nanoha made a small sound of amusement, "You know one or both of them will show up in Singapore the moment the government gives them the green light. I'm sure I'll see them for Lunar New Year's at the latest." Her lips tugged into a faint smile, "Maybe I can set up something for them to have a second honeymoon."
There it was again. The woman wasn't even a flight of stairs away from her parents and she was already thinking of ways to make their dreaded arrival in Singapore enjoyable. "Two peas in a pod."
"Pardon?"
"Nothing, watch your step, unless you want to fall into my arms," Rein teased.
"Depends, anyone watching?"
"Nope."
"Too bad for you, then."