Chapter 9 Part 4,

Takamachi Boot Camp and the Puella Magi:

Homura

"Shall we get started?"

Homura's willingness to get right down to business was like a breath of fresh air to a day that had been full of nothing but distractions.

"Certainly," Nanoha agreed, obviously grateful to be back on track. "Now, who would you like to be your opponent?"

"I'd like to face all four of you, if I may." Homura replied nonchalantly, as if what she was saying was no big deal.

My mouth dropped open.

Nanoha blinked.

"B-beg pardon?" Vita stammered in disbelief.

"The goal of this demonstration is to land a hit on one of the four of you correct?" the raven-haired girl asked rhetorically.

Nanoha merely nodded.

"A true demonstration of my abilities depends more on me being able to land a hit on all of you at once." Homura explained as a strange spherical object with three raised spherical shapes imbedded in it appeared on her left arm.

Curious, I decided to take a closer look; there was one large sphere in the middle, and two smaller ones on either side. All three of these strange embellishments to what would otherwise be a very normal shield, looked almost closed eyelids, and certainly gave up no clue as to what the strange accessory may be used for.

The shield was nestled on the arm that also sported her Soul Gem. Like Kiseki, it was on the back of her hand, but unlike Kiseki; who's device was embedded into her very skin, Homura's diamond shaped Soul Gem was set into a thin black frame. The frame itself didn't seem to be made from any recognizable material, so I chalked that up to another mystery of the Puella Magi

"Landing a blow on just one of you is no challenge at all," Homura pointed out, snapping me out of my musings. "Nor is it a good indicator of the nature of my magic."

Now here's the thing about Homura; coming from anyone else, such a claim would have seemed pompous and boastful. But when the dark-haired girl said it, as far as I could tell it sounded more like a statement of fact. As if there was not even the slightest amount of doubt that what she said was irrefutably true.

I found myself believing her, even if it was such an outrageous assertion, and even if I had no idea how she could be capable of such a feat.

Apparently stating it as a fact just managed to rub Vita the wrong way.

"Don't get too cocky now, Miss Doom and Gloom." Vita cautioned irritably, more accustomed to students who didn't have the skills to back up their bravado. "You may be good, but this ain't exactly our first rodeo."

Homura's only reaction was to raise a perfectly sculpted eyebrow at the nickname.

"Signum and I especially have been doing this for centuries." The short redhead went on. "Besides, four against one is hardly fair, and we won't be going easy on you."

The slightest beginnings of a smile worked its way onto the normally impassive face of Homura Akemi.

"I wouldn't have it any other way."

The four of us looked amongst ourselves for a consensus. It was clear that Vita wanted to teach the girl a lesson about getting to big for her britches, but the thing was…I was pretty sure she wasn't boasting at all.

Either way the only way to find out was to put her to the test.

I nodded my assent; followed by Signum and Nanoha shrugging in agreement.

Our decision made, Nanoha and Vita quickly transformed into their Barrier Jackets, and all four of us stepped up, and got into position.

We stood there expectantly, waiting for Homura to arm herself with something other than the small shield that would be next to useless against something like Nanoha's Starlight Breaker.

Homura on the other hand, seemed to be waiting for us to attack her even without anything to defend herself with.

The strange staring contest dragged on for about half a minute before the raven-haired girl broke the silence.

"…I'm ready if you are." She announced with a sigh, crossing her arms in a sign of exasperation.

"You're unarmed!" Vita argued, hands curling into fists. It was pretty obvious that she was feeling mocked by Homura's 'arrogant' behaviour. "I don't care how good you think you are, you should at least have a weapon at the ready when facing battle, especially when the odds are stacked against you!"

"As you wish." The stone-faced Puella Magi relented tonelessly, clearly just wanting to get this over with. Without another word she reached towards her shield.

My eyes went wide in shock as her hand disappeared inside of it, and grew wider still when she pulled out holding a sharp looking pair of scissors.

Vita immediately turned beet red with sheer fury, and I had to admit I was also starting to feel a bit mocked by this girl…I mean, confidently facing four mages who's ranks ranged from AAA+ to S+ armed with nothing but a pair of scissors would take a sizable bite out of anyone's ego. And top it all off, I really wasn't sure anymore if she was intentionally mocking us or not. Her aloof attitude made it impossible to tell.

"Okay! That is it!" Vita roared angrily, getting that mad look in her eye as she totally lost her temper. "Someone needs to teach you a lesson! Eisen!"

'Jah!'

"Let's knock some sense into this kid!"

'Raketenform!'

Homura barely batted an eyelash as Graf Eisen sprouted a sharp point on the front and a rocket on the back.

She wasn't fazed at all when Vita took off like…well, a rocket, and came barreling at her like a runaway freight train.

She just watched impassively as Vita suddenly propelled herself up in order to get a few feet over her head.

'Gigantform'

She made no comment as the midsized hammer transformed into a mallet big enough to squash her flatter than a pancake.

She didn't move a muscle even as Vita started to bring Graf Eisen down on her head like some deranged version of the Earth game Whack-A-Mole.

She just stood there; calm as a cucumber, until about a half second before Graf Eisen would have impaled the ground with her body, when suddenly the lids of the spherical protrusions on her shield snapped open. I thought I heard a mechanical whirring, a clicking noise, and then suddenly Homura just wasn't there anymore!

"What the fu-!" Vita exclaimed, the rest of her statement thankfully drowned out as she pounded the ground where the raven-haired girl had been less than a fraction of a second ago with enough force to break the ground apart, and cause what felt like a small earthquake to reverberate throughout the grounds.

"You have a temper." Homura's voice observed from behind us, just as Vita managed to dislodge Graf Eisen from the impromptu crater they had created.

We all whirled around to see the dark-haired girl resting her argyle patterned, stiletto boot on a dramatically conveniently rock.

…When had she-?

"It can be a useful tool in battle." She went on, sounding almost she was lecturing the small redhead. "But it can often blind you to the truth; you will never be a match for me if you let anger cloud your judgment."

Vita's face coloured once again.

"But you're the one who's supposed to be trying to land a hit on us!" She blurted, recklessly waving Graf Eisen around in her frustration.

"I already have." She replied simply, holding up a perfect square swatch of fabric that could only have come from Vita's Barrier Jacket. "I will say that the material certainly gave my scissors a run for their money."

Vita started upon seeing the piece of fabric, and immediately started checking herself over for the damage. She finally found the square hole in the right hand corner of her 'dress' that had been left behind after Homura had somehow removed it in less than a second, and without anyone noticing.

Normally such defacement of the armor that her beloved Mistress had bestowed upon her would have sent the short redhead into a blind rage (or in this case further into a blind rage) instead it just seemed to stun her into silence.

Seeing as Vita obviously wasn't going to ask the obvious, I decided to do the honours.

"How did you do that?" I demanded, feeling a little more than just slightly curious. "I mean, not to toot my own horn, and regardless of what Nanoha says I can't even move that fast, so what gives?"

"Why don't the rest of you come at me and find out?" Homura suggested in that same, even monotonous voice. "I'm pretty sure you'll figure it out a lot easier if all three of you attack me at once, even more so if you use any spell you wish."

Nanoha's eyes widened in shock, and alarm.

"But-"

"I can promise you that you will not harm me." The raven-haired girl assured evenly, cutting the auburn-haired instructor off mid-protest. "If I am to trust you with Madoka's well being, I need to see how you can protect her if I am not present to do so myself."

From what I had heard about the warm-hearted pinkette; she was probably the only person in this entire group that wouldn't need protecting. Regardless, if the need ever arose, we would certainly never leave one of our own high and dry.

I glanced meaningfully at Nanoha.

If using an offensive spell on Homura would convince her that she could entrust her beloved one to us…then so be it.

'Assault Form!' (AN: Let's pretend that mages sometimes walk around in their Barrier Jackets while their devices are in standby mode)

Seeing Bardiche appear in my hand was all Nanoha needed to see to know my answer, and her brows furrowed. Clearly that was not the answer she had been looking for, so she turned to Signum for support…

'Bogenform!'

…Only to see that the pink-haired Guardian Knight had already spent one of her cartridges to shift Levantine into his bow form, and was gearing up to unleash one of her most powerful offensive attacks.

"Oh, come on Signum!" Nanoha shouted in exasperation. "Seriously!?"

The leader of the Wolkenritter at least had the good grace to grin sheepishly.

"What?" She asked in a voice that actually suggested that she was trying to sound innocent. "I'm not going to charge this one as much, I swear!"

"Or how about not at all?" Nanoha suggested darkly. "For god's sake! One of those arrows of yours completely broke through one of the toughest barriers of the defensive program! It's not something I want you shooting at my students!"

"You unload Starlight Breakers on your students on a regular basis." Signum argued dryly. "Correct me if I'm wrong but, isn't surviving at least one of those mini apocalypses unharmed actually one of your graduation requirements?"

Nanoha opened her mouth and leveled her pointer finger at the swordswoman, obviously geared up with a scathing comeback, but froze in place as soon as the fact that my first aide had a very valid point clicked in her head.

For a few moments, she just stood there; mouth hanging open, finger hovering up and down as she frantically searched her brain for some sort of counter argument, until…

"…Shut up."

"That's my Nanoha." I muttered affectionately under my breath. "Always smooth as sandpaper."

"I'm sorry Fate-chan." The White Devil said, rounding on me with that sweet voice that held nothing but the promise of grievous amounts of bodily harm with a side order of doom. "But did you say something?"

'Canon Mode'

Quite suddenly I had Raising Heart's 'barrel' shoved inches away from my face, and aimed right between my eyes.

I gulped.

Me and my big mouth!

"Nope!" I squeaked pitifully, raising my hands in a show of complete surrender. It was no secret that from this distance, Nanoha could easily blast a neat little hole the size of a nickel all the way through your skull, (and everything in between) and then cause something akin to a nuclear meltdown on any and all structures that happened to be a mile behind you. Soooo… you'll have to excuse me for wussing out here. "Not a thing! No sir!"

"Good." Nanoha replied sounding forcefully satisfied. To my relief, she moved Raising Heart away from my face, reducing the immanent danger level from DEFCON 1 to a nice… slightly less lethal DEFCON 2. "Just making sure."

I could do nothing but chuckle nervously.

Just as Nanoha turned to address Homura, I just barely caught Signum miming the cracking of a whip out of the corner of my eye… before she too stood ramrod straight, once Nanoha shot her a warning look.

Hypocrite. I snorted to myself, this time wisely keeping my inner thoughts silent.

"Well," Nanoha began, keeping Raising Heart in Cannon Mode, and sounding less than pleased about the entire situation. "It seems I've been outvoted… Homura-san, you can promise me that you're not in over your head if we do this right? You can guarantee that you won't get hurt?"

The corners of the raven-haired girl's mouth twitched upward slightly, into what was probably the most assuring smile she could manage.

"I swear to Madoka," She vowed with one hundred percent sincerity. " That I will come out of this without a scratch, you have my word."

I was momentarily taken aback by her…odd choice of swearing to her best friend of all things. Didn't most people usually swear to a deity of some ki-

…Oh yeah.

It was very difficult to remember that the small, cheerful pinkette was actually revered as something like a deity by Puella Magi.

So, come to think about it; that would probably be the most sincere promise she could possibly give to us.

"Alright…" Nanoha relented sighing heavily. "Let's get into position, shall we?"

The three of us turned around, and walked to a point about a hundred feet away from where we had started, coming to a halt about thirty feet away from the rest of the recruits, giving them a nice front-row seat for what I guess would be our own little demonstration. Still stunned silent; a very subdued Vita joined the group of the other recruits, resolving to watch our attempts of calling Homura's 'bluff.'

Turning our backs to our audience, we lined up side by side; figuring if we unleashed our attacks as close to one another as possible, we could give Homura as much dodging space as three S ranked mages, all simultaneously firing bombardment spells at the same target could. (AN: And yes, I know that Sturmfalken is a shooting type spell, I try to do my research when it comes to this fic. But just for the sake of argument; pretend it's not in this scenario.)

For her part, Homura also made her way to the other end of the training grounds, where a forest of trees flanked her. This put about two hundred feet between us and her, but I couldn't ignore the nagging thought that even two hundred feet wouldn't be enough to account for Homura's (admittedly heightened) reaction time.

Once we were at a distance where our spells would be far enough apart to (hopefully) not combine into something three times as powerful but were still close enough together to (hopefully) not take too big of chunk out of the forest surrounding the training grounds, Signum and I stood to attention while Nanoha addressed the patiently awaiting Homura.

"Are you ready?" She yelled over the large distance.

It occurred to me that Homura didn't seem to be the yelling type, around the same time that instead of a verbal response, the raven-haired girl raised her arm in the air.

"Does that mean she's ready?" Signum wondered aloud.

"Looks like it." Nanoha replied, squinting at the stoic Puella Magi with a hint of mild amusement in her voice. "She's giving a thumbs-up!"

(AN: I cannot begin to adequately describe the process of spell casting in writing, so please bear with my best efforts)

"How is that less embarrassing than just yelling?" I muttered to myself as I called up a magic circle and adjusted it so the dark figure standing patiently in the distance was more or less in the center.

"Honestly, I think that girl is incapable of raising her voice." Nanoha chuckled wryly, as Raising Heart extended two magic circles out in front of her 'barrel' where her signature (and far less deadly) Divine Buster would momentarily be charging. "Anyway, let's just get this over with…And Signum, I'm giving you five seconds of charging time, but that's it, got it? Anything more is just overkill."

"Well, isn't that the pot calling the kettle black." Signum muttered under her breath. Aiming her bow as soon as an arrow materialized on the nock. Once she had the passive girl in her sights, she finally spoke up. "Very well, five seconds it is."

"That goes for the both of us as well Fate-chan." Nanoha added as soon as she noticed the electricity that was starting to crackle off of my left hand "As far as we know, the only Puella Magi who possesses any shielding capabilities in this group is Kyouko-san."

Oh shit!

"Call that a belated comeback to the 'trigger happy' argument you brought up Signum." The brunette added haughtily. "Homura-san isn't like most of my other students."

I had completely forgotten about that! No wonder Nanoha was acting so unusually paranoid!

Signum also started to look a little worried for a moment or two, but quickly shook it off.

While it was certainly true that Nanoha fired Starlight Breakers at her students almost indiscriminately, all of those students had to be capable of casting cartridge-fortified shields before she would even consider shooting at them; something which, I was pretty sure none of the Puella Magi could come close to replicating.

Suddenly, I felt very guilty for not crediting Nanoha as the good instructor that she actually was.

Nanoha noticed my sudden hesitation, and figured that I had finally put two and two together.

"It's a little late to back out now." She pointed out as Raising Heart loaded two cartridges before three pink wings burst forth, extending the barrel. "Besides, Homura-san gave us her word."

"That she did." Signum agreed as two more cartridges were sent flying out of Levantine's chambers, subsequently setting the magic circle underneath her feet ablaze. "If she's really as fast as she seems to be, I don't think we have anything to worry about. It's only fair that we give her the chance to prove herself!"

I hated to admit it, but Signum had a point. So it was with only the slightest hesitance that I drew back my left hand. In response to this action, Bardiche automatically loaded two cartridges. I felt the familiar rush of pure compressed magic rushing from Bardiche, flowing into my linker core, and extending out past my limbs as a smaller magic circle that formed around my wrist, followed by a ball of condensed lighting magic crackling to life inches from my palm.

"TRIIIIDENT…"

Beams of pure mana were drawn into the tip of Signum's arrow for about five seconds, until the whole thing turned a bright magenta.

"STRUM…"

The familiar sound of magical energy converging on a central point buzzed through the air as Nanoha's signature move gained power.

"DIVIIIINE…."

'Does it always take this long for you lot to attack someone?' Homura interrupted telepathically.

"SMASHEEERRR!"

"FALKEN!"

"BUSTEEEERRR!"

I whipped my hand out in a slicing arc, guiding the basketball-sized ball of lightning to the exact center of the magic circle in front of me. The very second the ball of lightning hit the magic circle all the condensed magic was unleashed all at once in a massive blast that extended out into a tri-pronged beam of pure electricity.

At the same time, out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nanoha fire at the same time that Signum loosed her arrow.

All three attacks shot towards their target, ripping the ground beneath them to shreds as they went.

It momentarily occurred to me that all three of those spells were predominately aerial, and caused far less collateral damage that way, but that thought was quickly drowned out by concern for the impassive raven-haired girl who was still standing stock still…despite the three incoming magical attacks that could easily level an entire city block if they happened to combine.

Time almost seemed to slow down, as I practically chewed my fingernails off in sheer panic as the trifecta of destruction blasted towards Homura who was still just standing there like a sitting duck, making no moves to defend herself or get out of the way…not that she could feasibly dodge by this point, but still.

Suddenly; the very instant all three spells would have hit her at once, the raven-haired Puella Magi disappeared. Since they were all aimed at a common target, the three attacks combined into one devastating mass of excessively dangerous magic, exactly where Homura had been standing. Signum's arrow, now infused with more magic from both Nanoha and I struck the trunk of a tree; where it promptly detonated, leveling several acres of the forest on the outskirts of the training grounds.

"Holy Shit!" Kyouko exclaimed as tree after tree bit the dust, causing tremors to shake the ground. "I had no idea these guys had that kind of power!"

There was no doubt in my mind; had those three attacks hit their mark, Homura would have been torn to shreds. I have never been so happy to miss hitting my target in my life! However that did beg the question…

Where had she gone?

As soon as the dust cleared, all three of us started scanning ground zero for any trace of the elusive Puella Magi. A sick feeling of dread festered in my gut at the thought that Homura had simply been vaporized on the spot just seconds before the spells fused into one. It was a horrifying thought, but scanning the wasteland of downed trees was yielding no evidence to the contrary.

"I'm over here." A calm voice piped up behind us.

Forty heads whirled around to discover that not only had Homura survived that onslaught without a scratch, not only had she somehow ended up behind the crowd of new recruits without any of us noticing and in an impossibly short amount of time, but somehow within that same impossibly short amount of time, she had also managed to remove a swatch of material from each of our Barrier Jackets!

I can honestly say that the four of us have never been defeated so quickly in all our fifteen years of service! I mean; in the span of less than two seconds, she had avoided all three of our spells, somehow snuck behind us, and handily removed the corner of Nanoha's outer vest, Signum's tailcoat, and my cape! Homura was holding up the pieces of material like a poker player showing her opponents that she had amassed a royal flush and to 'read 'em and weep' as it were. A fitting analogy; seeing as the raven-haired girl had the best poker face of anyone I had ever seen.

There was no possible scenario that I could come up with that would even begin to make what had just happened even remotely possible, so I let my frustration be known in the most dignified way possible.

"That's! Just! IMPOSSIBLE!" I blurted at the top of my lungs waving Bardiche rather erratically over my head, causing both Signum and Nanoha to back off slightly, lest they accidentally wind up getting indiscriminately decapitated by my outburst. "There is absolutely no way you could have done all of that so quickly, and without any of noticing, unless you could just…Oh, no way!"

A hint of a satisfied smirk crossed Homura's face as the nature of her magic finally dawned on me.

"You can stop time!?"

A curt nod both confirmed my statement and answered my question. The other Puella Magi were obviously not surprised by this revelation; the rest of us though, were staring wide-eyed and open-mouthed at the raven-haired teen as if she had suddenly grown a second head.

"Oh, you have got to be kidding me!" Vita laughed bitterly. "No wonder you were so sure of yourself, we never stood a chance!"

"Temporal displacement." Nanoha muttered more to herself than anyone else. "I have never heard of a mage with such capabilities." (AN: As far as I know anyway…are there any mages that can stop time in MSLN?)

"It was always something that lived in the realm of miracles not magic." Signum agreed pensively. "A lot like Al-Hazard; but even that great mystery has recently come right to our door-step."

"To me it has served as both a blessing and a curse." Homura admitted, walking purposefully through the crowd of the other recruits to allow her worth to be assessed by the four of us. "But I do believe that it will be of use to your mission."

"Without a doubt." I agreed with a chuckle. "Now; I assume that you can use your abilities for more than just evasion and Barrier Jacket vandalism, correct?"

"Would you like me to demonstrate this as well?" Homura asked indifferently as she ran her finger along the upper rim of that mysterious shield of hers.

"If you would be so kind." I replied, eager to see what offensive tactics could be employed with such magic.

"Very well." The stone-faced girl complied. "However, I will warn you that this could be quite dangerous..."

My curiosity may very well kill the cat (or in this case me) because the very second those words were out of her mouth, Nanoha and Signum immediately took a quick half step back, inadvertently voluntelling me to be the guinea-pig for this particular demonstration. Not even Vita seemed all that willing to test the Puella Magi's skills further. I suddenly dreaded having opened my mouth in the first place.

"So, in order to lessen that danger," Homura went on, as if she had expected that reaction. "You will need to heed my every instruction, they will keep you safe."

Not wanting to back out of something I had requested to see in the first place, I swallowed my anxiety and gave a stiff nod.

"First of all I'm going to need more room to work; that way, no one else can be caught in the crossfire." She began casually, scanning what was left of the training grounds, and pointing to one of the only remaining non-damaged areas about a hundred feet to the left from where we were now. It was about ten feet from opposite end of the wooded area that encircled this entire clearing. "Fate-san, could you head over there please? You won't be needing your device either."

I gave another stiff nod, dispelling Bardiche and cautiously making my way over to the center of the area she had indicated. Homura came along with me, (probably so she wouldn't have to yell over the distance.) once there; I nervously awaited further instruction.

"Very good, now I will need you to remain perfectly still until I tell you otherwise." She went on evenly. "There will be a time during this demonstration where every fiber of your being will be screaming at you to move…it is absolutely imperative that you ignore that instinct, understood?"

It was very obvious by this point that Homura knew that she would always be taken one hundred percent seriously, no matter what she said, so she didn't even bother to wait for me to reply before turning her back on me.

"Are you ready?" she asked, even as she started walking back towards the group where she would presumably be attacking me. "I promise you will not be harmed as long as you don't move."

I hesitated, and locked eyes with Nanoha.

Even from this distance, I could see she was biting her lip with worry. For some reason; seeing that she was worried about me, gave me all the courage I needed to proceed.

"I'm ready." I announced firmly, although for what I wasn't sure.

By this point, Homura may have been too far away to hear me, but I guess in the long run it didn't matter. As soon as Homura was roughly twenty feet away from the rest of the recruits, a strange sensation overcame me, and the next thing I knew, the world around me had taken on an odd bluish hue.

The first thing I became aware of was an RPG that suddenly swam into focus. Somehow, the thing was suspended in mid air, literally an inch away from right between my eyes.

I honestly nearly wet myself, and a warm tingling sensation on my left thigh didn't do much to convince me otherwise. (I mean, come on! What would you do if a friggin RPG suddenly appeared about an inch away from your face?)

I could feel the muscles in my legs tense up as I was nearly overwhelmed by an intense wave of the fight or flight reflex. I was literally half a second away from bolting when-

"Do. Not. Move." Homura's stern warning was the only thing that kept my legs from collapsing in the effort to keep them from propelling me in the opposite direction. "If you touch any one of these bullets, time will start flowing for them again, and unlike your brand of magic, these are very, very lethal."

It took me a few seconds to process the word 'bullets' in my fear addled brain, but I eventually discovered that the RPG wasn't the only thing I had to worry about. Making sure not to move my head, I pried my eyes off the rocket that was taking up a good chunk of my central field of vision. Suddenly dozens upon dozens of bullets swam into focus, all of them coming from different angles, and all of them aimed directly at me; suspended in time a few scant inches away from turning me into Swiss Fate…that is, unless the RPG blasted me to smithereens first.

"Holy Shit!" I squeaked, only just managing to force my voice out of my terror-constricted throat, and through my clenched teeth. The blind panic building up in me had to be vented somehow. Since I couldn't move, swearing was usually a pretty good outlet.

"There is exactly forty five degrees of safe space behind you." Homura's voice once again floated up to my ears. I dared not look around to find her, but her usual monotonous tone sounded like it was coming from somewhere near my knees. "But please do not move until we can establish a less…awkward connection."

My eyes darted down to just make out the crown of Homura's raven-haired head in my peripheral vision. She must be kneeling down, out of the way of all the bullets. I once again felt that warm tingling sensation on my upper thighs, and flushed horribly once I realized that those were Homura's fingers that were under my skirt maintaining a tentative contact with my skin. That must have been what I had felt earlier, and while it was certainly better than what I had first assumed, it was still rather embarrassing.

"Forgive me for the rather invasive touch." She apologized, her voice finally carrying enough emotion to suggest that she was about as comfortable with the situation as I was. "But in order to allow you to see the world as I do when I stop time, I have to be touching you… I tried to make the connection in a less inappropriate manner, but your Barrier Jacket is very resistant to my magic…"

I guess it was good to know that my Barrier Jacket was living up to it's name, but I kind of wished that it could do so in a way that would result in less discomfort to both Homura and myself.

"…And aside from your head, this is the only part of your body that is unprotected, so I really had no choice but to..."

I nearly laughed out loud when I realized that Homura was actually babbling in order to hide her embarrassment, but the bullet that was suspended only inches from my throat (I could make out the air distortion from the vapor trail in my peripheral vision) caused me to reconsider.

"I really am sorry for invading your personal space like this. I just figured that touching your cheek or something would be even more awkward, not to mention this was the only way to stay out of the way of all the bullets, and if I ended up touching your face from behind it would probably look even worse…"

Nevertheless it was very refreshing to see that buried under layers and layers of trauma-induced apathy there was still a shy, sweet little girl trying to get out.

"It's alright." I assured gently, doing my best to sound as comforting as I could while moving my mouth as little as possible. "If you wouldn't mind taking one of my gloves off, you can take my hand instead. I'd do it myself, but I don't think moving my arms is particularly wise right now."

The ebony-haired girl let out a forced laugh of agreement, and the next thing I knew, she was standing directly behind me; my armored gauntlet in one hand, and my hand awkwardly grasped in the other. I suppressed a shudder at the strange sensation that being brought into this suspended reality caused, it was hard to get used to.

"I figured it would be best to leave you with the glove that has your intelligent device in it." I tried to ignore the tickling sensation in my ear that Homura's breath caused as she spoke. "You need all the protection you can get if we happen to brush one of these bullets on the way out."

The thought occurred to me that this position wasn't really much better than the last. Now it just looked like Homura was holding me from behind and whispering sweet nothings in my ear…not that anyone could see what was going on right now anyway, either way I decided not to bring it up to Homura, and chose to focus on trying to get out of this deathtrap…the inside of my nose was starting to burn, and the last thing I wanted was to semi-autonomous convulse causing an expulsion of air from the lungs through the nose and mouth myself to death.

(AN: This is a verb now.)

"So…" I began conversationally, trying to ignore the increasing burning sensation that was starting to make my eyes water. "Nuh- now what?"

Homura's eyes bugged out in alarm once she realized what was about to happen. No matter how ridiculous the situation was, it would also be insanely dangerous if I couldn't hold it in long enough.

"Now we step back." Homura instructed, trying to keep calm even as I was carefully trying to wriggle my nose like a rabbit in an attempt to work out the irritation, and to keep from touching the nine-millimeter round that was an inch or so away from the tip of my treacherous proboscis. "Carefully." She added as I fought the impulse to take the deep breath that was usually followed by a sneeze. There were way too many bullets aimed inches from my chest, so that even a sharp intake of air could possibly cause my suddenly dangerous ample chest to be the end of me in another preposterous way to go.

"I'm STAH! –Starting to think you may have gone a little overboard with the BUH! –Bullets." I observed nasally as Homura cautiously guided me backwards, successfully suppressing two sneezes as I went.

Naturally, because a single sneeze could result in a humiliating and brutal death, the sensation was ruthlessly persistent and refused to go away. I had sometimes thought that my body was against me, (especially whenever a certain unwanted relative came busting down my door with a battering ram) but this was just ridiculous!

"I wasn't exactly expecting to run into this kind of problem." Homura countered dryly, as she urged me back another step. "Any particles in the air should be frozen along with everything else, so I dunno what your problem is."

"Maybe I inhaled a bunch of pollen right before you STU! -Stopped time." I suggested, suppressing yet another sneeze, and stepping another inch out of the danger zone. "I don't know, either way we need to speed it up, since my body seems DUH! –Dead set on killing me in the most AH! –Absurd way possible! GAH! This is torture!"

Further conversation was forgone at that point in order to focus more on extracting ourselves from this situation as quickly as possible. After what would have normally been another minute of tense, coordinated inching, we were finally clear of the veritable swarm of bullets, and I could finally relieve the incessant burning in my nose without worrying about blowing the both of us to kingdom come.

Just in time too, as the worst wave of irritation hit me with such force that there was no way I could have suppressed it with will power alone.

"AAHH..." my eyes were streaming with tears thanks to the intensity of the burn that was surging through my sinuses. "AAAAAAHHHH!" My free arm whipped up to cover my mouth as the sneeze reflex forced me to lean pretty far backwards with the amount of air I had to take in to facilitate this mother of all nasal explosions.

"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!"

Homura reflexively started backing away, almost as if she was worried that I was about to blow up at any moment… however, our linked hands prevented her from going very far, so she settled on giving me as wide a berth as she possibly could while still maintaining our connection.

Finally the onslaught of sensations built to a crescendo, and now all that was left was the release!

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaannnnnnnd it's gone." I deadpanned as the most powerful sneeze I have ever felt in my life just up and died like Hayate and the other Wolkenritter after one of Shamal's home cooked meals.

Homura just stared at me.

"Of course it is."

A heavy silence pervaded her statement.

"… So! I must admit I'm very impressed." I said with forced casualness, deliberately changing the subject to alleviate the awkward atmosphere. "This power of yours is incredible!"

"As I said before; it has both served me well and condemned the only one I'll ever love to an eternity of shouldering the despair of every Puella Magi in existence." Homura replied dryly, voice dripping with irony. "So again; a bit of a mixed blessing."

"Madoka-san?" I asked, knowing full well how rhetorical my question was. When the only response I received was a stiff nod, I thought it best not to pry. Homura hardly seemed like the kind of person to open up to just anyone.

Yet another awkward silence settled over us.

My last attempt to break the tension had failed spectacularly, so I decided to take in the view of a world completely suspended in time instead. It was a completely surreal experience to be one of the only things moving in a world that was nothing but perpetual motion, everything was totally silent to the point that it was almost eerie that the only noise I could hear was the sound of Homura and I breathing.

It was only a matter of 'moments' before my eyes landed on Nanoha, the beautiful, wonderful light of my life. Subconsciously drawn to her as always, I ended up dragging poor Homura along with me, as I absently wandered over to see if she was just as gorgeous suspended in time, as she was every second of every day.

Despite the look of concern that marred her features, I could say without the slightest hint of biased that she was just as stunning as ever, all the more so because I knew that worried expression was for my sake and my sake alone.

I spent far more of my time than was strictly necessary trying to get as close to the peppy brunette as possible without crossing the line, so I felt a certain freedom in knowing that at least for the moment; that line didn't exist.

I had a feeling that the dark-haired Puella Magi understood that sentiment perfectly as she remained silent as I happily indulged myself in the appreciation of Nanoha's beauty, with a level of closeness that I could normally only achieve arriving home late from a mission to find my beloved already asleep in bed.

I resolved to be as meticulous as possible in taking in every part of her that I could never fully appreciate if she was awake and aware of my shameless ogling: Her luscious eyelashes, those full rosy cheeks, her silky auburn hair, her…

I paused in my 'burn-every-inch-of-Nanoha-into-my-memory-because-when-am-I-ever-going-to get-this-chance-again…ing' (AN: That's right, I just made that a verb...I need to stop doing that.) once my eyes fell to her lips. (Currently stuck in an eternally pouty frown of concern that was way too adorable to be legal) This was my chance! Quite possibly my only chance to kiss Nanoha with absolutely no possibility of any negative repercussions!

"You have a split second to do it." Homura informed softly, most likely tipped off by the fact that I was staring at Nanoha's lips like a starved lion. "Any longer than that, and the contact of your lips on hers will bring her out of her state of temporal suspension."

The time manipulator's voice was neither judgmental, nor condescending. Instead, it was full understanding, and it made me wonder if she had ever succumbed to temptation herself.

I weighed my options for a few moments, and was just about to give in when a certain question crossed my mind, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to know the answer.

"…Does it help?" I inquired cautiously, hoping I wasn't crossing the line with what the question was implying.

"…No." Homura replied honestly after a moment's hesitation. "I'll not stop you, but if anything it just leaves you feeling emptier than before, knowing what you've taken from them without their knowledge or permission."

I tried holding my tongue after that response, considering that the reclusive girl had actually been willing to answer me in the first place, but my curiosity got the better of me before I could stop myself.

"So…have you?"

I instantly regretted the words as soon as they left my mouth.

What was wrong with me? I almost couldn't believe my own audacity, how was this any business of mine? I honestly wouldn't have blamed the girl if she decided to shove me back into that mass of bullets and RPGs for even daring to ask!

"Not this particular Madoka." Homura admitted, catching me totally by surprise. (AN: And yes, I am referencing a certain Fukuya (Tama II) doujin.) "Although in the long run I may as well have, seeing as she has become the embodiment of every Madoka, past, present and future, with all the memories of every time loop I have ever put her through."

That single sentence confirmed my suspicions that this young girl had suffered more than anyone should ever have to, and then some. It also revealed that Homura's magic went beyond just stopping time.

Going back in time was yet another realm of impossibility that had never existed beyond the mere concept in our magic until now.

"At first." She went on; surprising me yet again with how open the obviously reclusive girl was being with me, and especially with such personal subject matter. "I reveled in it as a means to justify and ease the heartache I was going through, but it didn't take me long to realize that they made my inevitable failures all the more painful, rather than more tolerable."

Nanoha had been right; Homura and I were very much alike in all of the worst ways, and yet also in the best way; with that one special person who saved us from the darkness, and brought us into a life of light and love.

"I resolved to earn the right to win her affections, instead of just taking it as I pleased. By doing so, I had lost sight of the promise that I made upon contracting to become a Puella Magi, and my constant failure to save Madoka was the just punishment I deserved for going astray."

As I listened to her speak, it was became abundantly clear that Homura had suffered in a hopeless perpetual hell for far, far longer than I ever had. It was nothing short of a miracle that there was as much humanity left in her as there was. It may be buried under layers upon layers of emotional damage, but it was still there, fighting to get out through the tears I saw welling in her eyes, and the tremor I heard in her voice.

"Regardless of my decision to earn the right to Madoka's heart." She concluded regaining the iron grip she usually had on her emotions. "The guilt for ever having done it in the first place has never stopped haunted me, making me wonder if I even deserve the love of someone whom, if not for my own selfishness would still be totally pure and innocent."

While I highly doubted Madoka saw it that way, I could see her point. So, I took her words to heart, hoping that one last look into Nanoha's eyes, would give me the answer I was looking for.

Taking a deep breath to psyche myself up; I zeroed in on those flawless sapphire eyes, and nearly fell to my knees from what I saw there.

They were full of concern for my well being, that much was plain to see, but I had never had the opportunity to search so deeply into the windows to her soul at a time when she wasn't trying to hide anything from anyone. I had always suspected that she hid a lot of what she was feeling whenever she was around me, or anyone else for that matter. It was a technique she had developed to cope with difficult times in her life, and it carried over quite easily to her professional life, where keeping one's 'humanity' on the backburner was an asset. But what I was seeing now; suspended in time, when no eyes were on her, was nothing but the root of her emotions. She had shown fear for my safety before, plenty, but I had never seen it so unrestrained, and let me tell you:

It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

Held deep in those endless sapphire orbs, amidst all the concern, and kindness, that was still laced with a surprising amount of insecurity, the one thing I had been searching for, for fifteen long years was finally shining through:

Love.

The level of depth and intensity of the emotion that Nanoha was inadvertently showing me looked very at home in her eyes, as if it had been there for years…expertly hidden under layers of insecurity; only showing hints of itself in ways that were mostly platonic, only allowed to fully show itself in an extreme situation where no one was likely to notice it.

It was pure.

It was eternal.

It was love all right; and it was directed at me.

For the first time in my life, I was positive that I wasn't deluding myself by what I was seeing, and my heart soared to heights I had never thought possible.

I really couldn't help the insanely happy grin that nearly threatened to split my face in half. I probably looked like some deranged lunatic to Homura by this point, but I was eons beyond caring:

I.

Was.

So.

HAPPY!

…Now, I will admit, it's hard to say exactly how I could tell with such a large amount of certainty that it was love that was in her unmoving eyes. Call it a gut feeling; but the sheer amount of cold fear I saw for my well being brought to the surface the warmth of just how much TSAB's Ace of Aces, the White Devil herself; loved an artificial mage, a girl who could never truly be loved, not even by her own mother.

That was everything I needed to see in order to make my decision and more, going far beyond my wildest dreams.

"So…" Homura prodded gently, obviously not wanting to spent the rest of all eternity standing here staring at Nanoha…you know; like I was perfectly content with doing. "What are you going to do?"

"I'll wait." I choked out around the happy tears that were unfortunately obscuring my view of the eyes that held just as much love for me, as I knew mine always had for her…as long as she wasn't looking. "I will kiss her some day soon, and when I do, I want her to know exactly what's going on. I want it to be one of the best moments of both our lives, not just mine."

Homura gave me what I knew was a very rare and very genuine smile.

"A wise decision." She noted sagely with just the slightest hint of regret that she didn't have the will power to have done the same long ago. "From the looks of things, I'd say it will be one of the best moments of both your lives, and the first of many."

Before I could stop myself, or even think about what I was doing, I had yanked Homura into a tight, grateful hug.

"F-Fate-san?" the younger girl squeaked, sounding understandably alarmed by my spontaneous show of affection, and complete disregard for her personal space.

"Thank you," I said earnestly, hoping the sincerity of my voice conveyed even a fraction of the gratitude I was feeling right now. "Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to see this. Who knows how much longer we would have spent stumbling around in the dark. We're both too stubborn to do anything other than dance around the issue, and hope that the other will get the hint. At least now I know that there is a light at the end of the tunnel."

"That wasn't exactly the reason why you were brought into this world of suspended time." Homura pointed out, squirming awkwardly in my arms in an attempt to free her face from my cleavage. (AN: here's hoping that I'm not the only one who sees Fate as being tall, blond, and gorgeous…erm…I guess the tall part was the only thing relevant in this particular situation… *Cough* *Cough* Moving on!) "But I am glad that it inadvertently brought this realization to light…even if it was obscenely obvious to just about everyone and their pet cat."

The uncharacteristically sarcastic comment succeeded in making me let her go…at least to the point of allowing her to take her head out my chest, we still had to hold hands after all.

I let out a hearty laugh and clapped her on the shoulder.

"I wouldn't exactly call you the embodiment of subtlety when it comes to Madoka-san." I teased giddily; way too happy to let the jibe hit its mark.

In response, the raven-haired girl made a rather unladylike grunting noise that was somewhere between a growl and a bowel movement.

"Pfft!"

…I can't say my snort of laughter was all that much better in the ladylike department.

The slightest bit of colour appeared on Homura's normally pale cheeks at my failed attempt to conceal my mirth.

"S-she's the only thing that keeps me human." Came the defensive and flustered reply, and I immediately stopped laughing; I didn't want Homura to think that I was making fun of her for being in love with someone.

"Yes, she does." I agreed warmly. "You are never more human than when you're talking about her, and that's a good thing…we just need to help bring the wonderful person I know you are to the surface all the time."

"We?" The shy insecurity in her voice stood out like a sore thumb when compared to her usual deadpan monotone.

"Madoka-san is a given; she does it without even trying." I said as-a-matter-of-factly. "But myself, and the rest of us here at TSAB, would be more than willing to help ease the pain of the past…Hell; that's exactly what they did for me."

In a show of promise and friendship; I extended the hand that wasn't already clasped in Homura's, hoping that she would be willing to open up enough to me to shake it.

A few moments of silence passed as the dark-haired Puella Magi stared at my hand like it was a python coiling to strike. I inwardly winced; perhaps I had gone too far in suggesting that she completely open up to someone who was basically still a stranger. I was just considering retracting my hand and pretending that this had never happened when:

"…Homura." The name was mumbled out in a voice that was thick with shyness and fear, so much so that I could barely understand her.

"Beg pardon?" I asked, unsure as to where she was going with this.

"Homura." She repeated in a much stronger voice, as she looked me squarely in the eyes, extending her own hand to firmly squeeze mine. "You can just call me Homura."

Again, I really couldn't help the elated grin that spread across my face when Homura gave me her trust.

"Then please just call me Fate." I offered happily, squeezing her hand in return and giving it a firm shake. "I look forward to working with you, Homura."

Another genuine smile lit up the time traveler's face, as she bowed awkwardly but politely.

"Likewise, Fate."

Upon seeing her bow, the many years of proper etiquette when someone bows to you literally came up to bash the both of us in the head…when I hurriedly bowed in return, and the small amount of distance caused by our joined hands got our friendship off to a very bumpy start.

"CLUNK!"

Our foreheads collided noisily, pain shot through my head for the umpteenth time today. My first instinct was to bring my hands up to cradle my thrice-abused cranium.

"O-"

I'm pretty sure I must have let go of Homura at this point, because the next thing I knew only one hand was anywhere near my face.

"-W!"

The other was clenched tightly in the hand of a very unamused Homura…not that this was much different from how she usually looked, and aside from the angry red lump that marred her forehead; there was no other indication that anything had happened at all.

I groaned and attempted to get my bearings; Upon examining my own head, and feeling that the only lump I had was the one from this morning's misadventure, I realized that the fact that since there was a lump on her forehead and not mine, coupled with the fact that the stone-faced girl certainly didn't seem to be in any pain anymore, probably meant that she had kept me frozen in time while she dealt with the pain in private.

I will admit that this summoned a rather humorous image of Homura stumbling around this frozen world, clutching her head and letting loose a constant stream of curses until the pain went away…just to preserve the unflappable image she presented to the world.

My skull gave a painful throb that caused me to squint through the pain in a rather neanderthalic fashion.

Lucky her.

"Well then;" I said casually when it became obvious that Homura was just going to keep that irritated stare leveled on me until I said something. "Let's never speak of this again."

"Agreed." She concurred stiffly. "Fortunately this is one area where my abilities really come in handy; no witnesses."

"This is true." I agreed, thinking just how embarrassing that moment would have been if everyone had been able to see it.

An awkward silence settled over us again, causing me to desperately search for something to talk about. Luckily, the chaotic mass of bullets that the dark-haired Puella Magi had fired at me caught my eye…or at least that was what I had initially thought it was. Now that I was far enough away, I could see that somehow Homura had made a perfect silhouette of bullets that was in the exact same position I had to stay in until I managed to get far enough away. Now it was obvious why that was; each bullet was exactly a half an inch apart from touching it's neighbor regardless of the angle, and I knew from personal experience that each bullet was also about a half inch from my body. Especially with the RPG in there, I could safely say that the level of precision at work here was absolutely insane!

"How did you even do this?" I asked, forgetting all about Homura's question in favour of marveling at the world's deadliest school of fish. "I've never seen you use a gun, or any other kind of weapon so where exactly did all this ammunition come from…especially that RPG!"

"That was something I expected you to ask me five minutes ago." The stoic girl commented with just the slightest dusting of sarcasm. "Regardless; I suppose the best way to answer your question is to ask if you are familiar with Mary Poppins?"

"Umm…" I began dumbly, wondering just what the hell Mary Poppins had to do with anything. "…The book or the movie?" I was familiar with the earth movie, (Nanoha had insisted that I watch it, so we centered a sleepover around it.) but not so much the book it was based on. With any luck; being familiar with the movie would be enough,

"Either."

Oh, thank God!

"Yes?"

Despite having watched the movie years ago, I was still starting to feel a little stupid, because for the life of me, I had no idea how Homura and Mary Poppins could be related in any way…in fact, if you asked me; they were polar opposites.

Homura gave me a reassuring look that suggested she didn't expect me to be able to figure it out myself.

"Well, just think of this device-"

She held up her left arm to give me a better look at the shield/hourglass/time travel device.

"-As Marry Poppins' magic bag"

My mouth made an 'O' shape when the pieces immediately clicked into place.

Aside from adding yet another use to that remarkably versatile little contraption, it also made perfect sense when I remembered how she had procured those scissors seemingly out of thin air earlier.

"I get it!" I exclaimed a little bit more excitedly than necessary for a woman my age. "So you stash all your weapons in there? Like a bottomless pit right?"

"Something like that," Homura agreed, nonchalantly pulling an unloaded RPG launcher out of her shield by way of demonstration. "Although it would be more accurate to say that contains a pocket dimension that holds enough artillery to make it so that when Kyouko dared Kiseki to go there, she couldn't so much as move an inch without setting something off."

"I know the feeling." I chuckled dryly.

"I have enough firepower at my disposal to level an entire continent." The time traveler added bitterly, her tone defeated and broken as she slipped the weapon back into the device. "But apparently that's still not enough to defeat a one hundred story tall, obscenely powerful witch bent on destroying everything in her path."

I didn't really know what to say, so I remained silent, and allowed Homura to vent the frustration that I was sure had been festering for years.

"No; to defeat something like that, it would take…an act of god."

Suddenly, as if in response to the raven-haired Puella Magi's proclamation of self-loathing, a warm breeze kicked up…something that should have been physically impossible. It was there; I felt it as it bypassed me, to wrap Homura in a warm embrace that almost seemed to say;

'It wasn't your fault'.

I almost jumped out of my skin when I actually did hear the words as a gentle whisper on the wind itself.

I had a suspicion as to the source of both the mysterious wind, and uncannily kind voice. Logically speaking, it could only be the work of one person. But when I whipped my head around to catch the pinkette in the act; she was just as frozen as everyone else in the world, and when I turned back to Homura, she didn't really seem to notice what was going on, but the calm expression that was covering her face suggested that…whatever was happening, was still working it's magic on her in a less 'physical' manner.

I was confused for a few more moments before I remembered that if Madoka really did have all the powers of a goddess, then something like this would not be beyond her capabilities.

Eventually the wind died down, leaving Homura looking contentedly peaceful; an expression that I was pretty sure rarely graced her features.

"If there is nothing else we need to do, why don't we set things in motion again?" Homura suggested casually, she took a moment to examine the two blood red dials on either side of what I now understood was a very elaborate hourglass. "Judging by the amount of sand I have left, I won't be able to keep things frozen for much longer anyway."

I suppose there was no reason for us to remain in this suspended reality, nor did I want to continue to drain Homura's resources if I could help it.

"Sure." I said with a curt nod.

"Keep in mind," The time traveller warned in a tone that suggested that she knew something I didn't. "That Nanoha-san will likely be quite distraught since that RPG is going to detonate the very second time starts again. I trust you will know what to do when that happens."

"What are you talking about?" I asked suspiciously. "The closest thing in its way are those trees waaaaay over there…so how do you figure it'll blow up right where I was standing?"

Homura leveled her patented neutral expression on me before answering.

"Because if the dozens of bullets surrounding it doesn't set it off, then the last bullet I shot directly in its path will."

I took a half second to look even more closely at the frozen formation of suspended death. I squinted hard and sure enough; about a half an inch away from kissing the cold alloy of the super sensitive tip of the rocket was another bullet that couldn't have been there before. It would have been lodged in my brain if the Puella Magi had shot it at the same time as the rest.

"Wait, when did you-"

"Time start!"

I heard a strange whirring sound followed by a sharp click, and suddenly the world around me started moving again.

Almost immediately, my field of vision was engulfed in flame as the RPG detonated right where; to everyone else, my head had been no more than a fraction of a second ago.

"FATE-CHAN!"

The scream of pure panic that ripped out of Nanoha's throat was somehow the only thing not drowned out by the initial deafening blast of the explosion.

Just about everyone else in the group either stumbled backwards in shock, or threw themselves over their most important person to shield them from any debris despite the fact that the explosion was far enough away not to harm anyone.

I however, zoned in on the one person who seemed to care more about the fact that she thought I had been caught up in that fireball, than her own personal safety.

Initially, I couldn't bring myself to do anything other than watch with a strange fascination as the sound of the hailstorm of bullets that weren't obliterated in the blaze of hellfire made when they started hitting something that sounded suspiciously like a body, morphed Nanoha's expression into one of raw horror. When the tears started to flood her eyes, I couldn't stand seeing her like that anymore, and finally my 'comfort Nanoha' instincts kicked in.

So without wasting any more time on something as useless as thinking things through, I reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder. She started at the contact, and whirled around, looking a little confused as apparently her brain was trying to process what she was seeing, but didn't seem to be making much sense of it.

"It's alright Nanoha." I whispered in the most soothing voice I could muster, as I reached up to tenderly cup her cheek, letting her feel that I was truly there. "I'm perfectly fine, and I'm right here…where I belong."

…Geeze, I was downright bold when I didn't let my pesky brain dictate my actions. Nevertheless, after blinking dazedly at me a few times, Nanoha launched herself into my arms with such force that she actually knocked the wind out of me.

"FATE-CHAN!" She cried in pure happiness and relief, crushing me in a death grip of a hug that was NOT helping my oxygen situation in the slightest. "You're okay! I was worried sick that you had been killed, or hurt, or…Wait! You're not hurt are you?"

To the relief of my lungs she released the vice-grip hold that she had around my chest. But to the dismay of my pride, she merely relocated her hands to smoosh my cheeks together in an attempt to keep my head still…right as I was taking a deep breath to alleviate my oxygen deprived lungs. This naturally resulted in a horribly undignified farting noise that made me wish that I had been at the epicenter of that explosion. Luckily, Nanoha ignored the sound entirely, as she moved my beet-red head this way and that, her face a picture of concentration as she checked me over for injuries…totally heedless of how the 'constipated-kissing-fish' look she was forcing my face into was effectively destroying what was left of my dignity.

I was starting to entertain the thought of insisting that I was fine, and I only hesitated for a second when I considered that if I tried saying anything now, I would most likely end up blowing razzberries in Nanoha's face. True, it would literally kill my remaining self-respect in a spectacular fashion… And potentially any chance Nanoha and I had together… But it would be a remarkably efficient way to get her to let go of me.

"I'm sure she's fine Nanoha-chan." Hayate assured just in time, with just the slightest edge of authority to her voice. "Everyone seems to keep forgetting that this is a training session we shouldn't be worrying about people killing themselves or others… I mean yeesh!"

Nanoha finally released me so she could go into full on arguing mode.

"You can hardly blame me!" she exclaimed defensively, and I couldn't help but smile fondly at her vehemence even as I massaged my manhandled and tender cheeks. "Fate-chan is fast, but nowhere near fast enough to avoid getting caught up in a blast that sudden!"

"According to you she is." Hayate teased smugly. "What was it you said earlier?" Hayate paused to put on a clearly exaggerated pensive expression. "Oh! That's right: 'She can fly around the world faster than a train going from Tokyo to Uminari'…that is, if I'm not mistaken."

If looks could kill, the Queen of the Night's Sky would have been a smoldering crater on the other side of Mid by now.

"…There are holes burned straight through the trunks of those trees!" The White Devil bit out through gritted teeth, pointing at the evidence of Homura's attack on my life that sat smoldering ten feet beyond the smoking crater where I had been standing.

"And yet there is not a scratch on me." I injected, hastily grabbing Nanoha's hand and placing it over my steadily beating heart. "If Homura had wanted to kill me, she wouldn't have bothered to tell me not to move, and would have asked me to be a moving target."

Instead of the shocked reaction I had been expecting when I called Homura by her first name, Nanoha had fallen unusually silent. Thinking that she was still considering flaying the raven-haired Puella Magi with Starlight Breakers, I decided to continue.

"I would have been riddled with bullets the second she unfroze me!" I pointed out, praying that reason won out over Nanoha's protective instincts. "Nor would she have bothered to give me any safety instructions to begin with! Remember that Nanoha?"

When the brunette still refused to speak, I was inwardly starting to panic. Why was she finding it so hard to believe that Homura didn't want to hurt me?

"The rest you can blame on the nature of our magic." Mami piped up in an effort to protect her underclassmen and friend. "Unlike your own magic, which as I understand can be tempered and used primarily for incapacitation. Ours is designed mainly to kill; be it witches, demons, other Puella Magi, or even ultimately the wielder herself, the Puella Magi form is rather…twisted to say the least."

The silence was deadly.

"Yeah, well deadly magic or not." Kyouko jumped in; clearly the situation was getting desperate. "We generally make it a point not to kill our allies, or ourselves… That'd just be unbelievably dumb."

"So you see Nanoha?" I concluded, looking down fondly on that crown of gorgeous copper hair. "Everything's okay."

No response.

"…Nanoha?"

"So…soft…"

It took me a second or two before I connected the dots. I dropped my gaze to see that yes indeed; by placing Nanoha's hand over my heart, I had essentially forced her to grope me. Instinct immediately forced me into damage control mode.

"I am so sorry Nanoha!" I blurted, jumping back; face blazing red for the hundredth time today. "I didn't mean to put your hand there I swear! I just wanted to show you that I was alive and well, not force you to-"

"Fate-chan!" the tactical instructor interrupted sharply before a warm smile grew on her face as she walked back over to me and rested her head where her hand had just been a moment ago and wrapping her arms around me in an intimate embrace. I stiffened as she pressed her ear firmly over my heart. "It's alright, I didn't mind at all. To me; the feeling and sound of your heart beating is the most comforting thing in the world."

There was no way in hell that Nanoha couldn't hear how fast my heart was pounding at her words, which I guess was a good thing if what she was saying was true.

"…Besides." She admitted shyly, nuzzling a little further into my chest and inadvertently causing my eyes to cross in the effort it was taking to not just jump her then and there. "You did only put my hand over your heart, it just kinda…migrated a little lower on its own."

My mouth promptly fell open, just barely avoiding clonking Nanoha on the head, and I just stood there gawking down at the White Devil as she shamelessly snuggled into my chest like it was her favourite stuffed animal.

…What was I supposed to say to that? I mean, what even brought this on? The object of my affections had literally just admitted to intentionally feeling me up, and I could do nothing but stand there like an idiot imitating someone with a broken jaw.

A surge of warmth rushed through me at the contented sigh that the Ace of Aces heaved as she squeezed me just a little bit tighter.

…I could certainly get used to this. I still wasn't sure what had caused this sudden and blatant show of non-platonic affection, but you wouldn't see me compla-

"Well that didn't go exactly as planned." For some reason Homura's hushed conversation with Madoka managed to bring me out of my thoughts. "I could have sworn all those extra bullets I fired towards the ground over her head would have done the trick. I mean, they sounded pretty convincing when they lodged in the dirt."

This got the gears in my head to start turning, and it occurred to me that during that whole ordeal suspended in time with Homura, I had never once bothered to look up as I was a little distracted by the ammunition frozen inches from my face. But then that would mean…

"Don't worry Homura-chan." Madoka comforted with a very all-knowing tone. "They'll say it when they're ready."

Oh, no way!

Akemi Homura; the totally serious, aloof Puella Magi who emotes about as much as a tablespoon…although not without reason, had just tried to hook me up! I nearly burst out laughing at the sheer absurdity of it all.

Initially, I had thought that she had insisted on detonating that RPG immediately upon unfreezing time for dramatic effect. Thinking about it now; I realized that, that theory fit her personality about as well as…and let's be honest here; her trying to hook me up with Nanoha. I felt more than a bit irritated that Homura had deliberately pulled that stunt with the RPG solely to scare the piss out of Nanoha, in the hopes that making her think that she had lost me would elicit some sort of confession…but the other part of my brain reminded me that without Homura, I never would have been able to see how the copper haired instructor truly felt about me. I was a little conflicted to say the least.

Standing here like an idiot had worked just fine so far, especially since Nanoha seemed unwilling to let me go. So for lack of a better option, I continued to do just that, all while narrowing my eyes at a certain raven-haired, violet-eyed Puella Magi, concocting various ways to get even with her for butting into my love life…just like everyone else on this base.

Nanoha and I remained locked in that embrace until the crowbar that was Midori noisily clearing her throat wrenched me out of my conspiring thoughts, and the Ace of Aces from my arms.

My disappointment at her abrupt departure was only offset when I noticed how low the sun was getting on the horizon. As much as I hated to admit it Midori had a point that probably came from being a teacher herself; it was getting late, we needed to get back on track.

"So!" Nanoha exclaimed forcefully, in an attempt to both mask her embarrassment of finally succumbing to our 'group ADD,' and dare someone to call her out on it. "Madoka-san, would you care to show us what you can do?"

The moment those words left her mouth; I felt something in the atmosphere shift as the small pinkette smiled and stepped forward.

"It would be my pleasure."

AN: Right! These chapters just keep getting longer and longer so here's what I'm gonna do so as not to continue halting the narrative in it's tracks with these 'mini' chapters: Each character will still get her own chapter, after all it's only fair.

The chapters where these demos will happen will still be split into parts, and they will make up chapters 9, 11, and 13. I have to finish off the Puella Magi due to plot reasons, but instead of spending all my time writing each part afterwards sequentially, I will be doing them in congruence with the rest of the story...that is to say that, for example; after writing Mai's mini chapter to kick off the HiME's, I will continue on to the next chapter after all the HiME demos were done, (i.e: that night, the next day or what have you) drawing the odd reference to hint at what went on during them.

I will then add in the other parts whenever I happen to finish them. This way I can continue the story while still giving each character their opportunity to shine. All I can say is that I hope that made sense, I hope you guys do enjoy these chapters, because while they bring the story to a screeching halt, they are tons of fun to write.

That's all for now, and see you in the final installment of the Puella Magi!