Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar ch15

SonicANIME2010 here, bringing in another chapter to Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar. Usual disclaimers apply

[Dimensional Space]
[Garden of Time]
[BGM: "Run!" Final Fantasy X Remaster OST]

"Everyone! Please get out of there!" Amy Limietta's voice couldn't be any more desperate or louder than it already was as the girl shouted through the communications, "The Garden could explode at any minute!"

Time was of the essence for the small group of the young mages as they tried to escape from the crumbling asteroid. For the most part, Nanoha, Yuuno, Chrono, Fate and Arf were uninhibited in their progress, but they didn't have to carry an unconscious Precia Testarossa on their shoulder. That honor belonged to the blue hedgehog, Sonic, who despite all of his speed, found the unconscious woman's weight to be more than just an annoyance.

"Chrono-kun" Nanoha, probably one to feel a little amusement over her familiar's situation if the circumstances weren't so dire; shouted up to the enforcer well ahead of her, "How much further do we have to go?"

"Our Admiral set up a transfer gate where we landed; we'll be able to escape with it." Chrono replied quickly; though he also sent a harsh glare back at the blue hedgehog in the process, "Assuming our rear straggler can still make it"

"Oy, oy! This lady's probably 3 times my size and probably twice my weight" the blue hedgehog shouted back as he struggled with the unconscious woman draped over his shoulder, "I'd like to anyone else try to carry her!"

"Why the hell did you pull that stunt anyway?" Chrono's annoyance over the blue hedgehog's actions outweighed any respect he had for him, "Our time here is precious enough and you had to waste more of it just to be a hero?"

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sonic shot back in a tone that was definitely not one of remorse, "I suppose I should've just left the old lady die, is that right?"

"She was willing to accept her fate" The enforcer countered yet again, "That's why she set off the self-destruct mechanism in the first place"

"Umm..." Fate would've tried to restore order to the bickering boys, if only her voice didn't fail her. As she silently ran with worry evident in her face, she was taken by surprise when she felt the soft left hand of Nanoha's gripping her right. Confused, she glanced over at the white-clad girl.

"Don't worry, Fate-chan" The cute and confident smile of Nanoha's could've melt the hearts of anyone and if it wasn't enough, the optimistic tone of her voice had a positive effect as well, "They do this all the time"

"Okay..." Fate nodded and looked ahead down the familiar hall that was her home for some time.

"I see it!" Arf shouted as she caught sight of the entrance, where the active warp gate and escape was lying in wait for them all.

"Almost there" Yuuno added, trying to will as much speed as he could into his human legs; certainly no slouch in that department, but the speed was always spoiled by Sonic's.

It took just about every ounce of energy the escaping group had, but they were just able to reach the dimensional gate and warp out. Their timing couldn't be any better either, as the whole garden exploded into pieces just as the gate activated and spirited the group to a quick escape.

[OP: "Innocent Starter" Nana Mizuki]

Sonic the Hedgehog: Lyrical Familiar
Chapter 15
Call My Name

[Dimensional Space]
[Time-Space Administration L-Class Dimensional Cruise Vessel "Asura"]
[No BGM]

All was quiet on the bridge of the warship. The Garden of Time had just blown to bits and the only confirmed survivor so far was Lindy Harlaown and her only reason for that confirmation was due to her being the first to warp out and leave the open gate behind. No one could tell if the young group of mages out there had made it out just yet.

"The Garden has collapsed. Everything that was in it has fallen into Complex Space" one of the techs solemnly informed, "Furthermore, the dimensional disturbance has been prevented; and we have no indication of any dislocation outbreak."

"Understood" Lindy acknowledged, "And what about the recovery of our mages?"

"Confirming their recovery, starting with Enforcer Chrono" The other tech glanced at the screen, almost grinning in excitement as he saw apparently what he wanted to see, "We have them all!"

"Yokatta..." The woman let out a sigh in relief.

[Medical Bay]
[No BGM]

Within a few minutes of their safe extraction from the Garden of Time, Nanoha and Sonic found themselves in the medical bay. While their injuries were superficial and a little bit annoying at best, they still had to be tended to. The only thing that Sonic could find humorous was the fact that Chrono had to get bandages on his forehead thanks to some injuries that he sustained. Fate and Arf were also among those getting treatments to their injuries. There was one notably absent person, however, and Fate was rather concerned.

"Where's kaa-san?" Fate asked softly as her injuries were tended to by Arf

"She's in the brig" replied Chrono quickly.

"How is she?" the blonde followed up with another question.

"It was probably luck that she's still alive" the enforcer replied, rather oblivious to whatever shenanigans that Amy Limietta may or may not have been pulling with the bandage on his forehead as she wrapped it, "If we didn't get our medics to tend to her in time, she might've died. She should be fine in a few hours though."

"Good to know that my heroics won't go to waste" Sonic said, wincing a little as he felt his right shoulder getting wrapped up tightly in the bandages, "Ow, ow, ow!"

"However the damage she had done to herself was still extensive enough. The fact that she's alive is surprising." Chrono noted in observation. Noting the confused looks on the faces of Nanoha and Sonic, he elaborated, "The more powerful a spell, the higher the toll it takes on one's body. And the power doesn't just mean the output; it also applies to the range. The fact that she was able to cast bombardment spells across dimensions was taxing to her enough.

"There's also the accident" The boy added, "We don't know for sure what it did to her body."

"She's alive…" Fate stated the detail that was most important to her, "That's what matters to me."

"I'm afraid we can't let you see her when she wakes up" Chrono noted with regret, "As she is the prime suspect in this case; she'll be in isolation."

"But what about Fate-chan and Arf-san?" Nanoha asked, remembering the fact that the aforementioned duo were on the opposite side of the law for a time, "What'll happen to them?"

"They could be considered accomplices in the eyes of the Bureau, however given the evidence that we have; it could be argued that her actions were done under coercion" that said, Chrono didn't like saying the truth of the matter, "However, to do that; we'll be forcing Fate to relive some bad memories."

"They will do no such thing if I have anything to say about that" Lindy interjected as she entered the medical wing, "The Bureau should be satisfied enough that Precia Testarossa has been captured and will see justice for what she's done."

"We both know that won't be enough" Chrono noted as, to his subtle annoyance, Amy Limietta finished his bandage and tied a cute little bow at the end of it, "They won't be so lenient on her."

"I spoke with Leti Lowran, another Admiral and good friend" Lindy noted, "She said it'll take a few days to gather a ship and crew to come out here and pick up our suspects. I gave her the coordinates to the lunar orbit of Non-Administrated World #97"

"Eh?" Sonic and Nanoha stared at the admiral; apparently some parts of her statement went well over their heads.

"Sorry, I meant "Earth". I keep forgetting you two are locals" the woman chuckled a little in her own embarrassment, "At any rate; we'll have a maximum of 5 days to ready our suspects for transfer."

The group fell silent, allowing the gravity of what was said to sink in. There was a lot to go through for the next few days; but there would be time to worry about that later.

[3.5 days later]
[Dimensional Space (Earth's Lunar Orbit)]

Time passed awfully slowly yet peacefully as things settled down after the raid on the Garden of Time. For Nanoha and Sonic, they spent the majority of it either in their cabin or out working on homework from Nanoha's school. They were able to spend some time with Fate and Arf, but not much and they weren't really able to socialize at all.

For Fate, she was relieved to hear that her mother had woken up and would probably be able to recover and live on for the most part. However that came with the strong "suggestion" against using magic, Precia's body might not be able to take another strain and she was only lucky to be alive after this long.

Speaking of the old woman; she sat in her cell for the most part. Even if she were allowed any visitors, she would've refused to see anyone; Fate especially; although the reasons now were not for contempt, but regret. The spell of regret was brought on by a memory with Alicia.

-Flashback: Appx 26+ years ago-
[Mid-Childa: Location unknown]
[Time: Unknown]
[No BGM]

The memory of the spring day was refreshed in Precia's mind. She remembered this quite well, it was the day she and Alicia had their picnic, and several days before the young girl's birthday. She could remember it all; the beautiful blue sky, the fields of grass in which they sat, and cute little Alicia's giggling when Precia gifted her that flower crown.

"Alicia" Precia remembered the particular question she asked her daughter, "Is there something you want for your birthday present?"

"Hmmm…" the young girl adopted a cute thinking pose, but only for a mere second or two before coming up with her answer, "I know! I want a sister!"

"Huh?" a slight blush of embarrassment graced Precia's cheeks.

"If I had a sister, I wouldn't be so lonely when you're out" Alicia must've put a lot of thought into it, because she had a few good reasons backing her, "And she'd be able to help you out a lot!"

"Well that's true, but…" Precia couldn't deny those facts, and despite the argument that could've been made; Alicia cut her off before it could be made.

"I want a sister!" Alicia had mad her final answer, "Promise me, mama!"

Stunned, Precia watched as her young daughter extended out the pinky of her right hand, only doing so because her left hand had a sandwich in it, and wanted to make her mama give pinky swear on the promise. Fresh out of arguments and unwilling to break her young daughter's heart, Precia completed the pinky swear.

-Flashback end—

"I've always been this way…" Precia let out a defeated and depressed sigh as she seated herself on her bed in the brig, "Never noticing things until it's too late to do anything about them."

"At least you're saying something today" Admiral Lindy said as she entered the brig; almost making it a ritual to visit the woman. She had the clearance anyway, so there wasn't anyone to stop her. She also had the civility to smuggle in two mugs of freshly brewed (and sweetened) tea.

"You've been silent up until today" Lindy noted as she poured tea for her prisoner, adding little cream and milk until it was to Precia's preference. Taking a little bit of a bolder risk, the young admiral tried to urge the older woman to share her thoughts, "Care to share your thoughts?"

"I'm a fool" The older of the women lamented simply, and took her cup as she was offered.

"At least you're honest" the younger offered, earning nothing but a half-hearted smirk for her efforts, "What are you so foolish about?"

"I never realized what I had in front of me until it was too late to matter." Precia lamented regretfully, "And it cost me two daughters"

"Alicia and Fate?" Lindy asked, despite knowing full well who the older woman was referring to.

"When Alicia disappeared after that accident, it was only then when I realized just how much I neglected to give her the love and care that a mother should have done." The old woman hung her head, overcome with such regret, "And now with Fate. I mistreated her so badly… and it's only now that I remembered a promise I made to Alicia"

"What promise?" Lindy was slightly intrigued, she hadn't thought about looking too far back into the older woman's life prior to the accident, but there was only so much that records could do.

"I once took Alicia out on a picnic during one of my days off from the lab." Precia reflected once again on that day, tears slowly building up from her eyes in emotion, "Her birthday was coming up and I asked her what kind of present she wanted. The words she said haunt me with regret."

"What'd she ask for?" the young admiral slowly put the pieces together in her head; wondering what kind of a promise did Precia make to Alicia that would've been related to Fate.

"A sister" the woman replied, "She wanted a little sister; that way she wouldn't feel alone and I could have someone to help me out with work; freeing up more time to spend with them."

"And you're thinking that instead of treating Fate like a failed experiment you could've seen her as a second daughter?" Lindy started to fill in the blanks, "Like the younger sister that Alicia wanted?"

"Yes!" Precia almost shouted, tears rolling down her face in sorrow, "And it was my obsession with Alicia that clouded my mind from that fact! But I was so stupid… So foolish… so… so…"

"Calm yourself" Lindy, having her own share of experiences with distraught mothers; formerly being one herself as well when her late husband was killed years ago, sought to help relieve the older woman, "And drink your tea… it won't get any warmer."

Precia inhaled a deep breath and let it out in a sigh and sipped her tea down. She repeated the process for a minute or two until her cup was empty. Her emotions were allowed to settle down and she took another deep breath.

"I wish I could say that you'll get a second chance with Fate, but I can't be so confident. You have a lot of criminal charges awaiting you on Mid-Childa" Lindy could offer little relief, "A majority of these crimes are also felonies."

"If my understanding of the Bureau is correct, they'll see Fate and her familiar as my accomplices." Precia added, "What options do they have?"

"We have a strong case of coercion. We could argue that Fate wasn't a willing participant in your crime." Lindy noted, "But they'll have to testify to that in court; and that will force her to relive the methods of your coercion."

"She'll do no such thing; I'm the one the Bureau wants; I will be willing to take the responsibility for all that I've done" the old woman's tone was adamant and strong, "I've already put her through enough pain as it is. It wouldn't be right to force her to relive it again."

"We're agreed there, but my hands are tied" Lindy absolutely hated to say these things, but they couldn't be denied, "We could get her a suspended sentence or community service, but unless something comes up in which we'd need her aid in…and that's unlikely to come up because we're in the lunar orbit of a non-administrated planet."

"What about that odd familiar?" Precia had a thought or two occur to her, "The one belonging to that local girl?"

"Sonic?" the younger woman was confused, wondering where Precia was heading by suggesting said familiar, "I don't follow…"

"Despite being a familiar, he is a unique sort; none like what I've seen before" the older woman decided to have a little bit of fun and play the part of the cryptic seer, "He certainly can spark a little curiosity, am I right?"

"I'll think about it" Lindy calmly said and stood up to take her leave, "Same time tomorrow?"

"Let me know how it turns out" Precia requested to the departing admiral, "It may be too late for me, but Fate deserves a kind family"

Lindy nodded to that and left the older woman's quarters in the brig, musing a little about Precia selling herself a little bit short along the way. Perhaps she had known of the unpredictable nature of the recently mentioned blue hedgehog, but there was no way she could've predicted Sonic waiting for her right outside of the brig.

"Eh~" the hedgehog coolly winked at the taller woman as he leaned against the wall, "What's up doctress?"

"Alright" Lindy sighed, figuring the blue hedgehog was eavesdropping on her conversation with Precia, "How much did you hear?"

"Enough" Sonic admitted non-committedly with a shrug, "Humans are weird"

"And south islanders are not?" Lindy countered with a small smirk

"Touché" another shrug, "At any rate, did I hear something about you needing a reason to stick around earth?"

"Yeah, that way I can argue to the detachment that's picking up Precia that I'll need Fate's help on an incident" Lindy nodded in confirmation, "And no, I can't just make that call on my own; I'll need something that would force my hand."

"How about an urban legend?" the blue hedgehog offered with a little bit of a confident smirk, "I think I know a thing or two that may catch your interest"

"I'm going to need something a little bit more concrete than a legend." Lindy noted, "Even if it is from your home island."

"Well I just so happen to know about a particular planet that appears over a certain lake in South Island one month out of every year" the blue hedgehog smirked a little, "But it'll disappear without a trace for the rest of the year."

"Does Nanoha-san know about these urban legends?" Lindy couldn't help but wonder if this blue familiar had kept some secrets from his master; considering her brief experience with Nanoha, that wasn't likely to end too well.

"Eh, I tell her about them all the time" the blue hedgehog shrugged, "At any rate, this one's a little bit overdue to appear again."

"That could be a start" Lindy thought out loud, "If you'll follow me to my office, we can talk more about it and I can see how I can spin it to the others of the Bureau."

Sonic did not lose that smirk on his face as he trailed the other woman down to her office. For the most part, Lindy found the attempted sinister vibe of the hedgehog to be a little bit on the cute side more than anything else. They would spend the rest of the day plotting.

[The next day]
[BGM: "Spiran Scenery" Final Fantasy X Remaster OST]

It was the day before the scheduled arrival of the ship to transport Precia to Mid-Childa to stand trial for her crimes. Fate was also slated to go as well, as she and Arf were accomplices, but there was no way that Lindy would, in good conscious, just let the young girl go through what could potentially be 6 months of court proceedings. The admiral was also just recently appointed by the Bureau to be the Fate's legal guardian, too; that was something she was going to inform Precia of later.

At the moment, she had decided to gather up the crew, including Sonic, Nanoha and Yuuno, and get a quick meeting to congratulate everyone on a job well done. The Jewel Seed incident, as far as any of the "action" was concerned, was dealt with and closed.

"There have been a great number of meritorious deeds involved with the conclusion of this incident." The woman stood up at her end of the long table and held a lone paper in her hand, "I'll have to summarize them for now, but I give them all my highest praise."

The admiral turned to face the aforementioned trio of kids and had to restrain herself from giggling in amusement. Nanoha was evidently nervous from the situation and that look she had on her face was cute in a humorous fashion. It was to more amusement that the aforementioned girl's familiar had an amused smirk on his face and a camera in his hand. Nevertheless, she glared the hedgehog into stowing said camera away, the fun time can wait.

"Takamachi Nanoha-san, Sonic the Hedgehog, Yuuno Scrya-kun" The woman calmly addressed the trio and presented Nanoha with a certificate of merit, "Thank you very much for your service."

Nanoha accepted the certificate with a bow. The resounding applause from the gathered crew had unnerved her, but she somehow kept her composure. Sonic, with that humorous camera incident aside, behaved himself. He could always wreak havoc another time after all.

[Mess Hall]
[No BGM]

It was around lunch time for Nanoha and Sonic. The blue hedgehog managed to finally get his master to cave and allow him to enjoy his trademark favorite food; the Chili Dog. The reason Nanoha had allowed him was quite simple; Sonic earned it. Since her family took him in, they had to modify Sonic's diet. While it may have seemed a little unreasonable at first, the positive results they got on his overall health did more than justify such action. Since then, they only allowed him to eat his favorite food if he earned it; this was one of such occasions.

As the two were eating lunch, Lindy had surprised them both with Fate and Arf. As the admiral quickly explained; Fate wanted to talk with Nanoha about something and Lindy was kind enough to direct them to the mess hall before she went elsewhere.

"Fate-chan…" Nanoha smiled sweetly at the golden-blonde girl and watched as she took the seat opposite her.

Arf, figuring that she should give the two girls some space, went behind Sonic's chair and urged him to follow her. Sonic offered no resistance and merely followed the wolf girl away from their respective masters. The girls were going to need their time on this one.

[BGM: "Suteki da ne? (Isn't it wonderful?)" Final Fantasy X OST]

When the two were alone, they spent the good part of a minute or two gazing into one another's eyes before they snapped out of it at the same time and shared a giggle. The two shared a smile and almost seemed content with staring at each other's friendly faces before someone could break the silence.

"It's a little weird. There was so much I want to talk to you about.." Nanoha spoke first, admitting the funny feelings she was having whenever she passed Fate during this brief time on the ship, "But when I see your face, I forget it all"

"I…" Fate, for her own credit, fumbled a word or two as well, but she shared that feeling, "You're right, I can't get the right words out, either.

"Still," the blonde admitted, "I was glad"

"Eh?" Nanoha gave Fate a cute, confused look

"You were so honest with me" Fate elaborated a little and with a soft voice, but she was clear.

"Yeah, I thought it'd be nice to be friends with you!" Nanoha nodded with the cheerful smile, but found herself frowning a little in thought, "But you're leaving tomorrow…"

"I guess…" Fate answered without much commitment, she honestly was a little bit unsure of that. From her understanding, as an accomplice, she'd have to accompany her mother to the Bureau for some trial of sorts, but her temporary legal guardian, Lindy, was rather ambiguous, "I could be gone for a long time…"

"But we'll see each other again" Nanoha, a little saddened, asked; almost desperately so, "right?"

"It's a little sad" Fate answered the girl's question with a small nod, "but I think this will let me start being the real me.

"I asked Lindy-san to take me to you so that I can give you my answer" the blonde girl continued and went on to talk about why she wanted to talk to Nanoha in the first place, "The words you said to me before… You said you wanted to be friends."

"Yeah, yeah!" Nanoha rapidly nodded; always eager to make a new friend, and was especially driven to make one of Fate.

"I wanted to tell you…" Fate started to give her reply, fumbling a little with her nerves along the way, "If I'm able to… if you'll have me… But I don't know what I'm supposed to do

"So I want you to teach me." This was all rather new for Fate, she hasn't really had the chance to make friends before, and her memories, jumbled and whatnot as they were couldn't help her here, "What do you have to do to become friends?"

Nanoha gazed into Fate's eyes for a moment. From her own perspective she could guess that the blonde was honest, if a bit shy and inexperienced in her approach of trying to be her friend. The brunette simply smiled, knowing that she could make this work.

"It's easy." Nanoha simply replied, earning a curious glance from Fate, "Being someone's friend is really simple."

Their eyes met again as Fate gazed at the girl across from her. This girl had done so much for Fate and was so honest with her, it really touched her heart.

"You say their name. That's all you need at first" Nanoha went further, her joyful expression almost contagious and her smile could melt the hearts of so many, "If you want to be my friend; all you have to do is look me right in the eye and say my name.

"I'm Takamachi Nanoha" the girl introduced herself fully, "Call me Nanoha."

"Nanoha…" Fate said the name once; hoping she could get used to saying the kind girl's name.

"Yep!" Nanoha almost bounced off her seat in joy, "That's right!"

"Nanoha." Fate said it again, only faster

"Hai!" the brunette could only seem to get happier and really just wanted to get up out of her chair.

"Nanoha!" For the first time in Fate's life, she blonde had a big smile of her own and she stood up

"Yes!" Nanoha stood up from her seat and clasped both of her hands around one of Fate's. Her warm palms contrasting with Fate's slightly cool one.

"Nanoha…" Fate, standing up as well, gazed into the purplish-blue eyes of her new friend.

"Yeah!" Nanoha nodded again, seemingly addicted to hearing that soft voice of Fate's call her name.

"You have warm hands" the blonde enjoyed the feeling of the warm palms on her hand.

At that moment, Nanoha began to cry, though not out of sadness, but of happiness. She was so overjoyed and emotional; she had to wipe the tears from her face. Fate helped her with a soft stroke of her hand, wiping off the fresh tears from her new friend's face.

"I think I understand something now." Fate admitted with her soft smile, "When you're friends with someone, you feel just as sad as they do."

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha closed her eyes and embraced Fate in a warm, emotional hug. She just couldn't stop herself anymore. Fate didn't mind it at all; in fact she returned the hug and pulled the girl's head close to her chest.

"Thank you, Nanoha" Fate said, "If we part tomorrow, I'll be sure to see you again, and when we do, can I call you by your name again?"

Nanoha's only replies were the nods of her head. She couldn't find the words to say and just allowed herself to be caught up in the embrace of her new friend. There were tears rolling down her face, but she didn't care. She finally made a new friend; a friend that she can connect to and cherish.

"When I want to see you again, I'll call your name" Fate declared, tears rolling down her face to at a rapid pace, but she cared little, she was far too happy. Her eyes met Nanoha's again as the other girl tilted her head upward to listen further, "So call for me too

"When you find yourself in trouble" Fate made her final promise, and it was one that she felt would be appropriate considering what Nanoha had done for her, "I'll be the one to save you next"

No words were exchanged as the girls seemed to just lose themselves in their embrace. It was truly a heartwarming sight, one that they won't forget as long as they live. It was the start of their friendship, and it looked to be one that will grow over time. Nanoha was glad that she finally had done something right and Fate was glad that she had a new friend of her own.

Meanwhile, the two familiars may have been out of the way of their masters during their heartwarming exchange, but they weren't out of earshot. They could feel their masters' feelings for each other.

"Y-your master.." Arf had to wipe the tears from her eyes, "Nanoha is a really sweet girl. Fate's smiling so much; I've never seen her as happy before as she is now."

"I could say the same thing about Nanoha" Sonic sniffled a little bit, his eyes watering in joy, "This is the happiest I've seen her in the short time that I've known her.."

"You're crying as much as I am" the wolf girl, though tearful and appearing that she would break down herself, tried to get her counterpart to admit how affected he was by the scene, "Aren't you?"

"N-no way!" Sonic tried to play it off as cool as he could; don't cry; don't cry; do not cry, "It's just my um.. allergies.. or the onions from my chili dog.. or.. or."

"You're a poor liar; come here, you little softie!" Arf couldn't take much more and eventually broke down herself, taking her counterpart rather forcefully into an embrace. While the embrace of Nanoha and Fate was cute and heartwarming, Sonic and Arf's was a little more humorous but still on the cute side given the situation.

From outside of the door to the mess hall, Lindy had watched and recorded the whole exchange. Sure she was affected, as she had to wipe the tears from her face with a handkerchief, but she was mature enough to keep her composure fluid and finally made her way to the brig. A certain prisoner/guest /suspect of hers would have to see this.

[Brig]
[No BGM]

"Precia…" Lindy once again greeted the woman as she entered the cell.

"Admiral.." the woman nodded in acknowledgement. She hadn't done much in the brief time since their past meeting. Then again there wasn't much to do with the exception of enjoying the food that was given to her.

"I think you'll be happy to know that Fate-san has made a new friend" the admiral went straight to her point, "It was quite a sight, really.."

"Was it the girl in white who tried to reach out to her?" the old woman asked, she didn't get Nanoha's name yet, so it was rather difficult to identify her.

"You guessed it" Lindy nodded in agreement, "Her name's Nanoha."

"Good… Fate will need all of the friends she can get" the old woman said, "And she'll be free to do as she wishes."

"You may think otherwise, but it's not too late" Lindy noted, trying to bring some optimism to the mother, "Fate's still young and I'm sure you can make amends with her if you try."

"She'll forgive me without a second thought" Precia noted that obvious fact, but her mood went sour quickly, "I don't deserve her kindness. I've put her through too much already."

"We'll see about that" the admiral said as she stood up to take her leave, "Oh, I wouldn't worry about Fate needing to go with you to Mid. I've got a few things planned out."

"Good, let's hope they work; I'm the one they want" the old woman's expression grew hard and serious, "I will not drag down Fate with me."

[The next day]
[No BGM]

The day had finally arrived; the day that the transport ship from the Time-Space Administration would come in and gather Precia, Fate and Arf. The ship must've arrived early, as the alarms rang out through the Asura at just a few minutes past 6 in the morning.

Within the next 10 minutes the majority of the crew was able to shower up, change and prepare for the arrival of their guests. Among those who woke up, Lindy had managed to dress up in her usual uniform that displayed her high rank and arranged for Nanoha, Yuuno and Sonic to be present on the bridge with Fate, Arf and Precia. The former two were standing at attention and not under binding while the latter, Precia, had sported a pair of handcuffs, if only for protocol.

The dispatch team that was sent to pick up the trio was led by a light-purple haired woman in glasses and wearing a probably Bureau issued uniform. For the most part, she appeared rather calm about it all and was rather polite as she entered the bridge.

"Admiral Lindy Harlaown, everyone" The woman addressed her teal-haired counterpart in admiralty, "I am Admiral Leti Lowran from the Personnel Department. I am here to ensure the safe transfer of Precia Testarossa and her accomplices and see to it that they are taken to Mid-Childa to await their trial."

"I understand that and we will be glad to transfer Precia Testarossa into your custody" Lindy acknowledged such declaration but had a small grin on her face as she addressed a few last minute details, "However, she will be the only one you take today."

"Will she, now?" Leti had long held respect for her counterpart and some of the clever tricks she could come up with on the fly, "I seem to recall you calling me earlier this week and saying that I'll be able to take all three in their custody. Am I to assume that something has changed?"

"You would be correct" Lindy nodded, "It has recently come to my attention that there could be the presence of more Lost Logias on this planet; and with a good portion of my deployment crew either injured or soon to be re-assigned; I'll need the assistance of Fate Testarossa and her familiar in dealing with them."

"EH?!" Nanoha, Fate, Sonic, Arf and Yuuno almost fell to the ground in surprise. They were rather confused.

"Have you located any of them?" Leti asked, taking no issue with the fact that Lindy was well within her rights at the moment, so long as her statements held some form of corroboration, "You know that we won't be able to operate just on your hunch alone."

"Last night I had my crew run a scan of the planet in search of them" the woman answered as she held up a display screen of the geographical map of the Earth, specifically Japan and South Island. Lindy gestured to a multitude of dots around the South Island area; their signal was fuzzy and didn't hold enough information to track.

"We found inconsistent readings from these points right here" the woman gestured to the inconsistently flashing dots, "And the other one was solid blip that you see here"

"What do they indicate?" Lowran queried.

"At some point within this past year, small dimensional disturbances occurred. The flashing blips are inconsistent due to what we could only guess to be natural disturbances" Lindy replied, gesturing to the 6 blips that seemed to come from all over South Island.

"What about the one that we can see clearly?" the other admiral would've been lying if she said this didn't intrigue her, but she still kept her tone professional.

"From what I've been told, there have been rumors round that area of a mysterious planet that appears over that area. When we checked, it wasn't there at this time, though a source has told me that it's been slightly overdue." Lindy explained that area rather clearly, "The problem is, no one knows much about how it works or anything for that matter; no one, including my source, has been able to get up there to check out themselves."

"Who's this source of yours?" the rather inevitable question from Lowran came; given what her counterpart was trying to argue, the last thing that she wanted was for her to come up just short.

"That would be me" Sonic stepped forward, much to everyone's surprise, "Sonic the Hedgehog"

"You're a familiar" Lowran noted that detail right away, "You'll have to understand if we can't take it for that much face value."

"True, but I was only just recently made a familiar as this whole incident thing started" the blue hedgehog was somewhat annoyed, but understood the reasoning behind the question, "I've seen this planet myself. It comes up over this lake on my island for a month and then it disappears for the rest of the year. I haven't been able to check it out because at the time I didn't have any way to fly up there and most of my travelling was done on the ground."

"It is my understanding that if this "planet" is somehow able to travel between dimensions" Lindy noted informatively and coherently for all to hear, "We could be dealing with a powerful Lost Logia. This type of artefact could garner unfriendly interest; and I think we should check it out to make sure it doesn't fall into the wrong hands."

"You are well aware of the risks your taking here, Harlaown" Leti levelled a stern look at her counterpart; guessing that the other reason for keeping Fate was to keep her away from a the drama of a trial. "If this girl does anything that compromises the Bureau in a negative light, you will be held responsible, and the girl will be brought back to Mid-Childa for her trial,"

"I am willing to take that chance" Lindy answered just as sternly.

"Then consider the request granted. You can keep Fate-san and her familiar here" Lowran answered quickly if only for the formalities. She knew how good of a mage her counterpart was, and also knew how driven she can be at times. Still the other admiral was more than willing to count her losses, not that they were significant.

"Precia Testarossa will be heading for Mid-Childa then. The legal proceedings shouldn't take too long and the testimony of Fate-san won't be needed with all of the evidence we've got already" Lowran noted and motioned for her mages to take Precia, "Thank you very much for your cooperation."

"Kaa-san!" Fate tried to get a word or two with her mother in before they were to part. The other mages seemed to be sympathetic enough to halt their advance to allow for the blonde to catch up.

"Fate…" Precia let out another sigh and knelt down to be at eye level with her artificial cloned daughter, "I am sorry, but you can't help me out here this time. Your kaa-san has to answer for the wicked that she's done.

"I don't think there's much hope for me" the woman noted, "But if fortune is on my side and my sentence is lenient, perhaps I can make amends with you. But right now, you have other friends to protect, do you not?"

"H-hai!" Fate could barely restrain the tears in her face as she nodded and clung to her new friend's side, "I'll protect her!"

Precia could only manage a small upward curve of her lips at the display. She then turned and allowed the other mages to escort her away; led by their admiral. The departure of the visitors was marked only by the noises of the alarms through the bridge, but even then it all went silent afterwards.

"Well…" Nanoha turned to face Fate, completely taken by surprise from the turn of events, "That was unexpected"

"It was.." Fate nodded, seemingly confused by it all, but at least she had resolved one issue, "Now I know I won't be leaving you anytime soon."

"Wow…" Sonic let out a huge, dramatic sigh of relief, "I had no idea it would work that well."

"Wait" Yuuno interjected, "You planned this?"

"He and I did a few nights ago" Lindy explained; her expression rather neutral, "As it turns out; our work here on this world is not finished just yet."

"What are we to be expecting?" Chrono asked, rather perplexed himself but still kept his professional cool.

"Apparently it's a small asteroid that appears over a specific lake in the islands where Sonic hails from" Lindy explained, "If this is true, then we best be prepared to check it out."

"What should we do before then?" Nanoha asked.

"For the moment we'll head down to the earth, Nanoha and Sonic might be missed by their family so it'll be for the best that we all go down there and let them know they're fine." the woman replied, "From there, we'll spend as much time as we can blending in with the locals, and preparing ourselves; but when this planet appears, we'll be ready"

"Fate-chan, we can use the time we have to get to know each other better" Nanoha cheerfully told her new friend.

"I can't wait.." Fate smiled softly in return.

"I'll be ready for anything that comes my way" Arf gave a fanged grin in excitement; she apparently had renewed vigor and excitement flowing through her and it felt good.

"Story of our lives huh…" Sonic chuckled a little at the irony he was about to point out, "The end of one adventure and the start of a new one."

[Ending: "Little Wish ~Lyrical Step]

[End of chapter 15]

Author's Notes: Only 7k words? That's a struggle.. XD.. just kidding. The episode this was based on had a lot of unnecessary stuff that I didn't really feel important enough to bring in.. Well. That's all on this arc folks! This doesn't mean the story's over however.. I wonder what urban legend Sonic's speaking of. For the Sonic fans, you probably already know what this is, but feel free to guess and review. And I don't care who anyone here is, the NanoFate friendship scene… it was just heartwarming to watch in the movie and anime.. I'm still full of tears and I'm WRITING this story… Anyways, review please! Let me know what you think.