Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha Fan Fiction / Crossover With Non-anime Series Fan Fiction ❯ Pink, White, Devils, and Heros ❯ Beginnings ( Chapter 1 )

A nineteen year old brown-haired girl, Captain Nanoha Takamachi of the Time and Space Bureau (TSAB), tread carefully toward the location indicated in her mission profile. Her mission was to investigate the source of a temporal-dimensional disturbance. Narrowing down the source of the problem to this location was not easy, as it involved tracing the disturbance from a message sent from up-time.

Originally, the investigators thought that Lost Logia, the technological or magical remains of the lost civilization, Al Hazard, were involved, but there was no conclusive evidence found. The trace led to Nanoha's native dimension, so she was sent in to investigate. She was an S+ class mage and a Combat Instructor in the Air Combat Training Division, and was expected to be powerful enough to handle any opposition she would face. She was skilled in investigation, and was also famed for her offensive capabilities.

This was why she was sent in to reconnoiter alone. Investigations involving disruptions leading to temporal anomalies needed to be done most carefully, as any mistakes could lead to a greater disaster than the one being prevented. So it was required to have as few people disturb the situation as possible.

"Ah, where is this house? Raging Heart(1), are you sure we got the location correct," Nanoha said out loud as she looked around her.

"｢Yes Master it is,｣" replied a mechanical voice, "｢There seems to be a shield preventing access to the location.｣"

If one were to look closely, a round, red jewel perched upon the top of a staff that's main body was silver, a base that was a pink tinted steal, and a brass-colored mechanical apparatus holding the jewel at the apex. The jewel was suspended in a three-quarter circle shaped guard. The opening of the circle facing a downwards slope when the staff was held aloft. A portion of the guard had a small spike jutting outward from the top of the opening.

"Get me through the shield, Raging Heart."

"｢Yes, my master,｣" the jewel replied, "｢Interruption…｣"

A scintillation of colors in a half dome appeared before her as a building appeared through the revealed shield. Nanoha watched as a small arch, just larger than she opened in the dome.

"Thank you Raging Heart."

"｢Your are most welcome, Master｣."

The jewel, if one looked at it now, would seem to be preening despite it not having the physicality to do so. It flashed a few times, blushing, and then back to its seemingly inert state.

She approached the house, seeing that the door was left hanging open. Upon entering through a door, she had to detour around a dead body. It was of a man in his mid-to-late twenties with messy black hair. His expression was one of utter horror, his eyes staring blindly forward. He had a few scratches, that were likely picked up while defending himself, but he was otherwise unharmed. Next to the body there was what looked like a conductor's baton. The room was in shambles with the furniture scattered to make ad-hoc defensive positions, that ultimately did not save the man in front of her.

A child's cry broke the silence. It came from above her. Nanoha looked around for the stairs. She then ascended making sure to make no sounds. She was thankful that none of the boards creaked as she carefully moved up the stairs and through the upstairs hall.

At the end of the hall she saw a doorframe with its door off laying on the floor in front of it. She approached the room, and noticed that it was a nursery. The crying child was there, held in the arms of a corpse of a red-headed woman. Facing away from the door, a talk dark haired man held a baton similar to what she saw before and pointed at the child.

The black robed man stared at the child, he was speaking too quietly for Nanoha to hear, but the tone was one of triumph.

He finished his self-congraltutory muttering and lift his wand and pointed at the child. He took a deep breath and began to intone, "Avada…" just before Nanoha rushed into the room and yelled, "Stop!"

The man faltered in his speech and turned around, pointing his baton at the newcomer. He saw a girl, with her staff and her attire looking like the muggles he killed in a convention a week before, and dismissed her as being a threat. There was no way that a fruity, staff-totting, little girl would be able to beat him.

"Who dares to interfere with Lord Voldimort?" came the sibilant voice of the robed man, "Especially dressed as an insane muggle? You disgrace magic even more than your unclean blood."

Nanoha stared at the man, whose crimson eyes showed his total contempt of her. Holding her head up straight and staring directly into his eyes, she growled in a hard, cold voice, "I do not see where you get off calling me a disgrace. I do not go around and murder families in their homes. And you would do well not to insult my Raging Heart, the consequences would be… unpleasant."

"Avada Kedavra," the stick wielding man cursed. A green beam of light leapt from his wand toward Nanoha.

"｢Protection,｣" was heard from the device as the man's first syllable was uttered. Before he finished his incantation, an undulating shield appeared in front of Nanoha.

She expected this attack to bounce off or be absorbed. Instead, after a few seconds, it punched through. She was saved from being hit as it was refracted by the shield enough to miss her. The beam hit the floor and left a small hole with blackened edges.

She realized her precarious position and decided not to find out what getting hit would do to her. She decided on her usual course of action, raised her staff toward the man, and called out, "Raging Heart, Divine Buster."

The staff echoed her, "｢Divine Buster.｣"

Concentric circles filled with runes appeared in front and under her. The circles rotated against each other as the power built. In what seemed like a minute, but was in less than a second in actuality; the beam coalesced.

During the power buildup, Voldemort was barely able to cast a shield. It was made of metal rather than the usual wall or dome of protection. He held it in front of himself, bracing against the waiting spell. The beam hit the shield. Unlike Voldemort's spell, the Divine Buster was not impeded by the shield in the slightest. The thick, pink beam punched through the shield like it would through tissue paper.

Nanoha expected him to arise from the blast. Most of her enemies took more than just one Divine Buster to stop. Instead, all that remained was a pile of ash in front of gaping hole in the wall, from which she could see a specter of the man fleeing.

Nanoha checked on the infant and saw that he was not injured. She would have liked to pick him up, but her orders were to interfere as little as possible (even if she did already blow a hole in the side of a building, but for her, that counted as minimal interference). She needed to check in first to get authorization for any non-combat related actions.

"This is Captain Takamachi reporting," she telepathically sent to her superior Admiral Chrono Harlaown, "I found the site covered by an unknown type of shielding. Raging Heart was able to detect and allow me to enter, but the shield itself remains. Once inside, I found a house with its front door left ajar and proceeded to investigate.

"The house was a scene out of a battle field, with a dead body near the door. He was holding some sort of baton and he had died with a look of utter horror on his face. I heard a child's screams from above. Finding the stairs and determining that they were sound, I went to the upper story and quietly approached the room from which I heard the crying.

"As I entered the room, I saw a dead woman holding a young child, a toddler of no more than two years of age. There was a man standing over the child holding also holding a baton. He had it pointed at the child's forehead and started to intone a spell. From what I saw of the scene before, I decided to distract him before he could finish. Yelling 'Stop!' I caught him in mid-chant. He turned around to face me, seemingly taken aback by my Barrier Jacket and staff. He was a quite disturbed individual, speaking in the third person as he introduced himself as 'Lord Voldemort'.

"I did not even get a chance to do more than respond to his comments on Raging Heart before he cast the same spell he started to do at the child at me. The spell was 'Avada Kedava'. It produced a green beam of light that punched through my shield, though was luckily refracted by it away from me. It left a small scorched hole where it hit the floor.

"I determined that it would be best to return fire to subdue him now, rather than introduce myself. I sent back a low powered Divine Buster and it punched through his shield he raised as if it was not there. His shield was rather odd, in that it was an actual metal shield . He was hit dead-on with the spell, and to my surprise all that was left of him was a pile of ash and a hole in the wall behind him. The power level I used would normally only stun one of our trainees.

"Outside the window I could see a faint glowing form fleeing from the scene. I examined the child, who I can now determine is male, and that he is not hurt. I would like to request permission to take him back with me."

"Captain Takamachi," Admiral Chrono Harlaown began, "Take no further action yet. Remain on site under invisibility. If the local authorities do not arrive in one hour, then you have permission to return with the child. DO NOT hinder the local authorities. Report back when they have arrived."

"Understood, Takamachi out."

Nanoha concentrated for a moment and held out her hand. A scintillating circular array of symbols and shapes appeared before her and the four-pointed Mid Childan spell array below. After a few moments, both arrays and the woman disappeared.

It was well that she did cast her invisibility spell when she did, as no more than a minute later, a dark-haired, distraught man rushed into the room.

"Oh no, how could this have happened. I thought Peter would be the perfect choice," the man muttered.

He looked over at the toddler and picked him up. "I am sorry Harry, I thought Peter would keep you and your parents safe. I only hope I'll make a better godfather for you," he said softly to the child.

In a choked voice he said, "It my fault … James and Lilly…" trailing off in a muffled sob. He carefully brought the child out of the house, and Nanoha followed behind him, silent and invisible.

"Admiral, a man just arrived on scene and took the child outside. He was thinking out loud and identified himself as the child's godfather."

"Captain, follow the child till you can be sure of his placement. Do not be seen and do not interfere unless there is an emergency," came the Admiral's reply.

Nanoha followed the man outside of the house, when a literal giant of a man appeared. He was shaggy in hair and beard, with beady eyes. His eyes, though, were kind.

"'ello Sirius, I need 'ta take Harry 'ere to Dumbledore," he boomed out.

"Hagrid, I am his godfather, why would Dumbledore take him now, right after he lost his parents?"

"I am sorry Sirius, but 'e ordered me to take 'im," the giant man replied.

"Hagrid, alright. Dumbledore probably has his reasons, and he is usually right," Sirius paused and took a breath and continued in a forlorn voice, "You can use my bike, I doubt I will be needing it if what I fear is true."

Sirius carefully handed his bundle to Hagrid, who gently cradled the child.

Hagrid nodded to Sirius solemnly and mounted the bike, keeping a firm, but gentle hold on the child. As Hagrid took off, a cry of "Peter!" was heard from Sirius.

Sirius, having yelled, "Peter!" took a few calming breaths and then disappeared with a pop.

Nanoha asked, "Raging Heart, please?"

"｢Yes Master… Axel Finn,｣" the Intelligent Device replied as they were no longer with in hearing distance of the two men.

Two small wings of pink light shot out from Nanoha's shoes, and lifted her into the air. She followed the flying motorcycle while keeping out of sight. She tried not to think about the incongruity of seeing flying contraption in front of her as she kept the large man in sight. The flight lasted a few hours, but eventually Hagrid descended. The landing was made in a cookie-cutter suburb, every house identical. The large man landed in front of an odd pair, a man and woman who were in robes. The man's robes were lurid purple, visible even in this late hour of darkness. Which was surprising that it was so vivid, considering that the street lamps were out.

She witnessed the giant crying over the child, now known to her as Harry Potter, and the loss of his parents. She also noted the protests from the woman about the residents of the house, and the firm belief from the elder man, Dumbledore, that Harry needed to be here for his safety. Nanoha made a note to check up on Harry after hearing the reservations from the woman.

After Hagrid, and the woman left, the elder man placed the child in a basket, and left him on the porch of the house. He placed a note on top of him, and the man identified as Dumbledore left. As he departed, he pulled out some device that spat out balls of light, lighting the street lamps. That task finished, the man disappeared with a pop.

Nanoha did her own check of the child, and seeing nothing amiss that would allow her to take custody of the child, reported her findings to her superior.

"Admiral, the child was just left off at," she paused looking for a street sign, "four Privet Drive. The man, Hagrid, whom I followed here from the house, gave the child, Harry Potter, to a man who dresses in lurid purple robes. There was also an elder woman with him who's name I did not hear.

"Harry was placed in a basket with a note, and he was left on the door step of he house. The woman who was waiting here protested the child's placement, that the family here was unfit to raise Harry. The man in the purple robes, Dumbledore, insisted that the child would be safe here.

"I request that I be permitted to check up on the child at a later date to check up on the woman's concerns."

"Thank you Captain, please return back to the ship, your request is noted and I will make sure that it is approved," was the Admiral's reply.

It was not until the end of the Scaglietti affair, that Nanoha was able to check up on Harry Potter. She secured leave from Commander Hayate, though the Commander, upon hearing what Nanoha knew, made it an order to examine the condition Harry was in. She was required, however, to take Inspector Fate Harlaown along with her. This was ostensibly to keep her in check in the case that she finds that her fears of him having unfit guardians were true. Admiral Chrono volunteered to take the two on his ship the Arthra.

They arrived at Earth early on a Thursday. They spent the next few days researching the situation so that they would not be walking in blind. At last it was on Saturday that they were ready to do.

"Nanoha, Fate, be careful and please do not make a mess down there. We do not have the option to set up a barrier for this operation as they are not mages," Chrono advised the two.

"Ah… Don't worry so much Chrono, we'll be fine. You know me there won't be any thing to worry about," Nanoha tried to reassure him.

"That's what I am afraid of…" Chrono muttered in response, not reassured at all.

"Brother, I'll make sure that nothing out of line happens," was Fate's attempt to allay his fears.

Chrono sighed and said just with just a touch of fond exasperation, "Alright you two, get going before I change my mind on letting you go."

The two woman grinned and teleported to their destination.

Nanoha and Fate walked up to the house. They were, in Earth fashion, conservative dress. Through their research, they had determined that the house belonged to a Mr. Vernon Dursley. Since it was Saturday, for courtesy's sake they waited till the early afternoon for their visit. They knocked on the door and waited. A short while later the door was opened by a beefy, mustached man.

"What is it?" the man rasped.

"Hello, my name is Nanoha Takamachi and this is Fate Harlaown," Nanoha taking care to introduce herself and her companion. She made sure to use the local custom's name ordering. She continued, "We are here to check on Harry Potter, who was left here about six months ago after his parents' murder."

The man's face turned beat read and he bellowed, "Get out of her you freaks, I demand that you stay away!"

The two women began to have a feeling of dread. Fate attempted to salvage the situation, "Mr. Dursley, I do not understand why you accuse us of being freaks, but we are just here to check up on a boy's placement."

"I will not have you w-w-wand waving freaks in my house! You think that you own this world, HA! Well, you don't and we will not allow you to soil our house with your freakishness! Leave or I will call the Constabulary" Mr. Dursley ranted, his face turning puce.

The two women decided that the soft approach would not work, so they turned up the pressure. With a nod from Fate, Nanoha took over.

"Mr. Dursley, I do not know where you get the idea that we are 'wand waving freaks'," Nanoha began, "But I must insist that you let us in. It seems that I am forced to make this visit official rather than an informal one. Allow me to reintroduce myself and my partner. I am Captain Nanoha of the Time-Space Administration Bureau and this is Investigator Fate also of the same. If you do not admit us, we have been authorized to use force. Now, will you admit us?" Nanoha asked in a light friendly voice and with a friendly smile that just made his blood run cold.

Unfortunately, Mr. Dursley was stubborn. He ignored the veiled menace in Nanoha's tone, so he continued to try to stonewall the two, secure in the knowledge that they cannot, and would not, do anything to him. To his surprise, Nanoha held out her hand, and in a flash of light, a long staff appeared, topped with a red sphere. Nanoha then spoke two words, in staccato with the icy feeling of death coating each one, "Divine… Shooter…"

A cheerful, yet monotone, woman's voice coming from the orb said, "｢Divine Shooter.｣"

Around Nanoha, small pink globes appeared. They hung menacingly, far more menacingly that anything that was pink had the right to be. After taking a deep calming breath, Nanoha said one more word, "Shoot."

The pink balls flew at the Dursley household. One was on course to directly hit the obese, mustached man. Two more aimed at the door frame to either side of him, and one last one was aimed at the ground just in front him.

The pink ball aimed at the man hit, and unlike what happened with Voldemort, this one was powered specifically not to kill, or maim, the man in front of her. Instead, it produced concussive force only powerful enough to break a few of his ribs. This combined with the blast hitting the ground at his feet, had him flying from her path. The two remaining blasts widened the entry to the house to make the point that resistance was futile.

Nanoha and Fate entered the house, nonchalantly as if there they did not just blow a giant hole in the front of the house, or caused the whimpering pile of singed flesh. At this time a woman arrived at the scene, she was thin, boney, and had a neck that resembled a giraffe's. She also had an outraged expression as she went to confront the intruders.

"Freaks! Get the hell out of here! He promised that you would leave us alone!" shrieked the lady, "Do not come one step further, I have called the Constabulary and they will be here shortly!"

The woman finished her tirade with a tone that was almost smug, but she still looked unnerved at the intrusion. Fate, unfailingly polite, even in situations such as this, introduced themselves once more, "I am Inspector Fate Harlaown and this is Captain Nanoha Takamachi of the Time-Space Administration Bureau. We are here to inspect the living conditions of the child Harry Potter, who was given into your care six months ago."

Mrs. Dursley paled, she did not expect any officials to come and check up on her. Her shock at the situation kept her from questioning what the authority or the existence the Time-Space Administration Bureau had, or what that Bureau was. Trying to look unaffected, Mrs. Dursley held her ground, only having a slight tick that indicated she had something to hide. Her nervous reaction indicated that there would be something to find in the direction of a cupboard that laid beneath the stairs, where coincidentally, the sounds of soft crying were heard from.

Nanoha brushed past the female Dursley, and opened the cupboard. Inside was a ratty blanket, atop of which laid an emaciated toddler. Nanoha, trying to contain her rage at what was done to the child, lifted him out of the cupboard. To her dismay, he flinched away at her touch, as if expecting a blow. Fate also saw this, and her face grew thunderous. If Fate was to name the things that angered her the most, child abuse would be near the top of the list. She held her hand out and said softly, "Bardiche." A golden flash later, and in her hand appeared a black pole arm. The yellow sphere embedded in its head spoke in a male voice, "｢Sir!｣"

The pole arm's blade was a knife composed of glowing yellow energy. She took her staff and held its glowing blade against Mrs. Dursley's throat. In a voice thick with barely restrained menace, she commanded, "You will release Harry into our custody. You are lucky that we do not have orders to arrest you, or I would take pleasure in doing so."

Mrs. Dursley nodded slowly. Nanoha took Harry outside and waited for Fate to join her. Fate removed the blade from the woman's neck. The woman sighed in relief, only to fall to the floor as the butt of the staff smashed the bones in her arm. Fate, satisfied for the moment with her administered punishment, joined Nanoha. Nanoha looked like she would be tempted to release a Divine Buster to level the house, but showed remarkable self-restraint. The two woman and the child they held, wavered for a moment like a heat mirage and then, disappeared.

Aboard the ship Arthra, Admiral Chrono, in his formal capacity, debriefed the two women. "Tell me, why did you take the child?" asked the admiral.

Fate answered, "He was found, laying in a cupboard on a ratty blanket. He showed signs of abuse, and extreme malnourishment."

Nanoha was holding the toddler and trying to have him drink some juice she procured. After his long starvation, it would not be safe to feed him too much, too quickly. So she attempted to have him drink some juice to get some calories into him. After the meeting with the admiral, she planned to take him directly to the medical bay.

Chrono took on a hard look as he considered what Fate told him. He sighed and indicated that he agreed with her actions. "Take him to the medical bay and have him checked out. Once we reach Mid-Childa, it will be determined what will be done with him. With him being at the center of the trace, he will need to be monitored."

Nanoha, having recently adopted Vivio, and knowing that the chances of having a biological child with Fate, was enamored with the idea of bringing home a brother for Vivio and enlarging her small family. So with this decided she asked Chrono, "I would like to adopt him. Vivio is happy with us, but she could use a brother or sister near her age to bond with."

Chrono looked at Nanoha, and then responded carefully, "I will see if I can do that, Nanoha, but for now you need to take him to the medical bay."

Nanoha, who was still carrying Harry, and Fate headed to the medical bay. At their arrival, the doctor on duty, to their surprise, was Shamal. They did not expect the medical officer from Mobile Section 6 to have followed them. Fate asked, "Shamal, it is good to see you, but how did you get assigned here?"

Shamal smiled and replied, "When I heard the mission profile, that you two were checking up on a child Nanoha rescued, and knowing Nanoha, decided that I should come along as I most likely be needed. As you can see, I am, and so I will take care of the child." She then asked, "What is his name?"

Nanoha told her, "His name is Harry Potter. We found him abused and malnourished inside a cupboard."

Shamal frowned at this, then asked carefully, "The family that was responsible… are they still alive?"

Nanoha, knowing that she had earned the nickname of the "White Devil," took the question in stride. "They may be a bit injured, but neither I nor Fate killed or maimed them."

She then muttered, "No matter how much we may have wanted to."

Staring into space, Nanoha imagined what she would have liked to have seen done to the Dursleys.

The two heads of the Dursley family were lain out on their lawn. Mrs. Dursley had all of the bones of her extremities broken. Mr. Dursley was bald due to having his hair burnt off. His mustache was in patches, having portions forcibly removed. Both were smoking from the blasts that Nanoha and Fate had so graciously provided them. Standing next to the two was Vita in her red barrier jacket, she held her armored device, Graf Eisen, in its enlarged form, an enormous sledge hammer at the ready.

In two splashes, the heads of Mr. and Mrs. Dursley were splattered across the lawn as would a ripe melon. Their heads burst from the contact with Vita's hammer. With Vita's task done, Nanoha powers up her Starlight Breaker, using cartridges for power as there was not enough ambient magic. She points her staff at the former home of the Dursleys and calls out, "Starlight breaker, SHOOT!"

"｢Starlight Breaker… In 3. 2. 1,｣" came from her device. At the end of the countdown, a pink blast of annihilation left a crater where the Dursleys' house and yard once existed.

"Na…No…Ha!" came the almost shout from Fate, who had been attempting to get her attention.

"Um, yes Fate?" Nanoha replied, with a wide-eyed, innocent look.

"I have been trying to get your attention for a while now. Shamal finished examining Harry. He will be fine, but it will take a few years for a full recovery. His Linker Core is surprisingly powerful for his age, it was lucky that it did not get damaged with the amount of malnutrition that he suffered from," Fate explained, "Now what were you thinking about while I was trying to get your attention?"

Nanoha shrugged and responded with an truly evil grin, "I was imagining what I would like to have happen to the Dursleys."

In the halls of Mobile Section Six's head quarters, the trio of Fate, Nanoha, and Harry, made their way to the commanding officer, Hayate Yagami's office. They had just arrived from the Arthra, and after procuring some new clothing for Harry, Nanoha and Fate went to check in with their friend and commanding officer, Hayate Yagami. She was a brown haired woman who was sitting behind her desk with a number of glowing screens floating around her. A miniature replication of the desk rested on a couch that was set alongside one wall. Sitting at that desk was a miniature girl, no taller than six inches who had light, blue-gray hair and was dressed in a tan, two-tone suit that was the Section's standard uniform. The small figure was named Rein, which was the shortened form of Reinforce Zwei which translates to Reinforce II.

Nanoha politely knocked on the door frame, causing Hayate and Rein to look up.

She floated over the group, and looked over the child that Nanoha carried. "Hello, desu," Rein perkily welcomed them.

Rein was created as the new avatar of the Book of Twilight and was a Unison Device. The Unison Devices were created by Mid-Childa's rival civilization Belka. They formed a deep bond between the user and device as they worked their magic together. They have an AI greater than the Intelligent Devices and could be considered people in their own right. The Intelligent Devices were no more than intelligent, magical computers that ran spells as programs.

Hayate stood up and greeted her friends, "Hello Fate. Hello Nanoha. I see you brought Harry. I read the report you sent from the Arthra on the situation, and I see no problem with him being adopted into your family with Vivio. I think having a younger brother will be good for her and the two of you good for him."

"Hello Hayate," Fate replied, smiling at her long-time friend.

"Hi Hayate," Nanoha answered with a bright grin.

Hayate walked over and gently lifted Harry out of Nanoha's hands. She smiled at the small form as he looked up at her sleepily, snuggling into her arms. Hayate smiled softly as she examined him. Holding out a finger, she was rewarded by Harry grabbing it in his tiny fist.

Rein joined the group floated over Hayate's shoulder and peered at Harry with her deep-blue eyes . Harry saw the flying girl, and he let go of Hayate's finger. He then reached out his stubby arms toward the floating girl. Rein carefully floated closer to him and grabbed on of his fingers. Harry giggled and smiled.

Nanoha and Fate looked on fondly as they watched Hayate and Rein interact with Harry. They both remembered Hayate's lonely childhood. One that was worsened due to Hayate's paralysis, caused by the corrupted form of her device. That device was once known as The Book of Darkness, but now as Reinforce.

Hayate handed Harry back to Nanoha as Rein floated back. Hayate smiled at her childhood friends and remarked, "He's cute."

She shifted her demeanor into a formal one, and said, "I'll let you get him settled in. When you two get the chance, I would like a full verbal report."

The two partners, both matching her formality, nodded and replied in unison, "Yes Commander."

Nanoha and Fate walked back to their quarters companionably, each occupied in their own thoughts. Nanoha was concentrating on making sure that Harry stayed comfortable as he watched the goings on with bright eyes, and Fate on the upcoming introduction between their charges.

They reached their quarters and opened the door. A young girl, near the age of six, ran out to greet them. She had blond hair, similar in shade to Fate's, and had one eye that was green and one that was red. "Fate-mama! Nanoha-mama," she chirped. She paused her face scrunched up, noticing Harry, "Who that?".

"Hello Vivio, This is your new brother. His name is Harry," Nanoha answered the young girl.

Nanoha knelt down as Vivio broke out in a large grin. Vivio walked up to the toddler and said, "Hi Harry. I am Vivio."

The four headed inside their quarters and sat down on the green couch. The couch ran against the left-hand wall from the entry, and the wall was one large glass window slanted inward, providing a tremendous view. The room was split into two levels. The lower level contained the entrance, the couch and a long, low table that stretched the length of the couch. The floor was tiled in large dark brown square tiles that were polished to almost mirror brightness.

The second level of the room was built on a raised platform that took up three-quarters of the room. It was carpeted in the same color as the lower level's tiles and bordered with a brass railing. The raised floor was nearly taken up by a large bed that aside from a shelf that was against the far wall. The raised area also contained a potted evergreen placed near the tail-end of the bed. The bed was large enough to comfortably fit four adults, and at its head, hung on the wall, there was a cork board with pictures of Nanoha, Fate, Vivio, and their friends. The bed was made up with white sheets with only the center pillow having diagonal red stripes to break the monotony.

Nanoha seated Harry in between herself and Vivio, with Fate sitting on Vivio's other side. Vivio gave Harry a quick hug, and then pulled out some blocks to play with. Vivio showed him how to stack them so that they would not fall, but Harry was still too uncoordinated to do this too well. Vivio was patient with him, and Harry burbled in happiness. Vivo gave Harry a broken commentary on what she was trying to build.

The two mothers looked on fondly at them. They enjoyed watching their two charges have fun together. Nanoha and Fate were quite glad that Harry and Vivio took to each other. If they had not, then things would have been awkward. The two parents looked into each others eyes, and smiled at the turn of events, when they heard the two children giggle louder. They looked down and over at the two, and saw them watching their blocks float about. Vivio was clapping, as she watched as Harry waved his stubby arms around and the blocks followed his motions.

"Fate, it looks like Harry has some talent with magic, though I have never heard of such a young child using it like this," Nanoha telepathically communicated to Fate.

"Nanoha, I think we should get him a device made up to keep his magic under control. While he is just playing with his blocks now, in the future he could get into something that would be more disastrous," Fate replied in the same fashion.

Nanoha got up to call Shari, the engineer for Mobile Section Six. Fate stayed and kept watch over the two playing children. She noticed that Harry often looked at Fate, searching her for disapproval. This worried her as it demonstrated how insecure he was made by the treatment at the hand of the Dursleys. She reaffirmed to herself, her goal to heal the hurts done to Harry.

Harry looked at Fate, seemingly expecting to be punished because of what he did with the blocks and was surprised that this did not happen. For as long as he could remember, the Dursleys would have screamed and yelled, then threw him into his cupboard. He was too young to realize has atypical this reaction was.

He was having a great time, playing with the blocks with the nice older girl. She gave him hugs and was excited by the flying blocks. This was much better than what he could remember happening before. He did notice that the other woman was talking to a floating, glowing square with a face in it. Deciding that it was not important, he went back to concentrate on making the blocks fly around.

Nanoha had opened a connection to Shari. The floating panel laid in front of her showing Shari's face. She was a young, blond woman, who wore glasses and exuded her vocation as a techno-geek.

"Hello Shari," Nanoha called out to her informally, as she did with all of her subordinates, "Did you hear about the boy Fate and I rescued?"

"Hello Nanoha," she greeted her caller with a smile, "Yes, I heard about Harry. Some people collect pets, you on the other hand seem to collect children," Shari teased.

Nanoha rolled her eyes at this, and began to explain her reason for calling, "Shari, I have another reason to call you, aside from spreading the news about Harry. We need you to make a device for Harry. He already has some control over his magic, but he is not old enough to understand all the implications of what he does. He is making his toys float around while playing with Vivio. We need some way to contain or restrain his magic, so that we can keep him out of trouble. I had Raging Heart scan Harry's magic, and I will transmit the data you will need to create a device."

Shari smiled and became serious switching to her professional mode and said, "Ok Nanoha, send me the data."

"Raging Heart?" Nanoha asked.

"｢Yes, Master… Transmitting…,｣" came from the red crystal hanging off a chain on Nanoha's neck.

A few moments later Shari nodded at Nanoha and said, "Ok Nanoha, I received the data. I should have a device for you in a few days."

"Thanks Shari. With the Relic case done, we should have enough down time for a mage to be available to keep an eye on Harry while I train the Forwards," Nanoha said relieved.

The window shrunk in upon itself and Nanoha headed back to where Fate had joined in with Vivio's and Harry's playing. Fate had gotten into the game by using mini-yellow bolts to shoot at the blocks sending them careening off course. Fate had a small band of runs, a simple spell array, circling her forefinger and another just in front of her finger to guide the magic. Both Harry and Vivio had found this hilarious. Their giggles were infectious, and by the time Nanoha got back to her seat, she was smiling broadly. Nanoha decided to join in, and formed a few pink balls of magic over her outstretched palm. She sent them to guarding the blocks, blocking the yellow rays.

Vivio decided to try her hand at the magical component of the game. She held up her hand, and a small three sided Belkan array appeared. She pulled the memories she had of when she was linked to the Saints system into the forefront of her mind. She tried to focus her energy in the same way as she had back then. Unfortunately, without a device to help control her magic, made her inexperience evident. Instead of producing a small weak energy ball to join in the aerial battle, she produced a large ball the blasted everything out of the air. The shock wave buffeted the foursome, creating a wind that blew back their hair.

Harry decided that he liked explosions, since he was not hurt by this one, he enjoyed it even more than the previous game. He crawled onto Vivio's lap, snuggling into her in thanks, but Fate and Nanoha did not quite agree with Harry. They saw the mess that the blast made, the block were scattered all over the floor, and they were not too enthusiastic on cleaning up the mess.

"It looks like we'll need to get Vivio a device too, since she likes to emulate us… well, we won't be getting her to stop making explosions any time soon," sighed Fate.

Nanoha was trying to decide if she was impressed or distressed by this. As much as she enjoyed her own use of large scale magics which tended to cause massive amounts of property damage; she did not want it to be her property that was damaged.

"Ah Fate, I'll let Shari know," Nanoha sighed as she opened up a screen to the lab once again. The viewer appeared before Nanoha with Shari on screen.

"Yes Nanoha, Is there a problem?" Shari asked with a quizzical look on her face.

"Shari, it looks like we need a device made to manage Vivio's magic too. She decided to blast her blocks around the room, and that places her into the same boat as Harry," Nanoha explained.

Shari tried to hold in a snicker, "Ok Nanoha, I have the data for Vivio's magic, so I will be able to get both devices done together. Keep a good eye on your children till then. I would hate to have to explain to our Commander why we need to rebuild the base."

Nanoha stifled a groan and sighed "Shari, I'll see you later. Thanks for getting the devices together so quickly."

Shari winked, "I am just making sure that our headquarters will remain in good shape."

With that salvo, the screen winked out of existence before Nanoha could rebut. Fate looked at the scene with faint amusement. To the casual observer she would seem completely placid, but to someone who knew her well, the expression was obvious.

"Mou… Not you too… Fate," Nanoha said just shy of a whine.

Fate convulsed for a moment, it happened so quickly that it could almost be written off as imagined, but Nanoha saw it for what it was, stifled laughter. Nanoha restrained her own response, not wanting to set a bad example in front of the children. She settled for giving Fate a look that promised retribution, when she least expected it.

"Nanoha, why don't we get Vivio and Harry ready for dinner," Fate said to distract Nanoha.

"Ah… Fate, I'll take Vivio to get cleaned up. Please take care of Harry for me?" Nanoha replied blandly, not distracted in the least.

"Ok Nanoha, I'll meet you in the cafeteria."

Fate picked Harry up, who was mussed from the recent blast. She took him to the wash room and wet his hair trying to give it some semblance of order. Harry squirmed a bit, but otherwise was content to let Fate clean up the results of his playing with Vivio. She changed his clothes and put him into a two-tone, stain resistant, blue outfit. Picking him up, she carried him to the cafeteria.

On the way, Fate and Harry ran into Rein, literally. Rein was floating along, and neither she nor Fate were paying close enough attention to their surroundings. Rein collided into Harry's stomach, which Harry barely felt since Rein was so light, but Rein could not say the same.

"Ouch," Rein groused.

"Sorry Rein, I wasn't watching where I was going," Fate apologized softly.

"Eh, I wasn't either," Rein responded sheepishly.

Harry noticed Rein, and held out his hand toward her. She decided to grab on one of his fingers again, while he smiled brightly.

Harry's magical outbursts coincide with strong emotions, either positive or negative. His happiness let loose another burst of magic, turning Rein's hair purple. Fate noticed this immediately and had difficult stopping herself from laughing. Rein noticed Fate's aborted giggles, and asked "What happened?"

Fate just keep quiet as they entered the cafeteria.

Hayate was already at a table, and she looked up as the three entered, and she could not help the burst of laughter at Rein's new look. Through her giggles she managed to explain what was so funny. Rein just pouted, and tried to stare Hayate down.

Unfortunately for her, she was cute rather than scary. Around the time that Hayate had calmed down from the spectacle, Rein's hair had returned to its natural blueish-white shade, and Hayate pointed this out to the small girl. Rein calmed down after this but was still a little put out.

"Fate, you will need to find some way to keep Harry's magic under control," Hayate said, "It isn't safe for us or for him to let this be."

Nanoha, who had arrived while Hayate was speaking said, "We already have Shari working on devices for Harry and Vivio."

Hayate smiled at Nanoha and said, "Wonderful Nanoha, but why does Vivio need one too?"

"She was also using her magic and had a small loss of control."

Fate almost snorted since she could imagine what Hayate would think of that statement. Nanoha was always understating her own level of devastation and would likely conclude that the base was still here only by luck.

In fact that did reach nearly to what Hayate was thinking, she went pale faced and looked to Fate for confirmations.

"They only managed to make a small mess and ruffle our clothes and hair. Nothing too hard to fix Hayate. Don't worry," was Fate's reassurance.

The Forward team took this time to enter the cafeteria. The Forwards noticed the new child that was sitting in Nanoha's lap. After they sat down and joined their superiors for the meal, Subaru, the ever jubilant blue-haired teenager was the first to ask, "Nanoha, who's the new kid?"

Nanoha smiled at the girl, who had idolized her since she had rescued her as a small child. Nanoha told Subaru, "This is Harry. Fate and I rescued him on our last mission. He was orphaned before the Scaglietti affair, but I was ordered to let the local authorities handle it. I was allowed to check up on him, and I found that he was not being treated well. So Fate and I removed him from his Aunt and Uncle's house."

Subconsciously, Nanoha face turned into a demonic leer as she remembered what she saw.

Subaru had to force herself not to flinch at the evil look Nanoha was sporting.

'The child's previous guardians must have done something truly awful to set her off like this,' she thought, 'Nanoha doesn't usually hold a grudge like this. For her to still be this angry those people must have done something truly horrible.'

Fate saw a familiar look from Subaru, something that was quite similar to one she had seen on Nanoha's face many times. She knew from Nanoha quite well what this would mean, and decided to head this off before an inter-dimensional incident happened.

"Subaru, we will not be going back to Harry's former guardians," Fate said.

Nanoha's evil look intensified, and if one were to listen closely enough to her, you would have almost heard Nanoha say, "That is what you think."

With that done, the group ate and chatted in a comfortable atmosphere. The Forwards and their commanders had formed a tight-nit group, especially after the recent events. Erio and Caro helped Fate and Nanoha by feeding Harry and making sure that Vivio ate. The two youngest of the Forwards team were also formally Fate's charges, and they wanted to help out however they could. This was a great relief to the growing Takamachi family.

The four youngest, Erio, Caro, Vivio, and Harry finished their meals long before the rest. Erio and Caro got the go-ahead to take Vivio and Harry to another table. Since Erio and Caro met, they have had a rapport that has allowed them to understand each other without any overtly visible form of communication. Vivio and Harry, strangely enough, were also able to do so. It was a very erie sight on how the four of them were so quiet while playing with some blocks that Vivio had with her.

Erio and Caro suddenly looked on attentively as Harry showed his new friends the game that Vivio and himself had played earlier. The blocks floated off the table, and started to fly about in the air. The elder two were impressed. They were even more impressed when Vivio raised her hand and let loose a small bolt of power to chase after the blocks. This time, Vivio managed to control her powers enough that her spell did not explode. Her control was not as smooth as Harry's was with the blocks, but he had been playing with moving the blocks using magic for a longer time.

Picking up on the difficulty Vivio was having, Erio silently directed Vivio to cancel her spell. Through their strange rapport, Erio managed to have Vivio understand how dangerous uncontrolled magic was, and how she should not play with it. She still smiled at Erio, knowing that he was impressed by what she was able to do and did not mind the rebuke. Harry also understood and set the blocks down back onto the table.

Erio and Caro stood up. Erio mussed Vivio's and Harry's hair, and then Caro hugged each of them. As the two Forwards stood, Nanoha and Fate arrived to take Vivio and Harry back to their room.

(1): Raging Heart has been referred to as Raising Heart, but according to the English Dub of MGLN the cannon name is Raging Heart.