She couldn’t stop gazing at the sky.

There was really nothing remarkable about it, that day. There was nothing in particular that made it stand out. And it wasn’t that she had just woken up to the realization that she might never see it again. In all honesty, she had already come to terms with that a long time past. And either way, that thought hadn’t rendered her unable to look away.

It was just…the color.

The color…of the sky.

A Ring of Colors

Fate Testarossa was lounging in her chair, drawing lazy circles on the surface of the desk, when Tsukimura Suzuka entered the classroom looking very much victorious. She held something in her hands and grinned when Fate arched a fine eyebrow inquisitively.

“Guess what this is.” She half-ordered, and dropped the little thing into the blonde’s palm.

She gazed at it speculatively. Its color, which had originally been a very dark blue, immediately transformed and became a mix between green and yellow. She looked up at Suzuka to find the girl frowning at the ring.

“It’s a mood ring.” Fate said simply, and offered it back.

But Suzuka continued to scowl at the tiny thing, which had done absolutely nothing to offend her. Fate instinctively held it closer to her chest.

“You have very contradictory emotions, Fate-chan.” The girl finally said, looking entirely displeased with her. “You’re calm, yet you’re stressed. What’s up with that?”

The blonde’s lips quirked.

“You actually believe that these work?”

Suzuka’s eyes widened. “Of course they do! When I put it on Nanoha-chan, it said she was in love! And guess what?” She smirked slightly as Fate frowned, “She admitted to it.”

“But…” She began to protest, and faltered.

But what? Honestly. Who was she to say when Nanoha was or wasn’t in love? Besides, the other girl was allowed to keep her secrets, no matter the fact that they usually told each other everything. It was normal, wasn’t it? So then why did she feel so…strange?

Suzuka gazed at her, seeming slightly confused.

“But what, Fate-chan?”

The girl sighed.

“Nothing.” She moved to give her friend the ring. “Here. Take it back.”

Suzuka’s eyes widened slightly at the colors. The edges had turned purple, and at first glance, it seemed as though the color was bleeding into the others.

“Fate-chan…” She trailed off uncertainly.

“Mm?”

The blonde’s gaze was gentle and imploring, and did not look sad at all. But the mood ring was…purple.

“Ah, nothing.” She said, and shook her head with a rueful smile. “Maybe these things don’t work after all.”

Fate smiled amusedly and proffered the ring once more. Her friend shook her head.

“Keep it a while.” And with a mysterious smile, she was off to find Arisa.

Fate watched her leave before silently twirling the ring around her fingers. It was a pretty little thing, with a beautiful violet color spreading across the last remaining areas. She smiled wryly and slipped it on before looking out the window to watch the sky.

The mood ring changed colors once again. It was light blue, with traces of amethyst.

XxX

“So, Fate-chan…” Nanoha drawled, smirking at her from above.

She was like a little devil come to torment her. She practically radiated mischief. Fate suppressed a smile and stared up at her from her spot flat against her bed. The girl was leaning over her, strands of loose hair tickling her face in different places every time she breathed. She was hyperaware of the heat emanating from the girls hands, which were pressed lightly against her shoulders.

The smile escaped her anyway and she brought up a hand to twirl brown tresses around her fingers.

“Yes?” She hummed, and grinned when Nanoha smiled wickedly.

“Your ring is light blue.” She said slyly, before leaning forward and reaching for the girl’s other hand. She inspected the ring and its different shades of blue before smiling brightly and looking down at her, eyes sparkling. “And dark blue. Do you know what that means?”

Fate’s lips quirked slightly.

“No, not really.” She admitted and tried to prop herself up, only to be stopped by a very warm hand. She was tugged back, and to her not so great surprise, she found herself resting on Nanoha’s lap. “Enlighten me?”

The brown haired girl’s eyes were strange, for a second. But then she smiled and brushed the hair out of her face, setting it behind her ears.

“It means you’re in love.” She said softly, her thumb tracing the underside of Fate’s wrist. “And that you’re happy.”

The blonde’s heart jumped to her throat. Because while her best friend was smiling mischievously, her eyes weren’t playful. They were entirely serious.

“So…who is it?”

Her throat dry for some inexplicable reason, Fate swallowed before answering,

“If I’m in love right now, then I’m not aware of it.”

“Ah…” Nanoha murmured, and looked up at the ceiling.

The soft curve of her neck. Beautiful skin.

Fate looked away.

“Well…” The sound of the girl’s voice drew her gaze toward her again and she saw that Nanoha was smiling lopsidedly. “When you figure out who it is, let me know.”

“Of course.” She said, and closed her eyes.

Something gently pressed against her lips. She blinked and gaped at the girl above her. The devil winked and pressed two fingers against her own lips.

“Indirect kiss, Fate-chan.” She grinned, and cackled as Fate huffed incredulously and squeezed her eyes shut against the tide of emotions that threatened to overwhelm her.

“Oh, your ring is orange! You’re embarrassed! How adorable!”

“Mou, Nanoha! Don’t look at me like that!”

“But you’re so cute, Fate-chan!”

“You’ve been spending too much time with Hayate-chan!”

XxX

Meanwhile, in the middle of a café, Yagami Hayate sneezed.

“Are you okay?” Vita asked her, after finishing her soda.

The brunette narrowed her eyebrows suspiciously.

“I think someone said my name in vain.”

XxX

Back at the Testarossa-Harlaown household, Fate had convinced Nanoha to move from the bed and into the living room. The girl was now sprawled across her couch, grimacing as she surfed through the channels.

“There’s nothing good on, Fate-chan.” She complained, before placing the remote back onto the coffee table.

“Movie?” The blonde suggested, rising from her spot at the brown haired girl’s feet.

But before she could take three steps, the brown haired child had risen from her seat and swept past her, fingers lightly brushing against Fate’s back as she moved. She watched as Nanoha leaned forward, her shirt riding up as she reached for a movie. Then, she twirled around and grinned at her, face slightly flushed as she held the case up. With one glance at the title, the blonde twitched and shook her head.

“No way.” She stated flatly, and tried to move past the other girl, who whined and got in her way.

“Why not, Fate-chan? It’s epic!”

Fate grimaced at the movie cover and stared at her incredulously.

“Nanoha, you’re asking me to watch that for the hundredth time.”

The girl’s eyes then proceeded to do that weird sparkly thing they always did when she wanted something. Unbeknownst to the both of them, Fate’s mood ring began to turn amber. A sign of exasperation.

“Please, Fate-chan…?” Her voice quivered.

She was like the little puppy Fate had supposedly kicked by the roadside.

“Someone help me…” She muttered, and let her forehead drop down to rest on the girl’s shoulder while her right hand gripped her waist. “We’ll do what you want…”

Nanoha seemed to stiffen slightly before her tense fingers trailed briefly through Fate’s hair. Then her head was lifted up by the chin and a kiss was planted directly on her cheek. She blushed slightly, and was met by the brunette’s adoring smile.

“Thanks, Fate-chan…” The girl murmured, and that somehow made watch the 300 for the hundredth time worth it.

XxX

“Suzuka-chan…ne, Suzuka-chan!”

“What is it, Arisa-chan?”

“…Shouldn’t we get going to Fate-chan’s house?”

“…Methinks we’re going to end up interrupting the awesome hotness of NanoFate.”

“…NanoFate? You gave them a name?”

“Isn’t it hot?”

“I think you’ve been hanging out with Hayate-chan too much.”

“…I think you’re right.”

XxX

Meanwhile, at the same café, Yagami Hayate sneezed again. Vita looked at her in concern.

“Are you sure you’re not getting a cold?”

Hayate twitched.

“Stop using my name in vain!”

The people inside the café stared at her. A young boy looked up at his mother.

“Why is that girl talking to herself?”

The woman patted his head.

“Don’t look at the crazy girl, sweetheart. Just ignore her.”

XxX

“Come on, Fate-chan!” She whined, “Do it!”

“…But…”

“Fate-chan, please! I need you to do it!”

“…Oh…fine…”

Fate cleared her throat.

“This is madness.” She intoned dryly, watching bemusedly as her quirky friend quickly shifted into her so-called 'acting mode'.

“Madness?” Nanoha asked quietly, and scowled furiously at her. It felt like the White Devil episode all over again. She expected what happened next.

“This…is…Sparta!” She roared.

But then she tackled her and that particular detail…caught her unaware. She yelped as they hit the thankfully carpeted floor, legs tangled together. "And in Sparta," The Devil continued, "We hug people before we kill them."

“Mou, Nanoha…” She halfheartedly protested.

She sighed and supressed a shiver as the girl hovered above her, a sheepish grin plastered on her face.

“Nyahaha…” She laughed and scratched the back of her head. “So, judging from your ring, which is red, by the way…You are either turned on or annoyed. So…since I value my life, I’m going to go hide in your room until you forgive me.”

And with those words said, Nanoha stuck out her tongue mischievously and untangled herself before rushing up the stairs and towards Fate’s room.

Which left the blonde very flustered and on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

XxX

It was nearing midnight when Arisa and Suzuka called to let them know that they weren’t coming. This, actually, didn’t really take them by surprise, but made them both a bit nervous for unsurprisingly similar reasons. And yet they somehow persevered until three o’clock, by which time they had somehow ended up curled close together, noses almost touching with hands laced together.

“You have such pretty eyes, Fate-chan…”

The girl gazed unblinkingly back at her, and somehow, Fate felt her world tilt, a little. Shift.

“Yours are the color of the sky…” She murmured unthinkingly, pressing a light kiss on the other’s palm.

And Nanoha’s cheeks filled with the prettiest color, the softest color, and her eyes were beautiful. Gentle and so very much in…

Fate wanted to kiss her.

“Who do you like, Fate-chan?” The girl’s voice wasn’t quiet anymore.

In fact, it wasn’t anything, anymore, and she had moved away. She was sitting up, now, with her back to Fate, and the blonde was left floundering for words.

And then she wasn’t.

“What about you, then?” She asked softly, and sat up as well.

“Eh?” Nanoha blinked in surprise and turned to face the beautiful girl, with the beautiful eyes, and the beautiful skin showing around the shirt that had somehow slipped off her shoulder. “…W-what are you talking about?”

“Who do you like?”

Her voice was intense, the purple edges in her ring returning full force, and it bled violet, scorching the color of Nanoha’s eyes.

“Who do you like, Nanoha?” She repeated, and leaned forward slightly, fingers clenching around the sheets of her bed. “Suzuka told me about when you wore the ring. So, who is it?”

She hadn’t meant for so much of her quiet desperation to show through in her voice.

“I…”

And maybe it was because she was tired of keeping it hidden. Maybe it was because Fate was too beautiful, in that moment, in that time. Maybe it was because her skin was showing, and she was so distracted by her lips.

But she said it.

“I like you.”

And it wasn’t the I love you she thought she would say. It wasn’t the powerful confession she had practiced so many times in her head.

But it was startingly honest. And it carried a lot of emotion.

“I like you, Fate-chan.”

And Fate’s eyes stung reflexively, which was all Nanoha needed to see to move closer. An apology was halfway out of her mouth when the blonde interrupted her with a wobbly and painfully smitten smile.

“I like you too.”

A/N: I was going for cute on this one, so. I hope I succeeded.

Anyway. Right. Been busy. Melody's update should be up sometime this weekend. Ugh. I'm in such a terrible mood right now. Bad day. But it makes me happy to know that people are actually reading my stuff. So thanks.

En. To you. 'Cause you asked for something remotely funny and fluffy. And to Laikaken. Person who will now be illustrating some scenes from oneshots. Happy days, right? I am happy about that. Really happy. Don't let my tone fool you. Okay?

Right. Later.