A/N: You know how Nanoha's always called the White Devil? Yeah, it's about time Fate-chan gets a nickname too :P So here you have:

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Fate-chan's Nickname

- Enraptured

xxx

"You need a nickname."

Enforcer Fate Testarossa Harlaown looked up from her burger when her best friend (a.k.a. the White Devil) slammed her tray down onto the table. Nanoha had a weird gleam in her eyes, and was currently ignoring the fact that she had just spilled some of her juice with the unnecessarily violent action.

It was a very normal day at the very normal canteen which served very mediocre food, but Enforcer Harlaown had a sudden very nasty feeling that all that peace and calm was about to be shattered very quickly.

Amused burgundy eyes turned to look at the brunette, who had pulled up a chair and sat herself down opposite Fate.

"You need a nickname!" Nanoha repeated, even more enthusiastically this time, if possible. She seemed to glow with unconcealed excitement, and Fate became suddenly wary.

"But Nanoha, I don't want a nickname…" Fate began carefully.

"Nonsense!" Nanoha interrupted, waving a hand impatiently. "I say you need a nickname and that's final."

"… …" Fate blinked once in speechlessness, twice when Nanoha's hand sailed dangerously close to her nose, and decided that she would save herself a lot of trouble by not protesting, because even if she argued, she knew she would lose anyway. Up to now, she had never, ever won an argument against the Ace of Aces.

"Let's think of a good one for you, then," Nanoha chewed her inner cheek thoughtfully, with an expression that Fate had long classified as a mix between "Deep in Thought" and "Way Too Cute".

The blonde decided to go back to her food, and started picking at her (what-she-secretly-suspected-was-rotten) lettuce. She plastered a look of polite interest on her face and waited for the brunette for continue.

"How about, the Black Devil!?" Nanoha proclaimed, slamming her fist onto the table and spilling more juice in her excitement. "How cool would that be?"

Fate was honestly quite terrified by the maniacal gleam in her girlfriend's eyes, and frankly, she thought that the Black Devil didn't sound remotely "cool" at all. Of course, she smartly decided that she didn't want to die so young, and kept her mouth shut.

"We'd be a pair! The White Devil and the Black Devil!" Nanoha crowed happily, attracting many weird glances in their direction.

"Mmm," Fate mumbled noncommittally, hurriedly shoving lettuce into her mouth so she didn't have to reply. She kept her head down, avoiding the stares and praying fervently that this conversation would be over soon. As much as she loved her girlfriend, she had noticed Nanoha's capacity to potentially embarrass her in public, something that Fate did not appreciate much.

"Or maybe the Black Angel," Nanoha continued, ignoring Fate's lack of enthusiasm. "The White Devil and the Black Angel, it has a nice ring to it, doesn't it!"

"If you say so," Fate muttered, now blushing at the number of stares they were getting.

"Yes, Black Angel makes much more sense, now that I think of it," Nanoha continued her soliloquy, since Fate wasn't participating much in the conversation anyway. "Since I'm more devious –

(Fate snorted; at least Nanoha knew that she was er… devious)

- and you're more angelic!"

(Fate snorted again. Angelic, indeed.)

"And, you remind me of a fallen angel!" Nanoha finished triumphantly. "You know, the golden halo of hair, the heavenly beauty…"

Fate choked on her lettuce. This was going too far. There was a loud burst of quickly-stifled laughter. Apparently, Fate was no longer the only one listening to Nanoha; there were quite a few eavesdroppers in the suddenly too-crowded canteen.

"Er, I don't know what I think of that, actually," Fate said sheepishly, mind working frantically to think of ways to steer the conversation towards a different topic. "Oh look! Your burger's getting cold!"

"Mm, you're right," Nanoha nodded, sparing a disdainful glance at her food. "And oh look, there's some brown worm in the veggies, too."

Fate promptly spat out her lettuce in horror, looking utterly disgusted. She grabbed her soda and started gulping the carbonated drink down.

"Hm, something that's not black, then," Nanoha suggested, not noticing Fate's sudden distress. "Something White, like me!"

Fate remained stoically silent.

"How about, the White Cloak? Since your white cloak is quite prominent with that black barrier jacket."

Nanoha said all this with a Very Serious Face. Fate just stared in disbelief.

"No? Okay maybe, the White Cape? 'Cape' is a better choice as opposed to 'cloak' anyway, since cape rhymes with 'Fate'."

Fate facepalmed, determinedly ignoring the snickering coming from all sides.

"Nanoha," she began carefully, thinking of a tactful way to phrase her words. "Firstly, 'cape' does not rhyme with 'fate', and secondly, I do not want to be remembered as a cloak, or a cape, or any other piece of clothing, for that matter."

"The Black Bra, then!" Nanoha declared loudly. "Since you're always wearing a black br-

"Nanoha!" Fate clamped her hand over the brunette's mouth. "Bra comes under clothing!" she hissed angrily, all too aware of the sudden very interested looks she was receiving. "And I do not want all the different planets in the universe to know of my preferred color of undergarments, thank you very much!"

"True," Nanoha agreed when Fate removed her hand. "After all, that private piece of information is only for me to know," she grinned happily.

Fate sank back into her seat. "Yeah well, not so private anymore, is it," she mumbled quietly to herself, face burning red in embarrassment. Even Bardiche in her pocket seemed to vibrate with quiet laughter.

"Fate Testarossa Harlaown, Fate Testarossa, Fate Testarossa. Testarossa, Testa.. Testo…" Nanoha was now muttering quickly, hoping that she would hit on a nickname that Fate would actually like. And Fate was still formulating some excuse she could use to escape from the conversation.

"Fate-chan?"

"Mm?" Came Fate's distracted reply.

"Fate-chan!" Nanoha again, more insistent this time.

The brunette grabbed her friend by the shoulders suddenly and started shaking Fate back and forth, completely knocking over her mistreated cup of juice in the process.

"What- Nanoha, what! I'm listening!" Fate sputtered indignantly, hurriedly setting the cup upright again and soaking up the rapidly spreading juice with her serviettes.

"I've got it!" Nanoha shouted dramatically. "I've found you the perfect nickname!"

Her impressive and sensational delivery was met with silence.

"Er, yes," Fate broke the stillness and forced a smile, willing her voice to come out more enthusiastic and less like a traumatized croak. "Let's hear it, then."

If Nanoha noticed Fate's grimace, she definitely thought it was a grin.

"Testosterone," Nanoha announced, sitting back down into her chair.

There was stunned silence.

A very long, very quiet period of noiselessness.

And then, snorts of sniggering, then giggles, then full-blown laughter resounded loudly around the two Aces, and Fate felt like crying. As in she really, really felt like burying her flaming face in her hands and bursting out into tears.

"Isn't the Testosterone just awesome?" Nanoha gushed, oblivious to the commotion she had created. "It sounds just like Testarossa!"

Fate whimpered.

"And what are they laughing at!" Nanoha wondered aloud, craning her neck to look for the reason for the laughter and obviously finding none.

"Nanoha, please do not ever call me that again!" Fate begged her friend desperately.

"What, you don't like Testosterone?" Nanoha frowned.

"No!" Fate nearly shrieked. "Do you have any idea the degree of hell Signum will give me if she heard what you just said?!" the blonde ranted. "I will never ever show my face in public again if Signum starts calling me that!"

"Starts calling you what?" a new voice met Fate's ears, lower and amused.

Fate whipped around so fast she swore she heard her neck crick.

"Ahh! S-Signum!"

The pink-haired knight reached out a hand to ruffle the flustered Ace's hair, who in turn scowled and tried to shake it off.

"Nothing!" Fate hastened to reply. "Mou, I'm not a kid anymore, Signum, stop doing that," she complained half-heartedly.

Smirking, Signum ruffled the blonde's hair again, just to annoy her.

"We're trying to think of a nickname for Fate-chan to use in battle!" Nanoha greeted Signum enthusiastically.

'We?' Fate mouthed silently, rolling her eyes at the ceiling. The action was not missed by the tall knight.

"The Burning Red Hedgehog," Signum said, smirking.

"You'll have to explain that," Fate sighed. Though I rather you didn't, she added quietly to herself.

"Because you're fast like Sonic the Hedgehog, and burning red is exactly what your face is currently doing," Signum informed her rival matter-of-factly.

"Mou!" Fate actually whined, despite her personal resolution never to whine.

Not you too! She shot the dirtiest look she could muster at Signum.

"Aah, I sense that I am not welcome," Signum grinned at Fate's glare. She turned to leave. "I'll see you later, Testosterone."

"Signum!" Fate cried in horror, half-rising, before giving up and letting her head hit the table in defeat. She heard!

A one-way ticket to an unidentified planet, Fate moaned to herself. The only way to survive this mortification.

"She has a point, you know. The Burning Red Hedgehog, it's kinda cute," Nanoha picked up her cup and put it to her lips, before frowning and looking into it. "Why the hell isn't there any juice in my cup?"

Fate ignored her.

"The Blonde Beauty," Nanoha suggested suddenly, forgetting about her Mysteriously Disappearing Drink when another nickname hit her.

"And that would strike fear into the hearts of enemies because…?" Fate grumbled.

"The Burgundy-eyed Blonde Beauty? The Silver Gauntlet? The Sonic Move?" Nanoha rattled on.

Fate decided that this had to stop.

"How about Enforcer Harlaown?" she suggested hopefully.

"Hm," Nanoha cocked her head critically. Fate held her breath.

"Enforcer Harlaown…" Nanoha repeated, tasting it on her tongue. "Enforcer emphasizes your rank, doesn't it? And Harlaown brings out your name! I like it!"

"Good," Fate sighed in relief. She was starting to feel quite nauseous, maybe it was the lettuce. Or maybe it was an overdose of superenthusiastic!Nanoha.

"But no," Nanoha said suddenly, single-handedly destroying the happy bubble around Fate that had lasted for mere seconds.

"No?" Fate almost wailed in despair. "But why! It's perfect!"

"It's too simplistic! You deserve something better, Fate-chan! Something like, Destiny Lightning!"

Ignoring the indirect insult that her name and rank were 'simplistic', Fate decided that this really had to stop, and when it came to Nanoha, there was only one thing that could shut her up.

Highly unorthodox and unethical, she knew, but Fate found herself leaning across the table and kissing her girlfriend full on the lips. In the middle a crowded canteen during lunch, and in front of no less than a dozen avid spectators.

"F-Fate-chan?" Nanoha squeaked, confused and surprised but definitely not complaining.

"Nanoha," Fate whispered breathily, breaking apart for a short moment to complete her sentence. "Do me a favor and please, just stop with the nicknames."

Whatever reply Nanoha was about to give was cut off by Fate's second kiss, and after that, the White Devil promptly went into Full Domination Mode and forgot everything she wanted to say.

One hand shoved the table clean of food, and the other came up to grab Fate's collar roughly, yanking the taller female closer to better kiss her. Tongues clashed frantically in a battle for domination, and as predicted, Fate found herself on the losing end.

"Nanoha!" Fate protested in-between kisses, slapping away her girlfriend's wandering hands. "Not here!"

xxx

"They're at it again," one of the new recruits nodded towards the pair. "Takamachi-san is right, though. Why doesn't Enforcer Harlaown-san have a nickname?"

The senior commander he was talking to turned around and looked him straight in the eye when he replied.

"Because after battling her, no one is in the condition to actually give her one."

xxx

As she struggled to grab Nanoha's hands before they wandered too far, the White Devil's partner couldn't help but wish that she had stuck to the original plan of scouting for nicknames.

God knows she would much rather chose embarrassment and rotten lettuce over the devil she was going to face that night.

End.

A/N: Okay, so much for the so-called hiatus. But that's it, I'm really hiatus-ing this time. :P Inspiration for this came from Astarael00's NF 1sentence #7, so thank you very much for the permission! :D

I've always wondered why Fate-chan had no nickname of her own. Sorry if this is unfunny, exams have screwed my brains. :( Also, thanks to Generation-A for the Sonic the Hedgehog idea xD

Anyway, this is supposed to be a birthday fic for Seline, who reads my fics and pick out all the embarrassing typos. HAPPY BIRTHDAY! :D

-pokes you towards the review button. :P Thanks a lot for reading!