Episode 13 - Call My Name
As the Garden of Time comes apart, Fate stares transfixed into the swirling void where Precia and Alicia just vanished. Arf tries to pull her back, but the ceiling collapses, separating them. Then Nanoha blasts her way into the room from above, and reaches out. Fate hesitates, looks once more into the void... then leaps up to take Nanoha's hand.
The dimensional disturbance subsides with the Garden's destruction. Back on the Arthra, Chrono and Nanoha have their wounds treated. Nanoha asks after Fate, and Chrono informs her that she and Arf been placed in detention. The ship slowly returns to its normal duties; however, the fallout from the incident has disrupted dimensional transit, so Nanoha and Yuuno are obliged to remain on board until the effects subside. Nanoha is worried about Fate, but Chrono says that even though she was complicit in major crimes, she'll probably face leniency due to her age and her ignorance of Precia's goals.
Talking to Nanoha and Yuuno later, Lindy tells them what she knows about the place Precia was trying to reach: Alhazard, a mythological world of forbidden magic and technology, said to have been destroyed in a dimensional cataclysm aeons ago. According to legend, the magic there is so powerful it could accomplish anything — even rewrite the past or restore the dead to life. Chrono says such things are impossible, and that Alhazard is just a fairy tale. Lindy notes that Precia believed it was real, and even claimed to have discovered the way there... but they'll never know, now, if that was true or not.
After a few days, it becomes possible for Nanoha to return home. Since the dimensional space around Midchilda is still disrupted, Nanoha invites Yuuno to come back with her. Saying goodbye to Lindy, Chrono and Amy, the two return to Earth. Nanoha's family is happy to see her back, as are her friends Suzuka and Alisa. Nanoha soon gets back into the rhythm of everyday life... and yet she can't help worrying about Fate, with her sad, beautiful eyes.
Then, one morning, she gets a call from Chrono, who says Fate is going to be transferred to TSAB headquarters for a formal hearing. However, they've decided to let Nanoha and Fate see each other again first — a meeting which Fate herself has requested.
Nanoha and Yuuno hurry to a seaside park where Chrono and Arf are waiting with Fate. The two girls go aside to talk; after some mutual awkwardness, Fate says Nanoha told her once that she wanted to be friends. She tells Nanoha she'd like to become friends, but doesn't know how. Nanoha says it's easy: you start by looking at someone and calling them by their name.
Fate looks into Nanoha's eyes and says her name, and Nanoha does the same, bringing both of them to tears. As they embrace, Fate says that even though she has to go away, she knows they'll meet again. She promises that next time Nanoha finds herself in danger, she'll be the one to come and save her.
Before Chrono and Arf take Fate back to the Arthra, Nanoha takes off her hair ribbons and gives them to Fate as a keepsake; Fate gives Nanoha her own hair ribbons in return. Then, as Fate disappears into the Arthra's transit beam with Arf and Chrono, she and Nanoha wave good-bye to each other, smiling happily through their tears.
Tropes
- Collapsing Lair: The Garden of Time falls apart as our heroes hurry to make their escape.
- Funny Background Event: While Chrono is telling Nanoha and Yuuno about Fate's detention, Amy ties off the bandage she's putting on his head into a cute bow. After the camera switches away, he can be heard telling her to fix it.
- Rule of Three: When Nanoha invites Fate to say her name, Fate says it three times — once tentatively, the second time more confidently, and the third time almost passionately.
- Running Gag: Just as in the first two episodes, Nanoha is woken up by her phone, drops it out of bed and then blindly gropes around on the floor for it.
- When She Smiles: Through her Tears of Joy, Fate is smiling radiantly during her final scene with Nanoha. Arf, watching from nearby, is brought to tears herself at the sight of Fate's smile.
