Title: By the Shore
Author: Potato Maiden
Pairing: Umi Ryuuzaki/Ascot
Fandom: Magic Knight Rayearth
Theme: #29 - The Sound of Waves
Disclaimer: I do not own Magic Knight Rayearth, it, and all it's components belong to Clamp, who refuse to answer my phone calls...

"Meet me over by those rocks in twenty minutes." Ascot repeated these words to himself as he watched Umi cross the warm sand. The water knight had something planned, and Ascot wasn't sure what, but he wanted to know. Ascot had looked over in the general direction where Umi disappeared and noticed a flurry of movements over there, followed by a bouncing Mokona giving an upset 'Pu.' as he passed the young palu. Now Ascot definitely wanted to know.

'No.' he thought, attempting to fight back his curiosity, and losing the battle. 'It won't hurt to start walking over there now, it's been about fifteen minutes.' Rising, Ascot headed toward the rocks.

In all honesty, Ascot hadn't been this far on the beach, nor had he been to the beach when Umi was around because Umi had always sent him back to his bed with some chicken noodle soup because of his 'chronic fever', as she called it. But today was the day. The where Ascot would get over his blushing and stuttering and have a full, long, and successful conversation with the blue-haired beauty.

Ascot had climbed over the rocks and stepped on the sand, looking for Umi.

"Umi?" he called, nervously. A glimpse of blue caught his eye as he turned to where he thought he spotted it. No dice.

"Ascot!" Umi whined, causing the palu to jump from the sudden appearance of the girl. "You weren't supposed to be here for another fifteen minutes!"

"S-sorry." he muttered, looking past Umi at the sand. Yes, the sand was a lovely shade of tan today.

"It's all right, I guess I can show you what I found then." she said, grabbing his hand. Umi, not noticing that Ascot was blushing, pulled him closer to the shoreline.

'Great job, Ascot, you're blushing.' He thought venomously, not noticing the cerulean eyes peering up at him.

"Are you okay, Ascot? Maybe you should go rest a bit, I think your fever's coming back." Umi said, feeling Ascot's cheeks.

"I-I'm fine." he replied quickly.

"If you say so." Umi looked gave him the once-over and continued pulling. "Here! Look." she said, pointing out to the crystal blue water where a dolphin-like creature had just breached the water. Ascot glanced down at Umi when the creature went back into the water.

"It must be mating season then."

"Is this where they come to mate?" Ascot nodded.

"Guru Clef told me that they come to this part of the beach during mating season. Otherwise it's pretty rare to see them unless you go into the water."

"Really? What are they called?"

"I'm not sure. I heard Fuu mentioning something about an animal on earth called the dolphin, I think that's the term Clef adopted for them."

"Most likely. When did Fuu see one?"

"Same time as I did, we were on another part of the beach."

"Why were you out here together?" Umi asked, curiosity shining through.

'Could she be jealous? No, she can't be.'

"She was giving me some advice."

"On what?" Ascot remained silent.

"Nothing."

"You're lying, Ascot. Please tell me, I won't say anything to anyone. Please?" Umi asked, giving the puppy dog eyes.

"Well, itwasaboutyouandshesaidjustletthingsfallintoplaceandnotworrythatsomedayitwillcomeandIthinktodayisthedayIreallylikeyoualotUmi." Ascot said in one breath. Umi smiled in amusment.

"You're cute, Ascot." she said, standing on her tippy-toes to place a kiss on his cheek, causing Ascot to become fire engine red. "Really cute."

...TBC

a/n: This is for the 30 Kisses Livejournal community. And remember, you are special.