Disclaimer: MKR and its characters do belong to CLAMP.

Notes: New Reviewers, again! woah! that's really great, considering that I hadn't even a whole plot in mind when I started this! Thank you guys, really (L)! Keep doing it, this is a very good reason for me to go on with this story!

Enjoy this chapter!

When they arrived to the Castle, Fyuula landed on Clef's balcony and the three girls got Clef down from its back. In that moment Lantis rushed towards them

"what happened?!" he asked, taking the Master Mage inside

"I don't know" Umi answered, her hands never stopping to brush the Madoshi's hair

"Fuu, did you healed him?" he asked, the blonde nodded, so the swordsman turned away from the girls forcing the bluette away from the Supreme Yil and summoning a stretcher to lay him down

"Ascot!" he called, the Balu immediately reached him

"for the love of Emeraude!" he exclaimed shocked

"prepare a potion" the captain ordered

"of course" the summoner answered, running to the cupboard next to the balcony door.

Umi took the Madoshi's wand and shook it towards Fyuula

"I think you should come back inside this..." she commented, the animal cried and disappeared in a purple light, so the bluette sat on Clef's chair, burying her face in her hands, Hikaru approached him

"Karu, tell me that's a nightmare" she whispered, the Fire Knight wrapped an arm around her shoulders

"he'll be fine, Umi chan" she reassured her, the Water Knight rose her head

"what if not? What if he kill..."

"don't even say it!" the red haired girl shouted

"he's breathing, so he'll be fine, Umi" she added firmly.

"Ascot, are you done?" Lantis asked,

"yes, here" the summoner said handing him a green vial, the swordsman took it to Clef's mouth making him swallow it.

"what now?" Umi asked

"it will take a pair of hour before working, for now he must rest" Lantis answered.

"Take him to his chambers" the Water Knight commanded in an unexpected authoritarian voice, the captain nodded and took the Madoshi away.

She sat again in his seat, tormenting the hem of her skirt, Ascot approached her and held her tight

"I'm sorry" he said, she held back tears

"it's my fault, Ascot"

"don't talk this way" he replied stroking her hair

"it is. I should have never give to Arashi the chance of approaching Cephiro, and I should have being by his side today..."

"you were fighting as well" he said, she didn't reply, a part of her wanted to believe that.

"Do you want to go to him?" he asked, Umi nodded and took the Master Mage's wand, she'd brought it to him.

The Balu turned to Hikaru and Fuu

"take her there" he requested, the two girls nodded and accompanied the Water Knight out of the study.

The walk along the long corridors was very quiet, Umi didn't spoke a world and Hikaru and Fuu didn't know what to say to make her feel better, everyone knew that when the Water Knight was worried no one could approach her trying to comfort her, so they just walked by her side.

In the hallway they met Ferio

"I knew what happened, where's Clef?"

"in his room, Lantis took him there" Fuu answered

"did he fought against Arashi, didn't he?" the King asked

"yes, he did" Umi weakly answered

"I'll go to call Rai, maybe he can help us" the boy proposed

"yes, maybe when Clef's awake he can give us some explanations..." Hikaru commented

"that's what I meant..." Ferio said, then he turned to the bluette

"he'll be fine, Umi chan" he said quickly hugging her, the Water Knight weakly smiled

"this is the first time you call me that way or hug me" she commented

"I know, and don't get used to it" he joked trying to make her laugh

"thank you, Ferio" she said, he smiled and winked

"go to him now" she nodded and walked away together with Hikaru and Fuu.

When they got there Umi slowly opened the door and stepped in

"come" she said to her friends, but they shook their head

"I think he needs some peace, we won't disturb"

"but..."

"you should stay, we'll go to Rai and the others, don't worry" she sighed

"thank you"

"don't even say it" Hikaru said

"she's right...and try to rest, Umi, you really need some sleep" Fuu agreed with a sweet, motherly tone. Then they went out closing the door behind them.

Umi slowly approached Clef's bed, then cautiously climbed on it and sat down, a hand brushing the Master Mage's pale hair

"I swear that when you wake up it will take more than just one of your damn infuriating smile to calm me down, Master Mage" she told him in a whisper, then she gently squeezed his hand and kissed it, laying down and staring blankly at the ceiling: it was the first time she laid in that bed and that wasn't exactly the situation she had imagined.

She turned again to meet his pale face and she was somehow relieved when she noticed his chest raising and lowering in a regular breath. She smiled and kissed his unusually cold lips, then, with a shiver, she cuddled beside him and wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head between his shoulder and his neck. His sweet scent invaded her and she hoped that, if she'd fall asleep, she'd found him awake and smiling at her as usual.

Suddenly Clef felt a warm sensation spreading all over his body.

He was quite confused, how did he got in his chambers? And above all, what was of his beloved flying fish? As he stretched his arms, a moan made him turn, he smiled sweetly seeing the Water Knight lying in his bed: he'd never imagined that could happen and it made chills run down his spin. He reached out to caress her cheek and, paying much attention not to awake her, kissed her slightly parted lips and sneaked an arm around her driving the bluette closer. It was better enjoying this short peaceful moment since that, when she'd wake up, she'd surely got mad at him.

And indeed, a pair of hours later, the bluette opened an eye that gleamed in relief as she saw the Master Mage beside her: an arm around her and the other one holding up a book.

"thank the gods you are fine" she muttered still half asleep, Clef turned to her and closed his book resting it on his night table. Then he tenderly smiled to the girl in his arms

"yes, I am" he commented leaning in and taking her mouth with his. Umi sighed under the kiss and broke it, then she studied his face: he seemed sad

"what's wrong?" she asked

"I'm worried for Fyuula..." he admitted, the bluette felt relieved, she thought it was something worse

"don't worry, Fuu healed her" she answered

"where's it now?" he asked, the Water Knight grabbed the staff that was lying on the floor and shook it before Clef's eyes

"I told her to get back in this thing, and her obeyed" the Water Knight answered shrugging

"really?" he seemed very surprised

"yes, why?"

"well...usually Fyuula obeys only to me..." Umi smirked proudly

"well, seems like you aren't the only one anymore" he laughed and, taking the wand away from her hands, kissed her again

"you are incredible" the Supreme Yil commented, she fumed

"yes, I'm incredible. Incredibly angry, to put it better" she snapped, he rolled his eyes: there she was.

"what the hell crossed your mind?! Going there, without saying anything to no one! Did you wanted to get killed?!" she yelled

"I saw the others, I wanted to fight too, I can't always staying here in my study!" he replied

"do you have a clue of what I felt earlier?! I was terrified, Clef! I was going to die!"

"well, get used to it because I'll fight too from now on"

"Clef..." she said in a menacing tone

"what?! Now you can understand what I did felt when you wanted to fight without powers!"

"that was totally different!" she shouted exasperated

"true it was: because you hadn't a crumble of power inside you while I'm the most powerful sorcerer of this world" he replied

"you'll drive me mad!" she yelled, he sighed

"Umi..."

"what?! You can't understand, I was dying earlier, I swear it. I felt so guilty that I was...I can't even find the words to describe it!" his eyes widened

"giuilty?! Umi, what the hell are you saying? You have nothing to do with..."

"no Clef, I am guilty!" she cut him off hysterically

"because it's all my fault if we got to this point, because I had to be with you while you were fighting earlier, because I should have helped you and on the contrary I was with the others leaving you alone..." she started, Clef silenced her with a finger on her lips

"stop. Don't even think it, ok?"

"but..." she muttered

"hush. Stop it" he firmly ordered removing his hand and replacing it with his lips, she passed her arms around his waist and pressed her body as close as she could. At one point she broke the kiss and glared at him. But she was still angry, and actually there was a good excuse for charging on him some more

"by the way, we still have to talk about something, Mr. Madoshi" she said,

"huh?" confused, he asked

"what of that "tons of girl pushing on you" you were talking about earlier? eh?" she asked outraged, crossing her arms, he burst in laughing and held her, trying to kiss her again but she moved away

"too easy, Master Mage!"

"I was joking, Umi!" he exclaimed

"are you sure? Because if I discover that there's..."

"Umi, there's just you. Only you. Since so much time that I lost the count. You know it" he seriously said. Her mouth hung agape, that was the last answer she expected from him. A furious blush crossed her cheeks, Clef laughed at her expression and kissed her again. The Water Knight closed her eyes and let his hands wandering on her, while she tugged the back of his shirt. Gods, how she loved him!

Suddenly the Master Mage felt like an electric charge running along his spin, he inhaled Umi's scent and everything went muddled, he felt the urgency of breaking the kiss and pulling her away

"Clef! Are you ok?" she asked, but her voice seemed a far hiss. He didn't even realized what he was doing, it was like someone else was moving his body, like he was a mere puppet

"Clef, what the hell are you doing?" Umi asked, but he didn't answered, he just grabbed his staff and examined it, the Water Knight moved closer to him and cupped his cheek

"hey, is there something wrong?" now she was worried. Her concern was replaced by fear and when Clef turned to look at her: his eyes turned suddenly dark, his stare was cold, creepy. It gave her chills. Suddenly the Madoshi rose his staff and he was going to forcefully crash it on Umi's head she yelled, afraid. He often bonked her head with that damn thing, but she never saw he acting so violently towards her. No, she never saw him acting this way against anyone.

Before the Master Mage could hit her the door slammed open

"what's happening here?!" Lantis asked, seeing the scene.

Immediately Clef lowered his wand, the strange sensation he felt earlier faded away.

"Lantis" he numbly said, the swordsman looked at the Water Knight who was huddled up in the bed, shacking with a terrified expression in her eyes

"L...Lantis..." she stuttered hiding her face in his armour, the captain passed an arm around the bluette and looked at the Master Mage

"Clef, are you ok? what the hell are you doing?" he didn't answered

"Clef!" he exclaimed again leaving the bluette and grabbing the Madoshi's shoulders, shaking him violently.

The Supreme Yil looked around him: what was Lantis doing there? What the hell was he doing with his staff? And above all, why Umi seemed a trapped animal looking terrified at its hunter?

"I...yes...I'm fine..." he muttered throwing his staff on the floor, then he moved to touch Umi but the girl retired in Lantis' arms, he instinctively sneaked an arm around her whispering a "don't worry".

Clef looked at the scene, confused

"you'll excuse me, I have to talk to Rai" he said exiting the room.

As he went out Lantis looked down at Umi

"are you fine?" he asked in a strangely soft tone, she numbly nodded

"Umi, what did he do to you?" he asked

"he...the staff..." she blabbered unable to put together a rational sentence

"Umi, talk!" the swordsman exclaimed worried

"he was going to..to hit me" she said shocked, the captain's eyes widened

"he did what?!"

"I...I don't know what happened, he was strange..." Lantis sighed, that was absolutely crazy.

"Rai!" The Master Mage burst in the Irisan man's room to find everyone was there

"Guru Clef!" Hikaru exclaimed running to him and hugging him, uncaring of the fact he was the Master Mage and no one but Umi ever acted this way towards him

"are you fine?" Fuu asked approaching them

"I...yes, I'm ok" he answered, his eyes met Ferio and Rai's ones in a silent conversation among the three men

"we're glad to hear it" Ferio spoke

"we were afraid Arashi had done something terrible to you" the Fire Knight commented

"no, it takes more to make KO the Master Mage" he reassured her in a very Umi-like tone

"where's Umi?" Fuu asked, Clef hesitated. Among all the questions to ask, she picked the wrong one.

"she's in my room"

"do you mind if we go to her?" Hikaru asked, he shook his head, actually he wanted for them to go away, there were things he had to discuss far from their eyes, only with Ferio and Rai. And later he'd tell even to Lantis.

"no, of course, she was quite angry to me so I'd really appreciate if you can calm her down" he answered smiling, the blond girl nodded

"we'll think about that, don't worry Guru Clef" she said walking out and pulling Hikaru away with her.

"Ok, shoot" Ferio said when the two Knights left

"Rai, do you remember what I did told you earlier?"

"about your nightmare?" the blond man asked

"yes"

"wait! What's this story? I know nothing about that" Ferio asked, quite deluded by the fact that the Master Mage didn't talked to him about that

"I had a strange dream, Arashi was in it, and I was killing Umi" he quickly explained

"so now the Supreme Yil gets scared by nightmares?" the green haired boy asked with teasing voice, rising an eyebrow

"no, Ferio, there's much more behind all this" Clef answered

"what do you mean?" this time it was Rai to speak

"I was with Umi earlier, and suddenly I couldn't feel myself anymore..."

"I'm afraid I can't understand you" the Irisan commented

"I don't know what happened, the only thing I know is that after a pair of moments I found myself with my staff in my hands, Umi was still on my bed, but she was terrified and Lantis was there too...I don't know what I did, I can't remember anything" he admitted

"do you think you casted some spell on..."

"no! I won't even hear that!" the Madoshi yelled cutting Ferio off, Rai sighed

"calm down, Guru Clef, and please, call Lantis" the Irisan said, the Supreme Yil weakly nodded

"Lantis"

"Clef, what the hell were you doing?!" his pupil asked

"I wish I knew...I can't remember anything"

"I'm afraid I know what you did"

"I'm afraid to ask you" the Mage commented

"it won't be pleasuring to you" the swordsman replied, the Guru sighed

"please, reach us in Rai's chamber" he requested

"as you want, I'm coming" Lantis said

"Umi, are you ok?" he asked, the bluette didn't answered, she seemed lost in her own thoughts

"Umi!" he exclaimed again, the girl buried her face in his armour

"I'm scared Lantis" she admitted, he sighed, he was a pain in these situations

"I know" he simply said

"he wanted to hit me, what the hell is wrong with him?"

"I'm afraid he isn't the guilty" the swordsman commented, Umi's eyes widened

"do you think it's Arashi's..."

"yes, surely it's his fault"

"I swear I'll kill him" she hissed

"no one doubts it" he replied with a smirk

"Umi chan, are you here?" Hikaru's voice asked from behind the door, the Water Knight gasped

"I won't them to know, they'd terribly worry about me..." she said to Lantis, he nodded

"calm down then" he said wiping her tears away

"if they ask you why I'm here, I came to met Clef but he wasn't here, ok?" the swordsman asked

"perfect" she answered, then she sighed deeply

"yes I'm here" she yelled to her friends, so the girls came in

"Lantis, what are you doing here?" Hikaru asked confused

"I came to see Clef, but he isn't here..."

"you can find him in Rai's chamber" Fuu informed him

"I see...thank you" he said walking out of the room, the two Knights sat on Clef's bed beside Umi

"Umi chan, what's wrong? Did you cried?" the Fire Knight asked noticing Umi's glossy eyes

"I...you see..." she didn't know what to say

"Clef told us you argued and you are angry with him because he decided to fight..." the Wind Knight commented

"I...yes, I'm mad at him" the bluette confirmed, using that as a good excuse for her terrible look

"c'mon Umi, he wanted to help us..." the blond girl tried

"he was going to get killed!" Umi shouted outraged, Fuu sweetly smiled

"you know, I felt the same when I saw Ferio there, but don't forget that this is their country Umi. I can't deny we love it so much that we'd die for it, but this is their country in the first place, so it's normal for him acting like this" she explained

"it's true Umi chan, and beside this think that now he spoke aloud his feelings for you he has a one more reason to fight: defending you" her red headed friend added in an incredible fluffy voice, the Water Knight blushed

"I don't need anyone defending me" she said, but her tone wasn't convincing and beside this a nice, pink line crossed her cheek. Actually the thought of Clef fighting for her made her squeak in joy.

Hikaru laughed openly

"oh, give it a rest, Umi chan!" she exclaimed bonking her head with a pillow.

"I'm terrified" Clef admitted, Ferio and Lantis looked at him with surprise, never they'd ever expect to hear those words from him

"ok, calm down, there must me a rational explanation" Rai pointed out massaging his temple with his fingers

"so you don't remember anything, but Lantis says that he heard Umi screaming and when he burst inside the room he found you going to hit her, but as you saw him you stopped and looked confused around you, then throw your wand away" he added

"that's what I saw" the swordsman agreed crossing his arms on his chest, Ferio frowned in thought, Clef leaned against the wall biting his lips and nervously clanging his fists.

"it must have been Arashi's spell" the swordsman said at one point

"when he attacked Clef in the Forest?" the Ferio asked

"yes" Rai put on a thoughtful expression

"how did things happen?" he asked then to the Guru, the Mage sighed

"I...I was going to heal Fyuula and he..."

"who?" the soldier asked rising an eyebrow

"Fyuula, his fish" Lantis explained

"ah..."

"may I?" Clef snapped

"oh, yes, sure...sorry"

"anyway...he attacked, I told him to leave me alone and he responded saying that he'd go to Umi then...I couldn't let him go and he said he'd never need to rise a finger on her but he wouldn't explain me anything. And then he casted a spell and my head started swimming and the imagines before my eyes went confused...I can't tell anything more" the Supreme Yil said

"I see...well, there are many probabilities that he has something to do with that" the Irisan man considered. Upon hearing this, Clef moved to summon his fish, but a hand on his arm forcefully stopped him

"no" Ferio said, the Madoshi roughly got free from his grasp, glaring at him

"I told you no, Clef. And this is an order"

"an order?! You can't!"

"of course I can, I'm the King"

"Ferio, stop playing this isn't a game I..."

"of course this isn't, that's why I forbid you to go there. And as your King I expect for you to obey" the Guru glared at him one last time, then he stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind him.

Feeling his friends' amazed stares on him, Ferio sighed

"he'll thank me, believe me".

Clef walked to his room, surely he wouldn't be able to work, so his study was absolutely off limits.

How could he talk to him in that way?! Ferio giving him orders! As he was a common man! His pride was literally crashing in pieces.

When he arrived to his door he heard strange noises and girly, laughing voices

"may I ask you what's going on here?!" he asked shocked at the sight of his messed up bed, Hikaru lying on the floor with a pillow on her back and Fuu kneeled on his bed grabbing Umi's arm while the bluette was trying to hit her head with a cushion. Suddenly the three pairs of eyes turned to look at him

"ops! Sorry Clef, things just got out of our hands" Hikaru apologized, a warm smile on her lips

"hem, yes, forgive us, we'll clean up around, we promise" Fuu agreed jumping down of the bed and fixing her green skirt

"never...never mind" he said, his eyes posed on the Water Knight, she gulped

"sorry" she said bowing her head. A sudden tension spread in the room, the others two Knights noticed it

"hem...we'll be back in a second" Hikaru said

"yes just hem...let us take the things to clear up around..." Fuu added, he turned to look at them

"no, don't worry my magic will fix everything"

"Oh...ok then..." the Fire Knight commented exiting the room, her blonde friend followed her.

Once alone Clef slowly approached the blue haired girl

"Umi" he said, she grabbed a pillow from the floor, avoiding to look at him

"I...I made a mess, sorry, I know you hate hole" she was nervous

"don't fret over it" he reassured her

"no...it's my fault, I'll clean everything up...it won't happen again, forgive me" she quickly answered, fixing the bedspread, her voice was nervously stutterin. He grabbed her wrist

"Umi, stop it" finally she looked up at him, his stomach knot at the sight of her scared eyes, so he pulled her in his arms trying to make things right.

"forgive me" he whispered in her hair, she swallowed

"what happened? It was his guilt, wasn't it?" his throat dried, so the Mage didn't answered, just stroked her blue mane

"Clef, you promised me you won't kept anything from me, so shoot" the girl snapped breaking the hug and looking angrily at him

"ok, you are right" he said

"there are many probabilities that it was one of his damn spells" the lavender haired Guru admitted

"what if he does it again?" the Supreme Yil smirked

"I'm the Madoshi, his tricks won't work twice on me"

"Clef, what if..."

"Umi, I told you everything will be alright, don't worry" he said in a tone that definitely ended their discussion. The bluette didn't seemed very convinced, but she wanted to trust him, in the end she loved him. And beside this a part of her wanted to believe that all the situation would have worked out soon because she couldn't handle it anymore.

"You look tired" Umi pointed out breaking the heavy silence

"I guess that being possessed by a spell like that one isn't exactly relaxing" added then trying to hide her concern, the Mage smiled and cupped her cheek

"indeed I am" he truthfully answered

"well, I'll let you rest then" she said walking to the door, Clef grabbed her hand

"stay with me" he proposed, a hint of plead in his voice. The Water Knight bite her lower lip, the offer was tempting.

"I..." she hesitated, what if Arashi attacked again?

"no, I'd be better going" the bluette declined in the end

"why?" he asked, though he perfectly knew the reason why she was leaving

"because you need to rest, and so do I...see you later" her tone didn't admit any reply, so he simply watched her walking away.

When he was alone he looked at his wand still lying on the pavement. Damn Arashi, now she was terrified just at the thought of remaining alone with him. He collapsed on his bed and covered his head with the pillow, yelling in frustration, then he launched the cushion against the wall in front of him, wishing it was the Irisan King.