*Is this really chapter twelve already? Wow, hm…interesting…anyway, it's almost finished!*

Chapter Twelve: Downfall

"Back down, or I won't hesitate to kill you," my voice was much steadier than I thought it would be. She smiled cruelly and shook her head.

"I won't."

"Then prepare to die," I tossed my sword to my left hand, then back to my right and didn't bother bowing. She grinned and drew a similar sword; this one was engulfed in Water magic. I tried to stifle a gulp and ran toward her. She parried easily, and I was thrown against the Water barrier. It was as if it was a wall, and it threw the breath from my lungs. I coughed and tried to stand, but she was coming at me quickly now. I parried the sword, but her fist caught me right between my ribs and threw what little breath I had from my lungs. I rolled out of the way of her next stroke and struggled to my feet. This was no time to go all weak-legged; I informed my body as I stood steadily. "Koori no Yaiba!" I screamed, and ice crystals rained down on her. She screamed and shielded herself. A few made it through the weak barrier and rained onto her skin, tearing flesh so that blood seeped out and hit the ground.

She growled a curse and raised a hand. A spiral of Water fell from her fingers to knock me into the barrier once more. I used my sword as a crutch and stood, barely able to move, barely able to grip my sword. We paced around one another before I made my next stroke. I swung right, and she met it, I spun in a flash and met her sword on her left side. We held for awhile until she broke away, and we went back to pacing. She swung from overhead, but I met it. She was strong though, and had the advantage of magic, so she began to bear me into the ground. I pulled up and stepped backward, using all my weight and escaping with only a scratch on my hand. She sneered and shook her head.

Another stream of Water came my way, but this time I was ready. "Mizu no Ryuu!" I shouted and a Dragon made of Water tumbled from my fingers and met her attack. There we battled for a long while until a huge shake within the barrier threw us both to the ground. I was the first up, and I approached with my sword drawn, hers had been thrown in the fall. She struggled to reach it, but I made it there first, putting my foot upon it. She threw a stream of Water into my eyes, and for a moment I was blinded. When I opened my eyes, she was coming at me full force. I rolled onto the ground to avoid her attack and drew my dagger from my ankle. I slammed it into her foot, and she screamed and turned, dripping blood everywhere. She drew her sword above her head and brought it down upon me. I barely caught the blow with my sword, but managed. With my dagger in my other hand, I slashed her sword arm, causing her to release the pressure she had on me. Again, I got to my feet and again we paced.

My heart was racing, how was I to survive this? She was so much stronger, I had never fought such a difficult battle, and what was worse, she cheated.

I closed my eyes quickly and took a deep breath. She caught my hesitation and brought the sword in on my left side. I screamed in anguish as the sword cut deep into my flesh, so deep that I could barely stand. I pulled away from it and tried a swing on her right. She parried, and I did a full spin. She expected me on her left, but I came out once more on her right and was able to make the same wound in her right side. She screamed as the same numbness came to her right side as had come to my left. Unfortunately for her, her right side was the side she used to control the sword. It clattered to the ground, and the barrier disappeared. She was losing too much blood; it seemed my wound had been deeper. "I wish only for death!" she screamed, and a burst of black shot from the ground and surrounded her. She screamed once more, and then vanished into black flames that leapt from the ground. I fell to the ground in exhaustion, unable to move. The blood loss was making me dizzy; I wouldn't stay conscious much longer.

"Guru…can she be…helped?" I thought this was Hikaru's voice and smiled. They had made it out okay then.

"Fuu's too weak," this was Ferio. "She just got finished healing Hikaru. You can help her Guru?"

"I can," Clef's voice sounded tired. "I will do all that is in my power, but…that wound is deep."

No one else spoke until I felt the cooling hands on my body and lay back completely.

"She'll be okay, right?" Fuu was panting in between words. She sounded exhausted, but alive and well.

"Yes," Clef seemed slightly happier, and then darkness enveloped me.

§§§~~~

I awoke in the Palace of Cephiro. I could tell by the walls. At first my sight was blurry, but the images sharpened, so long as they didn't move so fast.

"Ah, so the patient awakes," Clef smiled at me as he strode into the room.

I tried to sit up, but my wrists were weak. I looked down and saw purple bruises where I had been holding my sword, and she bent them back. Clef gently helped me sit up and sat on the edge of the bed, my skin quivered, but I banished the emotion, "What happened?"

He grimaced and looked down, "The Dark Lords were defeated, as I knew they would be. Hikaru's skill in magic saved her. Fuu's new bow was her tool. Hikaru was beaten badly. She had burns all over her body and two of her vertebrae were shattered. Fuu came out with only a mild sword graze on her arm. I healed her, and she healed Hikaru," his voice was very technical until this point. "And then your barrier fell. You were injured the worst. Uchiyama was my student," I winced, but his eyes never left the ground to notice. "I never thought she had grown that strong. You came out with a mild scratch on your right hand, three bruised ribs and one cracked one, a collapsed lung and that deep gash in your side. Umi, you should have been dead, but you prevailed. That was all four days ago," he ended, and my jaw dropped.

"Four days?" I whispered, and he nodded.

"The Healing wasn't easy. You needed the rest."

I nodded and threw my legs over the edge of the bed.

"Umi, you can't," Clef started, but I waved it off.

"Nonsense, of course I can," I stood, and pain shot through my left side, shutting off all feeling to my left foot. I groaned and fell back. Determined, I gritted my teeth and stood again. I wouldn't let this get the better of me. I stood until the searing pain eased, then took a step forward. This pain flamed and hurt, if it was possible, ten times more. I almost crumpled to the ground, but Clef caught me and gingerly, minding my hurts, put me back in bed. I moaned in pain, then as it eased, turned to glare at Clef who was chuckling silently. "Don't mock my pain," I scolded, and he shook his head.

"It's just, you're the only one I've ever known who would defy me for the sheer pleasure of defying me," he grinned when I nodded.

"And," both of our heads turned toward the door to find the speaker was Nori, "from what I hear, she's the only one from whom you'll accept defiance.

"From where do you hear this?" Clef growled, and I sighed. The moment had been very short but very enjoyable. I hated to see moments like them end.

"You can't expect me to be locked in a castle for a week with people I don't know and think I won't ask questions," Nori replied calmly, but his eyes never met mine.

'You're hiding something,' I thought to myself, 'But what?'

'Exactly my question,' I looked down and saw my ovum was on my hand, but my armor was absent.

'I thought this only worked with my armor,' Clef's magic had always confused me.

'Your armor is stored in your ovum, your ovum is on your hand, so in one form or another, your armor is on,' he explained briskly.

'Oh,' I responded mildly, used to his magical surprises by now.

"Well I'll leave you two then," Clef stood, and Nori looked shocked at his quick departure after our long silence. 'Tell me if he does anything suspicious,' he added to me as he left.

'Suspicious? Clef I…'

'I'm not accusing him Umi,' he interrupted. 'I just don't want you in danger.'

'Arigato I'll be fine,' I snapped a bit too quickly, and the door shut behind him.

"What was that about?" Nori inquired as he approached my bedside.

"He's worried about me," I sighed. 'Believe it or not,' I thought.

'What?'

'Nothing,' I responded quickly.

"Which worries me," Nori confessed, and I looked at him gently as he bent and took my hands. I brushed his bangs with my lightly bandaged right hand, and he closed his eyes. "Umi, do you love me?" the abruptness of the question made me pull back.

I thought very carefully before answering, "What is love?"

"That's a rhetorical question," he shot back. "Love can be defined one hundred different ways, but…love as I know it is a feeling you get when someone you love walks into the room and the whole world lights up. It's knowing one person so entirely that thought you may not have grown up with that person, you feel as if you have. Love is what I used to think we shared, but now…seeing you in this place, it's a whole part of you I've never seen before. I'm not sure what makes your eyes dance, love for this place or love for the people."

"I love both," I smiled weakly. "To me, this is my only home."

"Umi, when your parents died…" my eyes shot down, but he pulled up my chin to see my shimmering blue eyes. "I thought I'd never see your eyes glow again, but I was wrong. They glow in this place, with these people, but especially with him. I don't want you to waste your years on the wrong guy. So, do you love me?"

My throat was too dry to work, but my mind was working well enough. I shook my head, and he nodded and stood.

"I didn't think so," he stood and looked out the window. The silence between us was deafening. He deserved something, anything, so I brought moisture to my lips and began to speak whatever made its way from my brain to my mouth.

"Nori, I can't love you as you described because my mind is still stuck with someone in Cephiro. I can't love you like you want, like you deserve, yet, but give me time and I…"

He cut me off, "Time? How much time do you want Umi? I've given you two years of my life already! How much more time do you want?"

I winced at the hurt in his voice and looked down, "However long it takes."

He shook his head, "I can't do that Umi."

"I understand," tears sprang to my eyes as guilt seized me. I had wasted his last two years.

"Umi, gomen nasai," he took my hands, kneeling once more. "But I can't hide this anymore, because you're not the only one whose heart is stuck in Cephiro."

My eyes snapped up and filled with questions, "Who?" was the only one that could escape.

He stood and began to pace the room, running his fingers through his hair as he spoke. He spilled the whole story, and I stayed completely silent and totally still. It was amazing, "It was really just after we got here. I fell in love with her smile. Then, when she fell ill, I went to see her every night while everyone slept. When you left, I helped her recuperate. Everything was so sudden. I didn't even realize it happening until it did. We were in the gardens, and she was so worried about you three. I didn't think, just acted. I grabbed hold of her and held her while she cried. When she looked up, I kissed her. I didn't think, and she stopped and told me it was wrong. Gomen nasai Umi, but I didn't care. All I wanted was to be near her. So I…I kissed her again. I don't think I would have stopped except for the fact that Ascot walked in and saw us.

"I promised her I'd tell you as soon as you got back, and she kept Ascot from telling everyone. We both knew you should know first."

For a long time I was silent. The only sound that passed between us was the soft padding of his shoes against the floor as he paced, "Sop that, you're making me nervous," I hissed, and he turned and decided to chew on his thumbnail instead. "Nori," I sighed when I could make out each individual bite he made. "I forgive you," he stopped in mid-chew and stared at me in disbelief.

"You forgive me? Just like that?" he questioned skeptically.

"Of course, my heart has strayed in the past two years though my body has remained faithful. I can't blame you for loving Presea, I love her too, though not in quite the same fashion," I grinned, and he managed a hesitant smile back. "Go tell her you two have my best wishes."

He bowed and kissed my forehead, thanked me and dashed out.

When he left I began to cry, because for all my masks, I had cared very deeply for Nori. Still, he shouldn't be allowed to live a lie, I thought privately, and he'll be happy with Presea. This made me cry harder which filled me with guilt. Why shouldn't he be happy, just because I wasn't?

When Fuu and Hikaru entered I was still crying.

"Umi-chan, what's wrong?" Hikaru asked worriedly. She sat by my side while Fuu hovered over my bed, watching.

"Hormones," I muttered, and they nodded in understanding.

Fuu knelt beside me with Hikaru and took my bruised left hand while Hikaru stroked my long blue hair, whispering words of condolence.

After awhile my tears ceased; I had wonderful friends and that was all I needed wasn't it?

§§§~~~

In the morning, I was able to stand and get dressed with a little help from Hikaru and Fuu. I glared at the skirt that exposed cut and bruised legs, but it was much more comfortable than pants, which constantly nagged at the abrasions.

With even more help, I was able to hobble down to breakfast where I received warm welcome.

Clef raised his brows when I chose a seat next to Caldina instead of Nori. His eyes narrowed when Nori didn't protest and took a seat beside Presea.

"What say we go riding through the Forest of Silence today?" Presea suggested when no one spoke.

I lowered my head, still unable to meet anyone's eyes, especially Presea's. I knew I shouldn't, but I still felt betrayed.

"Gomen nasai, but I don't think I can do that quite yet. I mean, I can barely walk. But go on ahead and have fun. It's such a beautiful day to be cooped up inside," I told them.

"Umi-san, we can find something to do to include you," Fuu protested.

"No no, please go and have fun. I'd prefer the Palace to myself," I insisted, and they were about to protest when Clef interrupted.

"I'll stay here with Umi."

'You'll do no such thing,' I snapped in his head.

'Sorry, but, what are you going to do about it?' he jeered.

I glared at him, and he smiled back innocently.

"Umi do you want me to stay wi…" Nori started, but I briskly shook my head and fought the urge to scream, 'Why?'

"No no, you go ahead, I'll be fine," I responded instead.

"All settled then," Caldina jumped up. "Umi darling, we'll be seeing you shortly. Have fun, I'm sure the Guru will be…er…entertaining," she grinned and tried to be encouraging.

I grumbled and glared at her, which only caused her to grin wider.

"You sure this is okay?" Fuu asked timidly as Ferio took her shoulder and started to lead her out. He turned to see what my response would be.

"Of course Fuu, you guys! Just go! It's only a day! I'm sure I'll be up and around in no time and then we'll have a lot of time to be together!" I laughed, and they all nodded and exited, leaving me alone at the long table with Clef.

*What say we two more chapters? I think…something like that. This is my shortest fanfic ever, just so you know. I was a little surprised myself. Anyway, two chapters I think, maybe a little more. Then I'll be posting my newest fanfic. Though, I'm not sure how many of you will actually read it…and I'm not just saying that…but no details and no spoilers, not yet.*

Tori:

"Hola, rojo, 'morning to you
You always helped me chase demons away
Don't know what I'll do without you
So Pan is the name of the plane


Second to the right
Straight on 'til morning
That's where I'll be waiting
Second to the right
Straight on 'til morning

Hola, tick-tock
My time is up
Pedro says
I will forget him in days
In my new life, no room for a lost boy
Boys can be so dumb sometimes
"

~ Tori Amos, Operation Peter Pan, UK A Sorta Fairytale Single