Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN MKR!!!

OK! Ch. 7!!! Enjoy!

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As they stepped in front of the palace gates, a bolt of lightning clapped through the sky. Hikaru could feel tiny raindrops falling gently onto the skin. Around the bodies of the seemingly endless group of demon soldiers in front of her, Hikaru could make out a human mob, only yards away from the castle gates. The human soldiers held torches in their hands, the flames shone light onto their faces, casting shadows upon certain areas of he face. They held swords in their hands, and the flames reflected off the blades.

Hikaru whimpered, biting her lip to the point of drawing blood. Suddenly, she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up to se Lantis standing over her.

"Are you nervous?" he asked gently.

Hikaru nodded. "A little."

Lantis smiled. "Don't worry," he said. "Just don't let your down and you'll be fine."

Hikaru smiled. Suddenly, she heard the cry of a wolf pierce the fight. She jumped slightly and looked in the direction of the howl to see a black wolf standing on top of a cliff nearby.

"That's the signal," Lantis whispered. Hikaru watched as suddenly all of the soldiers began poised for battle. Hikaru tried her best to mimic their stance. She shivered as the rain began to pour.

"Do you see that soldier in front?" Lantis asked, pointing to the front of the soldiers. "The big one in blue armor?"

Hikaru looked to the front, saw a tall, blonde wolf demon, and nodded.

"That's Lafarga," Lantis said. "He's the captain of the guard. Once he gives a second signal, we'll all charge."

Hikaru nodded nervously. "All right."

Suddenly, Lafarga raised his sword into the air and called out loudly. All the soldiers raced into battle.

"Come on!" Lantis called to Hikaru as he began to run. Hikaru followed and she quickly found a soldier to fight. Their swords clashed, and Hikaru could hear the screech of Ascot's flying beasts from above her head. The sound of clashing swords rang in her ears. She diverted her attention back to her opponent, and she quickly had him down. Hikaru was relieved to see that she had not killed the man. She looked up from the man's body and was immediately confronted by another soldier. Hikaru tried to wipe the rainwater from her face, but she only smudged her cheek with the mud on her hands.

Over on the other side of the battlefield, Ferio was head to head with a soldier and was not going to go easy on him.

"We know you're magic is gone, you filthy demon," the soldier hissed.

"Idiot!" Ferio hissed back. "I could take you down with my bare hands, you pathetic human."

The man snickered as their swords clashed again. "You're nothin' but a scared little puppy dog!"

"Ha! 'Scared little puppy dog', my ass!" Ferio snapped. Just for effect, he bared his fangs and growled.

The man inhaled sharply and Ferio knocked him to the ground. Ferio grinned sinisterly at the man, who was cowering on the floor.

"You're lucky I didn't feel like spoiling that nasty attitude of yours by killing you," Ferio hissed before walking away from the man's cowering form, to fight at Fuu's side.

Lantis, who was fighting quite a number of yards away from Ferio, was not having as much luck with his fight. Four soldiers had jumped him, and he was not faring well. He thrashed madly, trying to get the soldiers off him. Hikaru saw his struggle and rushed to his aid.

"Lantis!" she cried. She jumped into the fight and ripped three soldiers from Lantis while Lantis took care of the last one. All of the soldiers crashed into the mud, screaming.

"Are you all right?" Hikaru asked to Lantis, who was crouched on the ground. A trickle of blood was running down his cheek and he had many scratches on his arms.

Lantis nodded. "I'm fine."

"H-Hikaru...?" a trembling voice called her name.

Hikaru looked up to see one of the men she had just attacked. His eyes reflected the deepest pain. "How could you, Hikaru?"

A hand flew to Hikaru's mouth. "Satoru!" she whispered harshly. "Brother..."

Satoru shook his head sadly. "Hikaru..."

Hikaru only sat, trembling and staring. "I'm sorry, Satoru..."

A man ran up to Satoru and began to help him up with cries of "Come on! Get up!"

Satoru's eyes never left Hikaru and Lantis. "I hope you're happy with your choice, little sister," Satoru whispered before he left with the other soldier.

A tear ran down Hikaru's cheek and Lantis put and hand on her shoulder. "Come on," he encouraged.

Hikaru shook her head and stood. "You go ahead," she whispered.

Lantis nodded and left to fight. Hikaru sighed and looked towards the window where Clef and Umi were.

"This is the right choice," she whispered.

However, she didn't notice the figure sneaking up behind her, sword raised.

~*~*~*~*~

Up at the window to which Hikaru looked, Umi looked out upon the battle with worried eyes. She sighed, and felt a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Hikaru and Fuu will be all right," Clef assured her. "Lantis and Ferio will take good care of them."

Umi turned to Clef and smiled softly. "You're right," she said.

There was a long silence.

"Why did you decide to stay behind with me?" Clef eventually asked.

Umi bit her lip. "Oh, n-no reason," she replied.

Clef's heart sank. "Oh."

There was another awkward period of silence.

"Clef?" Umi asked.

Clef lifted his head.

"Why, if all demons lost their magic tonight, were you the only one to lose your demon traits?" Umi asked.

"Because," Clef answered. "I was born with magic powers. The only thing that sustains my magic is what I am. The others, they were taught magic, not born with it. They only lost the ability to use it."

"Will you eventually turn back into a demon?"

"Yes," Clef replied. "If the demon race can survive this war, that is."

"Oh," Umi answered and began to chew on her fingernails, a habit she hoped to grow out of.

"You look good," Umi said suddenly. "As a human, I mean."

Clef looked at her awkwardly.

"Oh, not that you didn't look good as a demon!" Umi added quickly. "It's just, I guess I'm just used to, you know, human men."

Clef laughed lightly. "Thank you?" he replied questionably, not quite sure how to take the complement.

Umi smiled and moved over to sit beside Clef. She was quite close to him, and he shifted slightly. Umi bowed her head and smiled peacefully.

"Do you believe in love at first sight?" she asked.

Clef blinked in slight confusion. "Yes," he answered.

Umi turned towards him. "Good," she said. "because so do I."

Suddenly, Umi leaned towards Clef and kissed him. At first, he was taken by surprise, but then he deepened the kiss. Umi ran her fingers through his lavender hair and fiddled with the teardrop earrings dangling from his earlobes. When they finally pulled away, Umi tossed a few strands of hair over her shoulder and giggled lightly. Clef only grinned slightly.

Suddenly, they heard a loud scream. Umi bolted to the window and looked out onto the battlefield to see Hikaru crouched on the ground, clutching her shoulder. A man was closing in on her. Umi cried out to Hikaru as Eagle and Lantis rushed to her rescue.

Umi turned around and faced Clef. "I've got to help them!" she cried as she bolted towards the door. As she grabbed her sword when Clef cried, "Umi!"

Umi turned around and Clef was immediately beside her, his staff ready.

"I'm coming with you," he said.

"Clef, you can't!" Umi objected. "What if you get hurt?"

"I promised I wouldn't let anyone harm you," Clef replied. "How can I do that if I can't be there?"

"Clef..." Umi began.

"I don't have a sword, but..." Clef held out his staff. "My staff makes for a pretty handy mallet."

Umi laughed. "Let's go," she said.

Clef nodded and they headed out into the battlefield.

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Yay! Chapter 7! ^_^ *gasp* What shall happen to Hikaru?! Hehe... don't worry, she'll live. I don't like to kill off characters unless it's ABSOLUTELY NECESSARY! *Ahem* Anyways, thanks again to all the reviewers! I'll get working on Chapter 8 right away! Till then! PLEASE REVIEW! ^^;;