Part Three.
When Umi woke, it was dark, and she gathered that the golden sun had long gone to its resting place from the blackness around her. The moon shone brightly in the sky. Umi belatedly realised someone was holding her hand: she turned her head to the right and smiled. Fast asleep in the chair next to her was Clef. His face looked more handsome in the pale light of the moon than usual, and Clef's face was gentle in sleep. Umi gently eased her hand from his and carefully sat up. Her head objected a little, and she rested it against the headboard, her eye travelling once again over Clef's face. Umi was determined to make his night's sleep more comfortable and as far as she could see there was only one way to do that. She eased herself out of the bed next to Clef and stepped up to him. Her legs didn't give her any trouble, a good sign she was sure, and carefully slipped the staff he held from his grasp.
Umi placed the staff on the floor next to the bed, and then, slipping an arm under Clef's neck and one under his knees, lifted him. He was surprisingly heavy; the head dress he always wore slipped off his head, and fell on the chair seat, but made no noise on contact, thanks to the seat's cushion. Umi stared as a stream of lavender hair rushed over her arm and almost to the floor, that certainly explained the weight.
Umi laid Clef in her bed, and then she clambered in after him. As she looked down on the small but handsome Master Mage of Cephiro, Umi smiled. Gently, she placed a kiss on his forehead, before putting an arm round him and laying back down. No sooner had her head found the pillow, then did sweet slumber also discover her and wrap her in its comfort for the rest of the night's hours.
In the morning, Clef opened his eyes and winced: the sun was shining right in his face. He'd forgotten to close the curtains last night, idiot. He made to rise - and realised that he was lying down. Had he fallen on the floor last night? No, this felt too soft to be stone. He glanced around and his gaze fell on the face next to his. It was to Clef's credit that he did not leap up, yelling, or start choking, or pinch himself.
"U-Umi?" he whispered.
Umi smiled in her sleep, and pulled the flabbergasted Guru back down with a simple arm around his chest. Clef grunted in surprise at the pressure she exerted, feeling ridiculously weak. But Umi wasn't finished: with one hand on the shoulder, she turned Clef over like a baby and proceeded to hug him into her full, soft chest. Clef's eyes bulged and he started making squeaking noises like a trapped mouse. He could feel the blood building up in his nose, and hurriedly reached out for his staff, which rolled out from under the bed and flew into his hand. With one simple movement, Clef slid upwards from Umi's grasp, quickly stuffing a pillow in his place. Umi tightened her grip, making little murmuring noises of her own. Clef was sweating, partly from relief at his escape, partly from. . . something else. However, his relief was short-lived, for as he landed, Umi frowned, made a noise of discontent and threw the pillow away. It landed with a soft thud on the floor, and the blue eyes flew open.
"Clef-san?" she whispered.
Clef stared at her: she was radiant in the morning sunlight, even with the bruise above her eyebrow. Her eyes were almost like sapphires, they were shining so brilliantly. Then he realised that they were shining because of tears, and Umi was glaring hard at him.
"What's the matter, did I infringe upon your dignity?" she asked frostily. "I suppose the great Guru Clef-san wouldn't want to hug a girl with *blue hair*, would he?"
Appalled at her mistake, Clef opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the door, which burst open to admit Hikari. Hikari took the room in two bounds, by the third he was on the bed, giving Umi a thorough face-wash.
"HI-KA-RI!"
Hikaru stood in the doorway, eyes blazing, hair standing out in a halo around her head. Clef wasn't surprised that Hikari flattened himself and immediately jumped down, crawling up to Hikaru on his belly, pleading for forgiveness. Hikaru glared down at him for a moment, and shook a finger.
"Umi is ill, she doesn't have strength for one of your baths, she can't play right now."
Hikari whined, flattening himself even further so that he looked more like a rug than a dog.
A black figure appeared, placing a white thin hand on Hikaru's shoulder, and enquiring in a husky voice, "*What* is all the noise about?"
"Hikari sensed Umi was awake and wanted to greet her," Hikaru told Lantis, then noticing Lantis' hand and sidestepping. The hand followed her.
Umi looked down at herself, covered in dog drool and hairs. "I could use a bath . . ." she muttered.
"Allow me," Lantis asked.
Umi nodded, and Lantis strode over to the bed and swept her into his arms. Umi shifted around until she was comfortable. She put her arms around his neck. Both Hikaru and Clef saw red: but Hikaru's good nature reasserted itself, after all, Umi had been ill and couldn't walk very far, and the bathrooms *were* on the other side of the castle. Clef clutched his staff and decided to go and destroy some rocks - large ones. The sight of Umi in Lantis' arms, all long legs and cascading blue hair was more of a torment than he wanted to admit, and the way they were positioned only led to his imagination producing an image of them kissing.
"I'll come with you, Lantis-san!" he said abruptly. "There's no telling who might be in there, and Umi-san must have a bathroom all to herself!"
Both Umi and Hikaru, accustomed as they were to taking communal baths, stared at him, eyebrows raised. Even Hikari raised his head and looked at him, making a questioning noise, since he had always shared Hikaru's baths and tried to share his with her. Lantis didn't think this was anything strange, since he knew that the bathrooms tended to be magnets for perverts.
"We would be honoured, Guru Clef-san," he replied, bowing easily. Clef nodded and they walked off. Hikaru folded her arms, still a little piqued that Umi was getting carried instead of her: then she reminded herself that she didn't care about Lantis in that way. Whistling to Hikari, the Magic Knight of Fire returned to her room, and curled up by the fire with a good book. Since it was still early in the morning, it wasn't long before Hikaru's eyelids drooped and she fell asleep, dropping the book onto the hearth of the fire. A spark jumped from the blaze to the paper pages, which caught alight. Hikari woke up, sniffed the air, yelped and ran. Of course, what the poor dog didn't know was that all the doors of the castle were spelled to act like fire-doors: that is, if a fire burst out in any room and got too big, the door would automatically lock itself.
Hikari raced through the corridors, bowling people over in his haste, following Lantis' scent very easily, like a trail of liquorice. Lantis was just about to put Umi down on the floor when Hikari arrived at the bathroom. He completely ignored Clef and leapt at Lantis, barking loudly, muscles tense and quivering. Lantis put Umi down and squatted, wondering why the dog was acting so madly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to calm Hikari down, but Hikari refused to be touched, leaping to the door and then back again.
Umi stared at Hikari. She'd only seen the dog act this way once before, when Hikaru had falled down the stairs of her home. Hikari had run half-way across Tokyo to Fuu's house, where she and Fuu were having tea, in order to get help.
"Something's wrong, Hikaru's in danger or she's hurt herself."
"What?!" Lantis and Clef both looked at her.
"I'm serious! He always does this whenever she's in danger or something bad's happened to her. Once he did it when she fell down the stairs. . . he came and got Fuu and me. Go with him, Lantis, he wouldn't come unless it was serious."
Lantis shot up and ran, Hikari bounding ahead and occasionally barking when he disappeared around a corner. The door was already locked when they arrived, and Lantis swore quietly. Hikari jumped up and down, scratching at the door, whining and trying to pull down the latch. Lantis laid a hand on his ruff and shook his head.
"No use: it's locked. Magic."
Hikari growled, hackles raised, then whined again, scratching at the door and looking at Lantis. Lantis blew out a breath, then squared his shoulders and looked at the door. "I am *not* going to let her die," he whispered resolutely, took a deep breath in, and threw himself at the door. It shattered on impact, Lantis' will to save Hikaru was so strong. He choked, dropping to the floor as his military training came into play. The smoke was thick, but not too thick. There was still hope for her. Hikari was beside him, crawling on his belly. Lantis stared at him for a moment.
"You are a *really* intelligent dog," he said.
Hikari slipped him a glance from scarlet eyes, then crawled forward. Lantis followed: even in smoke, the dog's sense of smell had to be better than his. Hikaru was surrounded by a circle of flame. Lantis rolled through, grabbed her, and ran, trying to keep his head low without dropping Hikaru. Hikari was right beside him. As he emerged from the doorway, he was soaked with water. Caradina, Ascot and Ferio were conjuring buckets of water, and he had got in the way. Coughing slightly, Lantis walked forward, his eyes on Hikaru's pale, smoke-smudged face.
"Hikaru-chan!" Fuu cried, running forward. "Oh Hikaru-chan! Don't die! Please! You've still got to be my bridesmaid. . . Umi. . . your family. . . Lantis-san, *do* something!"
Lantis didn't even hesitate: his head came forward and he kissed the young girl in his arms, breathing air through her slightly parted lips. He did this three times, and then Hikaru gasped, her eyes flying open to see Lantis kissing her. Thinking this was a dream, Hikaru put her hands in his hair, and replied. Lantis' eyes flew open in shock as Hikaru's lips moved and her hands pulled him down.
Fuu let out a sigh of relief. "Arigatou. . ." she breathed, not yet realising what she was witnessing.
Lantis made a sound, half between desperation at his loosening grip on his self-control, half in pleasure at the kisses he was sharing. Hikaru jumped: she never had noise in her dreams.
"OH MY GOD!" she yelled, pushing him back. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise, I thought it was a dream-"
"Shut up," Lantis said roughly, and kissed her again, causing one small squeak from Hikaru before she fell silent. Neither of them noticed that by now they had gathered an audience.
"Wow," Caradina murmured. "Who would have thought old Mr. Broody-and- Depressing had it in him?"
Lantis slanted a dark glance at her, still kissing a by now blissed out Hikaru. Caradina gulped and waved her hands. "No offence meant, no offence meant."
Ascot was staring at the couple in fascination, busily making mental notes. Ferio rolled his eyes affectionately, and came over to put his arm around Fuu. "Let's just . . leave them alone, shall we? At least the fire's out."
"Don't you mean, 'one' fire?" Fuu replied with a slight smile.
They all wandered off, Hikari trying to pounce on Ascot's robes. Hikaru and Lantis didn't even notice they were gone.
Umi, meanwhile, was stood facing Clef. She turned away from him to enter the changing room.
"Umi, wait."
She stood there, her back to him. Clef reached up but he couldn't even place a hand on her shoulder so he held her wrist in his hand. Umi looked down at his small hand.
"What you said earlier. . ."
"Yes, what about it?" Her voice was cold. She pulled her wrist from his grasp, and Clef found himself wishing that he was tall enough and strong enough to prevent her doing that.
"I . . I mean you. . ." Clef stuttered slightly.
Umi looked at him. "Forget it, Clef, I don't want sympathy."
She turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and locking it. Clef looked at the door and for the first time in a long time, tears filled his sky blue eyes.
Umi leant against the door; she was desperately trying not to cry. Of all the people she had thought would understand what it was like to be different, she would have assumed Clef to be the most understanding, but he had not been understanding at all. Umi loved him so, and it hurt to know he regarded her as freakish.
Umi tossed the towel aside and got in the bath. It was better to just put the horrible fact out of her mind. A good soak would cure her heartache, she was sure.
When Umi woke, it was dark, and she gathered that the golden sun had long gone to its resting place from the blackness around her. The moon shone brightly in the sky. Umi belatedly realised someone was holding her hand: she turned her head to the right and smiled. Fast asleep in the chair next to her was Clef. His face looked more handsome in the pale light of the moon than usual, and Clef's face was gentle in sleep. Umi gently eased her hand from his and carefully sat up. Her head objected a little, and she rested it against the headboard, her eye travelling once again over Clef's face. Umi was determined to make his night's sleep more comfortable and as far as she could see there was only one way to do that. She eased herself out of the bed next to Clef and stepped up to him. Her legs didn't give her any trouble, a good sign she was sure, and carefully slipped the staff he held from his grasp.
Umi placed the staff on the floor next to the bed, and then, slipping an arm under Clef's neck and one under his knees, lifted him. He was surprisingly heavy; the head dress he always wore slipped off his head, and fell on the chair seat, but made no noise on contact, thanks to the seat's cushion. Umi stared as a stream of lavender hair rushed over her arm and almost to the floor, that certainly explained the weight.
Umi laid Clef in her bed, and then she clambered in after him. As she looked down on the small but handsome Master Mage of Cephiro, Umi smiled. Gently, she placed a kiss on his forehead, before putting an arm round him and laying back down. No sooner had her head found the pillow, then did sweet slumber also discover her and wrap her in its comfort for the rest of the night's hours.
In the morning, Clef opened his eyes and winced: the sun was shining right in his face. He'd forgotten to close the curtains last night, idiot. He made to rise - and realised that he was lying down. Had he fallen on the floor last night? No, this felt too soft to be stone. He glanced around and his gaze fell on the face next to his. It was to Clef's credit that he did not leap up, yelling, or start choking, or pinch himself.
"U-Umi?" he whispered.
Umi smiled in her sleep, and pulled the flabbergasted Guru back down with a simple arm around his chest. Clef grunted in surprise at the pressure she exerted, feeling ridiculously weak. But Umi wasn't finished: with one hand on the shoulder, she turned Clef over like a baby and proceeded to hug him into her full, soft chest. Clef's eyes bulged and he started making squeaking noises like a trapped mouse. He could feel the blood building up in his nose, and hurriedly reached out for his staff, which rolled out from under the bed and flew into his hand. With one simple movement, Clef slid upwards from Umi's grasp, quickly stuffing a pillow in his place. Umi tightened her grip, making little murmuring noises of her own. Clef was sweating, partly from relief at his escape, partly from. . . something else. However, his relief was short-lived, for as he landed, Umi frowned, made a noise of discontent and threw the pillow away. It landed with a soft thud on the floor, and the blue eyes flew open.
"Clef-san?" she whispered.
Clef stared at her: she was radiant in the morning sunlight, even with the bruise above her eyebrow. Her eyes were almost like sapphires, they were shining so brilliantly. Then he realised that they were shining because of tears, and Umi was glaring hard at him.
"What's the matter, did I infringe upon your dignity?" she asked frostily. "I suppose the great Guru Clef-san wouldn't want to hug a girl with *blue hair*, would he?"
Appalled at her mistake, Clef opened his mouth, but was interrupted by the door, which burst open to admit Hikari. Hikari took the room in two bounds, by the third he was on the bed, giving Umi a thorough face-wash.
"HI-KA-RI!"
Hikaru stood in the doorway, eyes blazing, hair standing out in a halo around her head. Clef wasn't surprised that Hikari flattened himself and immediately jumped down, crawling up to Hikaru on his belly, pleading for forgiveness. Hikaru glared down at him for a moment, and shook a finger.
"Umi is ill, she doesn't have strength for one of your baths, she can't play right now."
Hikari whined, flattening himself even further so that he looked more like a rug than a dog.
A black figure appeared, placing a white thin hand on Hikaru's shoulder, and enquiring in a husky voice, "*What* is all the noise about?"
"Hikari sensed Umi was awake and wanted to greet her," Hikaru told Lantis, then noticing Lantis' hand and sidestepping. The hand followed her.
Umi looked down at herself, covered in dog drool and hairs. "I could use a bath . . ." she muttered.
"Allow me," Lantis asked.
Umi nodded, and Lantis strode over to the bed and swept her into his arms. Umi shifted around until she was comfortable. She put her arms around his neck. Both Hikaru and Clef saw red: but Hikaru's good nature reasserted itself, after all, Umi had been ill and couldn't walk very far, and the bathrooms *were* on the other side of the castle. Clef clutched his staff and decided to go and destroy some rocks - large ones. The sight of Umi in Lantis' arms, all long legs and cascading blue hair was more of a torment than he wanted to admit, and the way they were positioned only led to his imagination producing an image of them kissing.
"I'll come with you, Lantis-san!" he said abruptly. "There's no telling who might be in there, and Umi-san must have a bathroom all to herself!"
Both Umi and Hikaru, accustomed as they were to taking communal baths, stared at him, eyebrows raised. Even Hikari raised his head and looked at him, making a questioning noise, since he had always shared Hikaru's baths and tried to share his with her. Lantis didn't think this was anything strange, since he knew that the bathrooms tended to be magnets for perverts.
"We would be honoured, Guru Clef-san," he replied, bowing easily. Clef nodded and they walked off. Hikaru folded her arms, still a little piqued that Umi was getting carried instead of her: then she reminded herself that she didn't care about Lantis in that way. Whistling to Hikari, the Magic Knight of Fire returned to her room, and curled up by the fire with a good book. Since it was still early in the morning, it wasn't long before Hikaru's eyelids drooped and she fell asleep, dropping the book onto the hearth of the fire. A spark jumped from the blaze to the paper pages, which caught alight. Hikari woke up, sniffed the air, yelped and ran. Of course, what the poor dog didn't know was that all the doors of the castle were spelled to act like fire-doors: that is, if a fire burst out in any room and got too big, the door would automatically lock itself.
Hikari raced through the corridors, bowling people over in his haste, following Lantis' scent very easily, like a trail of liquorice. Lantis was just about to put Umi down on the floor when Hikari arrived at the bathroom. He completely ignored Clef and leapt at Lantis, barking loudly, muscles tense and quivering. Lantis put Umi down and squatted, wondering why the dog was acting so madly.
"What's wrong?" he asked, trying to calm Hikari down, but Hikari refused to be touched, leaping to the door and then back again.
Umi stared at Hikari. She'd only seen the dog act this way once before, when Hikaru had falled down the stairs of her home. Hikari had run half-way across Tokyo to Fuu's house, where she and Fuu were having tea, in order to get help.
"Something's wrong, Hikaru's in danger or she's hurt herself."
"What?!" Lantis and Clef both looked at her.
"I'm serious! He always does this whenever she's in danger or something bad's happened to her. Once he did it when she fell down the stairs. . . he came and got Fuu and me. Go with him, Lantis, he wouldn't come unless it was serious."
Lantis shot up and ran, Hikari bounding ahead and occasionally barking when he disappeared around a corner. The door was already locked when they arrived, and Lantis swore quietly. Hikari jumped up and down, scratching at the door, whining and trying to pull down the latch. Lantis laid a hand on his ruff and shook his head.
"No use: it's locked. Magic."
Hikari growled, hackles raised, then whined again, scratching at the door and looking at Lantis. Lantis blew out a breath, then squared his shoulders and looked at the door. "I am *not* going to let her die," he whispered resolutely, took a deep breath in, and threw himself at the door. It shattered on impact, Lantis' will to save Hikaru was so strong. He choked, dropping to the floor as his military training came into play. The smoke was thick, but not too thick. There was still hope for her. Hikari was beside him, crawling on his belly. Lantis stared at him for a moment.
"You are a *really* intelligent dog," he said.
Hikari slipped him a glance from scarlet eyes, then crawled forward. Lantis followed: even in smoke, the dog's sense of smell had to be better than his. Hikaru was surrounded by a circle of flame. Lantis rolled through, grabbed her, and ran, trying to keep his head low without dropping Hikaru. Hikari was right beside him. As he emerged from the doorway, he was soaked with water. Caradina, Ascot and Ferio were conjuring buckets of water, and he had got in the way. Coughing slightly, Lantis walked forward, his eyes on Hikaru's pale, smoke-smudged face.
"Hikaru-chan!" Fuu cried, running forward. "Oh Hikaru-chan! Don't die! Please! You've still got to be my bridesmaid. . . Umi. . . your family. . . Lantis-san, *do* something!"
Lantis didn't even hesitate: his head came forward and he kissed the young girl in his arms, breathing air through her slightly parted lips. He did this three times, and then Hikaru gasped, her eyes flying open to see Lantis kissing her. Thinking this was a dream, Hikaru put her hands in his hair, and replied. Lantis' eyes flew open in shock as Hikaru's lips moved and her hands pulled him down.
Fuu let out a sigh of relief. "Arigatou. . ." she breathed, not yet realising what she was witnessing.
Lantis made a sound, half between desperation at his loosening grip on his self-control, half in pleasure at the kisses he was sharing. Hikaru jumped: she never had noise in her dreams.
"OH MY GOD!" she yelled, pushing him back. "I'm so sorry, I didn't realise, I thought it was a dream-"
"Shut up," Lantis said roughly, and kissed her again, causing one small squeak from Hikaru before she fell silent. Neither of them noticed that by now they had gathered an audience.
"Wow," Caradina murmured. "Who would have thought old Mr. Broody-and- Depressing had it in him?"
Lantis slanted a dark glance at her, still kissing a by now blissed out Hikaru. Caradina gulped and waved her hands. "No offence meant, no offence meant."
Ascot was staring at the couple in fascination, busily making mental notes. Ferio rolled his eyes affectionately, and came over to put his arm around Fuu. "Let's just . . leave them alone, shall we? At least the fire's out."
"Don't you mean, 'one' fire?" Fuu replied with a slight smile.
They all wandered off, Hikari trying to pounce on Ascot's robes. Hikaru and Lantis didn't even notice they were gone.
Umi, meanwhile, was stood facing Clef. She turned away from him to enter the changing room.
"Umi, wait."
She stood there, her back to him. Clef reached up but he couldn't even place a hand on her shoulder so he held her wrist in his hand. Umi looked down at his small hand.
"What you said earlier. . ."
"Yes, what about it?" Her voice was cold. She pulled her wrist from his grasp, and Clef found himself wishing that he was tall enough and strong enough to prevent her doing that.
"I . . I mean you. . ." Clef stuttered slightly.
Umi looked at him. "Forget it, Clef, I don't want sympathy."
She turned and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door behind her and locking it. Clef looked at the door and for the first time in a long time, tears filled his sky blue eyes.
Umi leant against the door; she was desperately trying not to cry. Of all the people she had thought would understand what it was like to be different, she would have assumed Clef to be the most understanding, but he had not been understanding at all. Umi loved him so, and it hurt to know he regarded her as freakish.
Umi tossed the towel aside and got in the bath. It was better to just put the horrible fact out of her mind. A good soak would cure her heartache, she was sure.