A Clef and Umi Story By: Vanilla Fox

Disclaimer: MKR, all characters and related indicia are © CLAMP.

Author's Note: Well, I didn't think there were much reviews, but THANK YOU SO MUCH for those who did!!! I'm so happy *tears* Especially when some of the writers I look up to reviewed me... I'm sorry for the late update. But please do read the author's note at the end. Thank you, and enjoy!

Chapter 2 [Changes]

Everyone looked outside at the chaos that was ensuing, and then, at the door which clicked open. Umi came out, her face copying Lantis' emotions- nothing. Her eyes were hard, and looked at everything calmly. She wore a button-up black dress and almost everything else black. Her boots reached up to her knees, were also black. And Ferio, who was closest to the door, could've sworn that her ovum stone was slightly blacker than before. She gazed at the scene they made calmly. "Did I miss anything?"

Cauldina looked at her. "Umi? Are... you alright?" Umi looked at her quizzically. "Of course I am. Thanks for worrying about me, anyway." With that, she moved down to some of the shelves, and scanned the titles, before taking a book out. She looked at Clef for permission before beginning to walk out.

"Umi- wait!"

She turned around and her dark blue eyes fixed upon Ferio. He looked at her pleadingly. "Umi... could you please visit Fuu? She's concerned about you..." She nodded. "I will go." With that, she was out of the door, and her footsteps faded down the hall. Everyone's eyes fixed upon Clef. "Someone needs to do something... or what Primera said will come true... Cefiro will freeze over. The two other Magic Knights are weak, Fire cannot thaw Ice if it is only a flicker." Lantis stood up straight, from leaning against the wall. "I will talk to her." Before anyone could protest or say anything, he was gone, and his footsteps also faded into nothingness.

"Now, that was even weirder."

Knock knock

"Come in!"

Having the affirmative, Umi pressed on the knob, and went into Fuu's room. The Magic Knight of Wind stood up straight, eyes wide. She wanted to scream and laugh, but instead, she whispered. "Umi! Nice to see you. How... have you been?" She smiled at her friend, and Fuu winced. It was so clear that the smile wasn't real. "I'm... fine... I've accepted the fact that Ascot... Ascot... Ascot is..." Fuu watched as her friend took a deep breath and took one of the most painful steps to acceptance. "Ascot is dead." Tears shone in her eyes, but were immediately pushed back. Fuu sighed. This had happened before... and Ascot had been the one to cure her of this. Yet...It seemed like this was much worse than her aunt's death.

Umi was the child of two very famous people. Kenji Ryuuzaki was a rich businessman, and Yuiren Ryuuzaki was a famous author for teenage and adult books. And they were hardly at home. So, Umi Ryuuzaki lived with Tohru Ryuuzaki, Kenji's sister, her aunt. And one night, Tohru was out with Umi, when someone had jumped them, and had asked for money. But instead, Tohru got killed, right in front of Umi, with a gunshot wound to the chest. After that, Umi had gone into Cefiro, telling her parents she was hiding. When she got to the other world, however, her heart had been frozen, because she didn't want to feel hurt anymore. But then, Ascot had helped her thaw her wall, and she was back to normal... until of course, he had died. And this time, it seemed, that it was much, much worse.

The Magic Knight of Wind looked at one of her best friends, if not her 'sister'. She had given Fuu the book, and to her delight, it was the unfinished one that she kept on forgetting to ask Ferio to bring. She took a deep breath, rattling, and spoke, tears in her eyes. "Umi..." Her voice still couldn't reach above a whisper, so the Knight of Water moved in closer. "Umi... You must not freeze your heart. Please... It hurt me as much as it does you, when you hide behind that wall. I know you're very hurt... I would be, if it were Ferio... But would Ascot want to see you like this?"

Umi stood up abruptly, looking as if she had been slapped. Her eyes wide, but unseeing, she replayed Ascot's last wish in her mind. "Umi...I...love...you...But...find...so...me...one...else..." She shook her head and held onto his hand in a death grip, ignorant of the fight going on between the rest and Kane behind her. "Umi... listen... PROMISE...me...it's...my last wish..." She nodded. "Yes. I will!" She moved backward as she remembered, and inside her, slowly, she felt something crack. It was a hairline crack, but it was there. She bowed to Fuu, gasping out what she could. "I'm sorry, I have to go." With that, she ran out of the room, and the door closed with a silent click behind her. Fuu shook her head and put it into her hands. "Umi... Umi... Please, don't do this..."

The Water Knight in question, however, had run too far, and blindly, and now, she was in an unknown part of the castle, or at least to her. She looked up and around through a thin film of tears that covered her eyes. Blinking, closing her eyes tight and opening them again, she found herself in a hallway, long, and compared to the rest of the castle, quite narrow. Six doors lined the hallway, three on each side. She sighed, and walked to the end, where she could see over almost the whole of Cefiro. She gasped at the sight before her. Cefiro...was frozen!

She took it all in, eyes wide and definitely tearless. She scanned the frozen ocean, last she saw; it was ebbing, warm, and full of life. Now... it was a frozen layer of white. The fields... they were iced, covered in such heavy frost. And the mountains! They were black and looming, they had lost their greens and greys. The sky was black, and produced snow, which fell down onto the planet. She gasped. It wasn't snow... it was... ice. Moving as if in a trance, letting motions guide her, she opened the window, and ignoring the cold, she extended her hand, and a single piece of ice fell onto her hand. Pulling her limb closer, her eyes widened as she took in the ice's tear-shaped form. "The sky... is crying."

"Yes. It is."

She spun around and did a double take as she saw whom it was that had spoken. "Lantis?!"

Ignoring her comment, he continued, and picked up the melting tear in her hand. "And do you know why it's crying? It's crying, because Cairo's pillar is." He turned to her, calm black (A/N: Or is it brown?) eyes piercing her.

"What do you mean by that?" She demanded, finally snapping out of her reverie and looking at him in the same manner, calm, and eerily piercing.

He turned around, and let his arm fall to his side, letting the water drip off his fingers. "You should ask Clef. He'll be able to explain it the best." Umi watched as the droplet came off his finger, and fell, eventually hitting the red carpet, exploding into tiny, other droplets as it did so. She looked in fascination as the dark stain grew, and grew, until she could see the water on the surface, the small area not being able to contain water anymore. But she looked up again as the water droplets began to form a trail, as Lantis began to walk away, leaving a last sentence behind him. "Don't keep your feelings to yourself. It hurts." Umi watched as the last of his black robes disappeared around the corner, and fingered her dress' black hem, before looking up at the sight outside. Suddenly, she felt that she knew the way back.

As she walked, slowly, step by deliberate step, she went back into her own mind, and she spaced off. Voices spoke inside her, and she felt warmth at the thought of Selece speaking to her.

"Umi. Thou knowest that I am here always, at thy service."

"Yes, I do Selece. Don't worry. I will never forget. How could I?"

"I understand, Umi. But thy heart is ice, and thou friends are worried about thee. Cefiro is crying for thee, pillar."

"What?! Pillar? You have the wrong person, Selece, I'm no pillar. Hikaru's the one."

A deep throaty laugh came from the deeps of Umi's mind. "I see thou art confused. Ask the Mage Master. He will explain it to thou."

"I will, Selece, don't worry about that. I'm on my way now- Well, actually, I'm here." She thought, as she opened the Mage's door, but not without knocking.

"Come in!"

Umi walked in, a detached manner, into Clef's study, and he watched in wonder, as she seemed to have a mental conversation.

"Thou art at thou destination. I will have my leave. Call for me."

"Thank you, Selece, I will. Thou art my friend."

Selece 'laughed' as she faded from Umi conscious. Umi almost smiled, but something stopped her, and it came out as the uplifting of one corner of her mouth. She finally focused on her surroundings as she saw Clef looking at her. Wonder, and if not amusement, in his eyes. She walked over and sat down, a small, if not miniscule frown on her face. "What is so amusing, Clef?" he shook his head. 'Nothing. Only the fact that I think Cefiro might have a chance. What did you come to me for?" She sighed. "Selece and Lantis told me you would know about what is happening-" she motioned towards the window. "-in Cefiro." Clef gazed in her direction, and he put down the book that was currently in his possession.

She was sitting there, but fidgeted every once in a while. She was full of unbridled energy, for some reason, and finally stood up and started pacing, much to his wonder. "Well, then. I guess I must start at the beginning?" She nodded, and looked at him. Blue and blue met, and clashed together. One mild icy blue, and the other, a piercing bright blue. It must have been a full minute before he cleared his throat and tried to pull away, but to no avail, and they had to sit across each other, blue still meshed together.

"As you know, about a year ago, Hikaru was made the Pillar of Cefiro, but then she broke the Pillar system, did she not?" At Umi's nod, he continued. "But- even if her will was strong, it was still not strong enough, but to my wonder, she was able to uphold the post, and continue. I suspected the close bond between the three Magic Knights, but there was no proof, or reason, for me to pursue the subject. Until now, that is. And this-" He motioned outside as she did, "Confirmed my suspicions. The three of you are the Pillar, Umi. You, and Hikaru and Fuu."

"What!" she stood up, staring up at him. (A/N: I'm sorry for these interruptions, but I must tell you that I am using Clef's OVA form.) "So..." She looked out to Cefiro. "This... this is my fault?" she stood up, and placed herself right in the middle of the window, being able to see the whole Cefiro surrounding the castle. The snow... and the ice...would've hurt these people. And it was because of me. And I'm supposed to be protecting them! Unconsciously, tears started a slow trek down her cheeks, leaving wet, shiny trails of water. She watched, and looked at the villages in the distance, now, she realised, with smoke coming out. More tears came, and she surveyed the scene with a passive face.

But she gave a startled gasp as she felt someone's arms around her. And immediately, she knew it was ok. She looked into her reflection in the mirror, and saw Clef behind her, with an arm around her waist, and across her chest, with his hand resting on her right shoulder. She stood stiff, and relaxed, eventually. Inside her, somehow, she heard another crack.

From afar, Selece looked into his Knight's heart. The ice globe that was formed around it had several cracks in it now- a hairline one, and two big ones. And around one of the big ones, the ice was beginning to thaw. He smiled a dragon kind of smile. It made him look strange, with one side lopsided, but then again, dragons need to be taught how to smile. They're just naturally quite stiff and proud.

But suddenly, Umi jolted, and stood upright. "Umi-" Clef was left with his words hanging in the air as the knight disappeared into a corner. This time, she knew where she was going, but was definitely unsure with it. Down two hallways, up one staircase, down another hallway, two rooms to the right. She paused, her hand ready to knock, but she froze it. Would she be welcome? But then, he knew... He should know what it's like. She thought, as her hand knocked on the door twice.

A/N: *sigh* Thank you so much for bearing with me. Somehow, writing this chapter ws quite taxing, and I wanted to make it nice, and as long, if not longer, than the previous chapter. I'm sorry about how Selece was talking, I'm having trouble with all those old english stuff. I'm sorry if this is shorter- is it? It's both five pages on word, but anyway... I'm sorry for the delay.

I would like to know a few things, actually. Especially on the fact that I haven't finished the whole series. The tv station cut it in the middle of the second season. :( Annoying Channel Five people. What exactly happens to the Hikaru-is-a-pillar thing? I'm not entirely sure on the outcome in that. I'm sorry, but could someone explain it? Thank you so much.

And for that someone who emailed me, on account that this didn't have anythign to do with the story, I'm sorry if talking like Fuu annoys you, but I don't think I talk like her.

Thanks to CrazyIceTenshi, a n g e l . w 1 n g, hyper*italian*gurl and Yume no Kokoro for reviewing, especially!

I'll try to update sooner next time, though. Please leave me a review!

Ja-ne, Vanilla Fox