A Clef and Umi Story By: Vanilla Fox

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

Author's Note: *smile* Thank you so much for those reviews. I found them very pleasant. And I hope that you received my reviews. I try to review you guys back. ^_^" Forgive this chapter... I found it quite... well, I won't spoil it for you! Enjoy!

Chapter 3 [Talking]

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.
She took a step backwards as she heard footsteps coming towards the door. "Umi?" Lantis' face registered a mild look of surprise, but for once, the Water Knight felt at a loss for words. As the tall magic swordsman towered over her, she tried to think of something to say. However it all came down to one thing. She looked at him straight in the eye, and everything came tumbling out. She never thought she would speak to Lantis, but what he told her... It seemed to her that maybe he would understand.

"All this ice and snow is my fault, and the people I'm supposed to protect are suffering because of me, and they'll be angry with me, and Clef- He's confusing me, because we were watching Cefiro, and I was crying, and he was behind me, and he... he..." A very confused Lantis looked at her and held up a hand to stop her. "Slow down. Umi, I can't understand if you say it all in one breath." Almost hesitantly, he offered a small calming smile. Umi nodded, and he moved aside to let her in.

Umi, though, didn't notice the fact that the room was extremely comfortable, and that Lantis left the door open. She was in her own mind again, which she found quite comfortable, and had withdrawn into a deeper part, where she began to speak to herself again. Umi... Umi... Don't blame yourself. Don't you see? You need to rely on others for help this time.

"Umi? Umi...?" She shook her head and snapped out of her reverie again. "Huh?" She gave a small shriek at Lantis right in front of her and fell back, overturning the chair and lying on her back in surprise. A very confused Lantis stared at the legs flying on top of the upturned chair, and at a very flushed Umi, who stood up abruptly and glared at the chair.

Unconsciously, a small chuckle escaped his lips, and Umi stared at him in wonder and amazement. "Umi? What are you doing?" He inquired, as she stuck her head out of the window. "I'm just checking whether the sun's turned blue..."

In a moment, Umi was sitting on a chair across Lantis with tears in her eyes, rubbing a small bump on her head. "You didn't have to hit me, you know!" He stared at her nonchalantly, making her fume even more. And soon, they had a talk, and she was pouring everything out slowly, and he was explaining everything to her. However, when it came to the subject of Clef, she fell silent. Lantis looked up from his cup of tea (^_-) and looked at the girl, who was also looking at he beverage, swirling it around. She seemed to be thinking of what to say. Lantis cleared his throat.

"You were saying something about Clef?"

"Hmm? Oh...well.what I meant was. I mean." She gave a sigh of exasperation, and stared back down at her drink.

Lantis gave a mental smile, and leant back. "Perhaps, then, I'll work with what I heard earlier. From what I understood, it just seems to me that he cares for you."

"But-" Lantis cut of the now, slightly pink girl.

"I mean, it may not be in a romantic way, but... he's worried about you. After all, it seems to me that you were good friends?"

Umi almost laughed at the thought, but she remembered her mantra. No feelings to the extreme. But nonetheless, the memories started coming, and Lantis watched as a small smile formed on her lips, waiting. He had found out that it was not unusual for her to space out as she withdrew into her own mind, whether to hide, to talk to Selece, or to bring back memories.

"Hold on, buddy! 'Children'?! You're the one that looks about TEN!!"

"ME?! A child?! I am, for your information, 745 years old!"

"You mean I'm stuck here forever?! With the flying fish and this geezer-aged KID?!"

"Once again, I AM NOT A CHILD!"

"You may be older than us, but we're taller than you!"

"Height has nothing to do with the matter!"

She laughed, and Lantis looked up, startled. "Good friends? Lantis, maybe you haven't noticed, but usually, we were clawing at each other's throats." He gave a small smile at some of Hikaru's tales of the Umi-Clef bantering. Mostly, she picked on him because of his height, and he was picking on her... because of different things. He remembered, then, Hikaru's tales of TV dramas and teenage anime shows. He paused, before giving a small smile, which very much unnerved the Water Knight. Then, he leant back. ''Maybe..." He tried to pick his words carefully, but he couldn't find anything else to exchange for the comfort of direct bluntness. "Perhaps... It is a love-hate relationship?" He almost regretted saying it as Umi flushed a heated crimson, then suddenly, was white as a sheet.

He got ready to stand, it looked as if she would be sick, or she would faint. Umi had turned green, then blue, and now, was slightly purple, and was back to being red. "Th-th-that's....that's...." As she struggled to find the word to describe his conclusion, he began to get worried as she seemed to have difficulty breathing. "That...is...just...preposterous!" (A/N: Sorry for this. That's my Literature teacher's favourite word. ^_^) He smiled as she leant forward and breathed heavily. But now, his thoughts and worries were directed towards the teacup she was holding. It had been a present from Hikaru, and he valued it quite highly.

The magic swordsman stood up and plucked it from her white-knuckled grip... with a little difficulty, but it was accomplished, much to his relief. He set it on top of the matching tray and knelt in front of her. "It's not as 'preposterous' as you think it is. Hikaru and I were not... exactly...friends, were we?" Umi looked at him in a... pitying kind of way. "Lantis, you weren't alike, but you weren't at each other's throats. And besides, you got along... in a way, didn't you?" He nodded, and sat back in his chair. "I suppose. So you don't think Clef's in love with you?"

"NO WAY IN HELL!!!!!!" The Water Knight screeched, losing all composure completely.

From Selece's lair, the dragon watched in amusement and joy as the icy globe cracked. A large hole formed, and slowly, it fell apart. However, he gave a dragon frown when a small section remained guarding a part of a blue globe of light, which symbolised Umi's heart. "No, Umi... That's one of the most important things. Don't freeze that part of you heart. Umi..." The dragon stirred, and finally, swam up and disappeared into a white light.

Lantis, surprised at Umi's outburst, blinked at her pink face. She stood there, bent over, as if she was still shouting at him. He had never been shouted at before like that, it was odd. And he had never heard any of the Magic Knights speak like that. Even her. "Erm..." He cleared his throat and eyed her. "Umi? Are... are you alright?" She nodded, still blushing, he supposed, from embarrassment. "I'm sorry for that, Lantis. I didn't know I was ca-"

BOOM

The two looked up, and outside the door as they heard the explosion and a loud crash, which accompanied it. Immediately, they were running towards the source, which was, unfortunately, the castle's front, where everyone was. Everyone, including a large explosion, which came from a cloaked man, floating on air. When Umi saw who it was, she blanched, and almost fainted. "Kane." it came out a whisper- her heart had gotten caught in her throat, it had jumped up so high. Almost immediately, the others, with the exception of the two other Magic Knights were almost immediately around her, and all of them were in fighting mode.

But the cloaked man just laughed. "You seriously think everyone of you can defeat me? Even the Magic Knights failed- how can you fare?" He laughed, a cold cruel laugh that sent shivers down everyone's spines. Umi fought down a whimper that was caught in her throat. However, her movement caught Kane's eye. "Ahh...." He purred, looking down lazily at her. "The Water Knight... Umi, wasn't it? You survived, I see, and your arm is better!" He told her, with fake joy at her recovery.

At Umi's expression, Clef moved slightly closer to her, and Kane's eyes travelled towards him. "Ah... The Mage Master, isn't it?" At Clef's glowering face, he laughed. "No need to be so protective of the Water Knight. I'm not going to harm any one of you..." He let himself trail off, and everyone hung at his words, all glaring narrowly at him. "But you must give me the new Egg that's being produced. Now." Everyone stared at Clef, who was now even tenser, and was glaring fully at him, very unlike his calm self. "Never! The crown just started making it! How do you know of this?!" Kane laughed, ignoring his outburst. "Hmm..." He scanned the group, beady black eyes looking down from above a finely chiselled nose. "Well, then." His eyes rested on Umi's form, as she glared at him, despite what she felt.

When he laughed, Clef lost all his calm, and ran towards Umi. But as Kane laughed, he sent a small bubble towards Umi, who stood there frozen. "NO! Umi!!" He ran in between them and sent a bolt of electricity towards the cloaked figure, which laughed and deflected it. "Oh, dear. It seems that I have to face you before I can get the Water Knight.... No matter. I just want to render her unconscious first. Now, please, will you get out of my way?" Clef growled and shifted his hold on the staff. Umi, who was behind him, finally got to her senses. "Clef..." With a look of utter determination on her face, she raised her hand. "Selece!!" There was a flash of blue light, and the machin appeared. Clef raised his staff and sent a bolt of electricity at Kane, who had flown towards her. She gave a burst of her just recovering energy, and gave an all-out. "Koori no Yaiba!"

There was a hail of ice and water, in the midst of all the snow, but Kane laughed and tried to deflect it, only for it to crack the barrier, and go through. Kane fell a few feet, and regained his energy looking at the machin with a deadly look. however, Umi had lost almost all her energy, and she fell to the ground, breathing heavily. Clef ran to her. "Umi! You all right?" he whispered, holding her head up. She smiled and nodded. But a gust of wind from Kane sent him sprawling. The pale man laughed and sent another bubble to retrieve Umi, but Clef broke it with a blast of fire. "Enough! you-will-not-take-her!!" he shouted, wielding his staff and chanting under his breath. A large ball of energy formed on his staff and he sent it at Kane, who was caught off guard.

He was sent flying through the air, onto a tree, and smashing onto the ground, ending up a few metres away from contact point, therefore leaving a small comet kind of pattern. He growled and looked at Umi, but glaring at Clef first. "This is her fault! I will take you!" He sent a rain of energy at her, and she lay there, helpless, without energy to do anything. She closed her eyes and waited for the small bombs to hit her- and kill her. But they didn't come. Instead, there was a loud "Umph!" and bright flashes of light. Groaning, she opened her eyes and moved her head to the side. Her eyes widened at the sight. "Clef... no..."

The Mage Master stood there, with his staff in front of him and his arms crossed, as he took the attacks for her she saw his clothes tearing, bruises forming, blood, scratches... And she wanted to do something, she really did, but she couldn't. And she watched as Kane laughed, and his attacks intensified. They got stronger and more frequent, until, finally, Clef flew off, over her. The cloaked man continued laughing, and laughing, until he reached her, and his bubble captured her. Last thing Umi knew, she was in a transparent globe, flying behind Kane, as he disappeared into a black hole.

"UMIIII!!!"

A/N: Wee~eeell.... This was knid of hard to write. Forgive the fighting scene, I'm not very much used to them. It seems repetitive to me. Gomen! But I hope you'll review!! It's getting hard, and I'm running out of juice, but your reviews are keeping me writing! To hikaru_29, Kiyoshi-chan, Yume no Kokoro (again!!), hyper *italian* girl, Water Knight Umi and CrazyIceTenshi (yay!!) and are still with me, thank you. *bows* I'm very grateful.