A Clef and Umi Story By: Vanilla Fox

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

Author's Note: *laughs* I'm so sorry!! I was grounded, so that's why I wasn't able to use the computer. But I have everything written down- I only have to type. :( Tedious work. But please enjoy!! (Also, please read end-note.)

Chapter 5 [Preparations]

Lantis had caught her, and looked at all of them squarely. "I'll bring her to her room. Does anybody have a dreamless sleep spell with them?" LaFarga produced one from under his cape, and Lantis thanked him silently, disappearing around the corner. But as soon as he gone, the door opened and Clef motioned for all of them to come in.

Cautiously, everyone inched in, and let their guards slightly down. To their relief, Clef had gotten himself under control, and his presence wasn't as stifling. Cauldina gave an audible sigh of relief and looked at Umi, pushing stray blue strands of hair out of her face. Slowly, she looked up at Clef. "How is she? Is she gonna be alright?" He nodded, his face stoic and extremely stony. "She's going to be fine. Fuu and I have exhausted ourselves. Let us just sit for a while."

Fuu, however, was already seated. She was already half-asleep, and was leaning on Ferio's shoulder. He looked up at Clef and frowned. The Master Mage was extremely pale, and had dark bags under her eyes. "Clef, why don't you take a rest? You and Fuu have been healing Umi for almost a whole day. Take a rest before you explain, why don't you?" Clef shook his head. "I..." Suddenly, his eyes drooped, and his head rolled onto his chest. Ferio looked at Presea, who was standing behind him. "Sorry about that, Guru. You need to get your rest."

As everyone waited and watched, LaFarga looked at Umi. She was extremely pale, even more so than her usual porcelain complexion. Her hair fell around her in tangled and sweaty bunches, and she was breathing hevily. He frowned. It looked like the dreamless sleep potion wasn't working- and her dreams weren't at all pleasant. He shook his head, remembering a time when he was still green as a soldier, and he had been caught- and he had seen a fellow soldier being tortured. The pain he had seen... He shook his head and went back to comfort Cauldina.

His wife looked at Clef, who had just fallen asleep, but was already surging with power. However, his dreams did not seem to be as good as his condition. He was frowning, and was breaking out in cold sweat already. Fortunately, Fuu seemed to be at peace, in Ferio's arms. Cauldina wiped hair out of Clef's face, and put more pillows beside him. When she sat with LaFarga, her face was set in a sad expression. LaFarga placed her beside him and put an arm around her. "They're all alright for now..." Cauldina kept quiet. But what if Kane comes back? She thought, glancing nervously at the palace courtyard, which still bore evidence of the previous fight.

Umi frowned and shook her head, closing her eyes from the sight. However, she couldn't block out the smell of her own flesh burning, or the feeling of evil reeking from the walls of her dream's replica of her toture. The stone walls loomed ominously, and the shadows flickered and shaded intimidatingly, as if they held creatures in them- or the souls of the room's previous occupants. Umi writhed on the stone table. She tested and strained on the metal straps, but to no avail. She whimpered inwardly at the large furnace- glowing red like a huge monster ready to devour her- to crawl over her...

Over her, Kane stood menacingly and laughing, but she ignored it and contorted her face horribly- she didn't care how she looked- she did all she could to not give him the satisfaction of hearing her cry out. As the acid singed her skin, she bit her tongue. Hard. And as Kane stood over her, with a white-hot dagger he had retrieved from the furnace, she prayed. She prayed to all the gods and goddesses she knew, and most of all, she clung on. She clung to sanity, and and to the hope- no- to the guarantee, that Clef would come to her as soon as possible.

The Water Knight watched all this while biting her lip, and with tears streaming down her cheeks. Inside her head, she was screaming, and crying out louder than she could ever accomplish in real life- still, she couldn't tear her eyes off the scene. However, she still didn't scream. Somehow, she felt that it would be wrong, and it would alert her own self and Kane from earlier to her presence. Watching all this, she didn't notice another presence behind her, until she saw the glow from behind her light over the whole room. Slowly, the room began to break, like a glass movie screen shattering. Behind it, there was nothing but blackness.

Turning around, Umi covered her eyes to protect them from the bright light. Then, slowly, it began to ebb, and she looked up... and gasped. A beautiful man stood there. Beautiful. She couldn't think of any other word to describe him. Long dark blue hair fell to the ground like water- that was what she thought it was at first, but she noticed the strands, like droplets. They fell to his feet- straight, like hers, and shining. His face was sharp, and pale, a stark contrast to his eyes, the darkest of the darkest blues. His mouth was set in a straight line, but one side was slightly upturned, making him look less serious. He was tall- she only reached his chest- and was dressed from head to toe in expensive looking material. All she could see for now was he had on a medium blue cloak, which covered everything except for his black boots.

Tearing her eyes off his clothes, (so like Umi!) she frowned. "Who are you?" She asked, her tone serious. She pretended he couldn't see the dried tears on her face, and made her thoroughly beaten, but still effective, strong front come up, like a curtain to cover her real self. The man laughed. "That is of no importance for now. However, we must rush- I need to tell you important things." He waved his hand, and they were suddenly sitting on two jutting rocks in the middle of an ocean. Umi's eyes widened as she turned around and took in all her surroundings while pretending not to mind.

She glared at the man. "What important things?" He laughed. "Voilatile as the ocean, I see...Determined too, like the waves pounding against the rocks..." She frowned. "Can you please cut to the chase now?" The man laughed some more. "Fine, fine..." He said, with the wave of a hand.

"It's time you knew how to wield your full potential, Umi Ryuuzaki. When you recieve the blessing of the Water God, you are to take it..." Umi nodded in understanding at all he said, until finally, after a very long talk, she began to stir.

While she was dreaming of these, Hikaru was struggling in her bed, while Lantis watched with concern for the Magic Knight. Inside her dreams, she kept on seeing Kane, cowering over her, and slahsing her with his magic- his face, how he tortured Umi, how he killed Ascot, how he strangled Fuu, who lost her beautiful voice... Tears streamed down her dream-self's face as she was reminded of all this, like there was a projector in front of her which kept on replaying the scenes. She curled up and sobbed. These shouldn't have happened. Ascot didn't deserve to die...

Suddenly, there was a strong feeling of heat, and she was almost blown away. Looking up, she gasped. "Who are you?" A man stood there, tall and muscular, wearing a long fiery red cape and shining gold and bronze armour. His hair was cropped short, and his eyes were fierce red. He stared at Hikaru, then spoke to her in a booming voice. "Hikaru Shidou, Magic Knight of Fire. You do not need to know my name- there are much more important matters to attend to. When you recieve the Fire God's blessing, you will go through an obstacle- and you must complete it. Without help. Then, you will be able to wield the power of Fire. You are to...." Hikaru nodded, all sadness forgotten for now- she had time to mope later, 'cause for now, she needed to do a lot of things.

Hikaru nodded enthusiastically at what he said and gave a wave as a blast of hot air blew her away from the volcanoe's mouth where they were talking. "Bye!!" (Typically genki... -_-")

Fuu looked around her dream world, a frown marring her brows. Everything was slightly blurred, but she could see quite clearly if it was near. But now.... all she saw was darkness, but she kept on hearing Umi's, Hikaru's and Ascot's cries- and her own, when it was her turn. She heard her own screams of pain, and subconsciously touched her throat. But halfway, there was a sudden singing and she stood up, turning to see a tall man, clothed in an emerald green robe embroidered richly with gold thread. He had long braided grey hair- not old people's- just- a dark grey.He was smiling at her, and his eyes opened to reveal a rich dark green behind wire-rimmed glasses.

Fuu bowed, but wasn't able to take away the awed expression on her face. "Who...are you?" He smiled and with a clap of his hands, they were both standing on a cliff - top, overlooking the clouds. They were so high up, she could se the birds flying below her. Fuu put her hands over her mouth. Beautiful... But the man clearing his throat brought her attention back to the matters at hand. "I apologize, but it is not time to tell you my name yet. But I must tell you more important things." Fuu nodded, and listened intently as what he said was bored into her mind. "After you can wield the power of the wind, you will..." Fuu smiled and bowed as the man finished, and thanked him. "I am sorry we could not talk longer, but, I know I will see you soon. Thank you once again." As she disappeared, in a swirl of wind, over the howling of the magic, the man smiled and shook his head. "I thank you Fuu Houjouji."

Everyone watched as Fuu and Umi suddenly opened their eyes at the same time, and looked at each other. Ferio was immediately hugging Fuu, and Clef, who was already awake, smiled and nodded at Umi, who smiled back. There was a pregnatn pause as everyone watched the two of them, standing there like that. Umi was standing beside her bed, having just gotten off, and Clef was a few metres away. They looked as if they were talking just through their eyes as everyone, especially Cauldina, waited for them to make a move. Clef stepped as if to turn away, but suddenly, in a flash of blue and white, Umi was hugging him, and he looked down, eyes wide, at Umi's head. Cauldina and Presea hid smiles behind their hands, and LaFarga's cheek twitched. Ferio didn't even look- he was too busy talking with Fuu, who didn't even bother to hide her smile.

"Thank you."

"Hm?" Clef looked down, confused, and the head that was currently buried in his chest.

"Thank you." Umi murmured again, her voice muffled by the voluminous robes that he wore.

"For what?" He looked at her questioningly as she looked up at him, looking as if she was about to cry.

"Thank you for everything. Saving me, giving me hope, helping me come back... Thank you." She buried her face in his chest again, and Clef suspected that she was hiding her tears. But he smiled and hugged her tightly, before holding her face up with both his hands. he stared into her eyes, smiling widely. "Don't mention it. You'd do anything to protect the one you love, right?" She smiled, tears flowing feerly now, smiling widely as well. "Un." She nodded, and wiped the tears away roughly.

A/N: I am totally SO VERY EXTREMELY SORRRRRRRYYYYYY!!!!!!! Really- I got grounded- and now, I can only type when my parents aren't at home. I'M SO SORRY!!! *bows* really! *bows* really! *bows* really! *bows* really! *bows* really! *bows* really! I'm SO SORRY!!

So, here's everything. For now. gosh, it took me a few WEEKS to type this out. -_-"" I'm so sorry. Flame me, punish me- I know I deserve it. *sigh*