Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or Magic Knight Rayearth. They belong to Bandai and CLAMP, respectively.


World 2 World
Chapter III: The Jewel

Umi's eyes snapped open, bolting up from her bed and glanced around in confusion. She was back in the room, as were Hikaru and Fuu.

"What was that?" Hikaru asked, rubbing her head. "Was it the jewel?"

"If it was, what was it trying to show us?" Umi asked as she looked down at the now dull jewel in her hand.

"That person in that room," Fuu remarked, still lying on the bed, "didn't see us. But his pet did."

"Did you feel the magic radiating from it? That thing was definitely from Cephiro."

Umi shuddered as she recalled the feeling of helplessness and desolation when the creature had hissed at them, capturing her gaze with its bright red eyes.

"Maybe that's why we're here," Fuu reasoned, finally pulling herself to sit on the edge of the bed between Hikaru and Umi, "to take it back to Cephiro."

"I don't think it'll just let us pick it up and take it back to Cephiro with us," Umi said dryly, shaking her head. "Anyways, I thought this was supposed to be a wishing stone."

"Maybe it wants to make sure you're worthy," Hikaru said, smiling, "like how it was with Rayearth, Ceres, and Windam."

"Are you saying this is some test I have to pass in order for my wish to be granted?"

"It sounds reasonable," Fuu agreed. "But didn't Ascot-san say the jewel glows when a wish is being fulfilled?"

"Well, they've never really seen a Heaven's Tear, so they're bound to make some mistakes when making predictions about it," Umi replied. "I'm sorry to involve the two of you into this as well."

Hikaru hugged her friend. "Don't worry! We're the protectors of Cephiro so anything that has to do with Cephiro has to do with us. Besides, you're our friend."

"Hikaru-san is right, Umi-san," Fuu said as she joined the hug.

Umi teared up, sniffling, "I don't know what I'd do without you two."


"Where's the patio?" Umi asked as the three of them wandered down the left wing of the mansion, lost.

"Quatre didn't say," Hikaru replied as she examined the vase in the hallway. "This doesn't look like ceramic."

"It's porcelain," Fuu informed her. "It's very expensive, especially with all the intricate designs. I think that's real gold in the patterns."

"Oh," Hikaru sighed in admiration.

"Hey, what are you three doing all the way down there?"

They turned around to see the owner of the voice. Duo grinned at them from the bottom of the stairway, a young woman standing next to him.

"The patio is this way," he informed them, pointing towards the right wing. They smiled sheepishly in return and walked towards him.

"Rahn's been running around upstairs looking for you three," Duo's companion told them, smiling kindly. "I'm Hilde Schbeiker."

Hikaru giggled as she introduced herself. "Shidou Hikaru."

"Her first name's Hikaru," Fuu clarified. "In Japanese, we give our last names first. Oh, excuse me. I'm Fuu. Hououji Fuu." She bowed.

"Ryuuzaki Umi," Umi introduced as well, nodding her head in respect.

"It's nice to meet you all. I apologize for any silliness Duo may have displayed last night. He tends to be a bit immature," Hilde said, grinning at Duo who stuck his tongue out at her.

"I am not immature," Duo replied, sniffing. "But I am hungry, so could we stop lollygagging?"

Hilde laughed at him, rubbing his arm as they led the three knights down the hall. "I'm sure Quatre's guests are hungry as well."

"You'll love the food here," Duo told them as they neared a glass door leading outside. "Quatre has the best cook, next to Hilde, of course. Nobody beats Hilde's cooking."

"—so they want to access the Mars base, but I informed them I would need your permission first," a dark blonde girl was talking to a pale blonde man.

"I suppose," he answered, chin on his fist. "But there's no point in them coming down when it's barely a fourth completed. Why can't they just go to the Lunar Base as they always have for their annual conferences?"

"They want to check up on their investments," the girl replied, shaking her head.

"Can't you do something about this, Quatre?" a violet-haired woman cut in. "Convince the Space Colonial Alliance to stay out of Mars until it's at least half completed?"

"I'm sorry, but it's out of my hands. I really didn't have any say in the matter. Although this opportunity has forced the Space Colonial Alliance and the Earth Sphere Unified Nations to come to an agreement," Quatre argued.

"Excuse me, but I'm here to introduce our guests," Hilde interrupted, winking. She pointed at the three girls, who glanced at one other in suspicious confusion.

"Pardon me, but what was the topic of your discussion?" Fuu questioned, her mind already piecing together the puzzle.

"Haven't you heard?" the violet-haired woman asked. "There's been talk that the space colony delegates want to enter the new Mars base."

"Mars base? What?" Hikaru looked very confused.

"Yes. The new Mars base that my brother, Milliardo Peacecraft," the blonde girl pointed at the tall man, "and his fiancé, Lucrezia Noin," she then pointed at the woman seated next to him, "have been working on for the past two years."

"I never heard of any Mars base," Hikaru said.

"We live in a fairly isolated part of Japan," Fuu quickly interjected, hugging Hikaru's shoulders tightly. "We hardly get any news of the space colonies or this Mars base."

"But you do recognize Relena and Quatre, right?" Hilde asked, only to receive negative answers.

"What? You don't know Relena Peacecraft Dorlain, Foreign Minister of the Earth Sphere Unified Nations?" Duo spoke, nearly choking on his bread when the girls shook their heads again.

"But you know me, Dorothy Catalonia?" the blonde who had been glaring at Fuu the night before asked, tossing her hair back. Once again, the girls shook their heads.

"Where have you three been? The B.C. era?" Duo joked, shaking his head in disbelief.

"You could say that," Umi replied uneasily. "As Fuu said, we live in a very, very isolated part of the world."

Hikaru nodded. "I didn't even know we had space colonies."

Umi closed her eyes, trying to refrain from yelling in frustration. "Hikaru…"

"I apologize for Hikaru-san," Fuu said, chuckling nervously. "Her family is very old-tradition."

"I couldn't tell," Duo muttered, earning him a smack in the head.

"Please, sit down and eat," Quatre said, motioning to the empty chairs. "Help yourselves to anything you want."

Hikaru stared at the long table piled with many types of food. "Wow, this is all for breakfast?"

"Thank you very much, Quatre-sama," Fuu said, taking a seat beside Hikaru.

"So how will you girls be returning home?" Quatre asked as he piled some fruit into his own plate.

"I don't think we'll be going home yet," Umi stated as she brushed her fingers over the lump in her jean pockets.

"Why not? Won't your parents be worried?" Noin asked them, pouring herself a glass of apple juice from the pitcher.

"Well, seeing as how you have all been so kind and seem very trustworthy," Umi began slowly, looking towards Fuu who nodded, "we are actually on the run."

At this statement, everybody at the table including Fuu looked up in surprise.

"Umi…"

Umi pretended to brush off Fuu's hiss as concern. "It's okay, Fuu. We can tell them."

"You're fugitives?"

Umi frowned at Heero as he walked onto the patio, raising an eyebrow at them. "No! We're being targeted by people who want to hurt my family."

"Why would someone want to hurt your family?" Heero countered, sitting down next to Duo.

"Because my parents are part of a secret society that protects the president of Japan."

That sounded stupid and unbelievable even to herself, and Umi grimaced inwardly at how their hosts must be taking the story. However, she felt the jewel in her pocket start to pulse with magic again, but it died just a few seconds later.

"Do not worry," Quatre answered, smiling. "Your secret is safe with us, Umi-san. If you'd like, you may stay with us until you are able to return home."

"Um, thank you," Umi accepted hesitantly as she heard Hikaru choke on her drink and Fuu breathe a sigh of relief. Apparently, the jewel had the power to bend other people's wills to suit her needs.

"Quatre-sama, you are a delegate of a space colony?" Fuu asked, suddenly taking on her usual interest in things.

"Yes, Fuu-san."

"What is it like to live in space?" Fuu continued, eyes shining with delight.

"It's very similar to Earth, except everything is synthetic, from the weather to the gravity force."

"I wish we could go there," Hikaru remarked wistfully.

"Relena and I are actually returning to L4 for a conference tomorrow and some of the others, I believe, will also be there on Preventers business. If you'd like, you may come with us," Quatre offered.

"Really?" the three exclaimed simultaneously.

"We don't want to intrude," Fuu added quickly, trying not to let her disappointment show.

"Don't worry! Besides, Relena and I can find some time to relax since we'll need to show our dear friends around the colony," Quatre replied, chuckling lightly.

"How about I suggest a day of rest and relaxation at the beach? After all, Hilde and I will be late in going to L4, so we need to make up the lost opportunity for fun today," Duo suggested, grinning at the thought of seeing beautiful women in bikinis.

"Duo, it's the middle of winter," Hilde stated, crossing her arms.

"But it's so warm outside!" Duo pointed at the sky. "See, the sun is shining, the sky is clear, the breeze is warm, the birds are chirping—perfect beach day!"

Quatre nodded in agreement. "It is rather nice today, but not surprising as we've been having really strange weather lately. Besides, I have nothing planned for today, so why not? Relena-sama?"

Relena smiled in acquiescence. "I was already planning to relax today before leaving for the colony tomorrow. Count me in."

"Sorry guys, but my partner and I have to finish up our project back at the headquarters before we can head up to space tomorrow," Sally sighed apologetically as she and Wufei stood up to leave.

"We actually need to return to the circus to prepare for tonight's show," Midii said, also standing up. "You guys should come and see us tonight."

"We'll be sure to bring the ladies to the circus tonight," Quatre promised as he walked the four of them out.

"So are the rest of you guys in?" Duo asked, focusing on the ones left at the table. Noin nodded, jabbing her elbow into her fiancé's stomach until he grunted in defeat.

"I haven't been out in the sun for awhile, so I suppose it'll be a nice change," Dorothy replied, stretching her arms up.

"I couldn't tell," Duo muttered, quickly changing the subject at the pale blonde's glare. He instead swung an arm around his buddy. "You coming with us, Heero?"

"Remove your arm or I will do it for you."

"Man, you are definitely coming. You need to loosen up."

"Don't make me repeat myself."

"I won't," Duo answered, not moving his arm. "Let's leave in time for a picnic."

"A picnic?" Dorothy echoed, raising an elegant brow. "How old are you, Duo? Five?

Duo ignored her comment and instead turned to Quatre, who was walking out onto the patio. "So how's eleven sound?"

"Sounds good," Quatre answered as he placed his hands on the back of Dorothy's chair. "I'll have the cooks prepare a lunch basket."

"You mean picnic basket," Dorothy corrected, smirking at Duo.

"Pardon me, Catalonia-san, but I must go prepare for Heero," Duo informed her, standing up.

"I'm not going."

"Afraid of showing a little skin?" Umi teased, waving her toast at him.

A painful memory flashed through his mind, but Heero quickly blocked it out and glared at the girl. Unfortunately, his glare faultered as he gazed into her blue eyes, another memory surfacing.

"No worries, dear Umi," Duo assured her, puffing out his chest, "as I've already managed to convince Heero to go to the beach before."

"Please, that was one time."

"And that was because you told him it was for a mission."

"To save Relena-sama from a shark."

"A robotic shark built by terrorists planning to kidnap her."

"He believed all that?" Umi asked, staring at the stoic young man incredulously as he listened to Hilde and Dorothy describe the event. Even Hikaru wasn't that innocent. Unless you told her it was a puppy that needed to be saved.

"Of course not."

"But Lady Une confirmed the details."

"So she more or less told him it was part of a mission to go to the beach."

"And we all know Heero never disobeys orders."

"Maybe we should just ask Lady Une to order him to go again."

"I'll call her right now."

"But today's Saturday, so technically Heero's not working."

"Has that ever prevented him from not following orders before?"

"Would you like for me to call her house?"

"She's on L1 right now."

"Where is she staying?"

"Fine, I'll come," Heero snapped, glaring at his so-called friends. He was growing irritated as they talked about him as if he weren't even there. They didn't need to ignore his presence altogether just because he prefers to keep silent.

"Knew you'd see it our way," Duo said smugly, winking at Hilde and Dorothy as Heero stalked back into the house.

"Impressive," Umi remarked, shaking her head. She never would have guessed such a dangerous and detached young man would do something simply because his superior ordered him to do so. If she ever listened to anything Ferio told her to do, well, she didn't want to think about that.


"Where'd Quatre and Dorothy run off to?" Hikaru asked as she throwing a potato chip in her mouth.

"Quatre has an emergency back at the house, and Dorothy went with him," Noin explained, popping up a soda can. "He said he'll meet up with us at the circus tonight."

"Volleyball!" Hilde suddenly suggested as she picked up the ball, moving to the nets.

Duo ran up to her, jumped up and grabbed the ball in mid-throw. "I call Hilde! And Heero!"

"Try not to knock down another fat man's ice cream," Hilde warned him. "But if you do, at least warn me this time before throwing the ball to me."

"Yes, ma'am," Duo affirmed, saluting. "Yo, Heero, why are you going to the other side?"

"I prefer not to lose."

"Hey, Hilde's not that bad."

"Duo!"

"What? He's the one who's calling you a bad player."

"You're impossible, Duo. So how do we set up the teams?"

"I'll play on your team," Umi told Hilde as she brushed sand off her shorts, eyes taking on a dark, sinister glint as she looked haughtily at Heero. "My team never loses."

"Hn."

Fuu saw Umi's look and sat back down immediately, although a little further from the makeshift court, saying, "I think I'll sit this one out."

"I'm with Umi," Hikaru replied hurriedly as stood as far away from her blue-haired friend as possible.

Duo and Hilde glanced nervously at each other, wondering why Umi's friends were so nervous. But they shouldn't have to worry, as Umi as on their team. Right?

"I guess that means we get to play with Heero," Noin said as she pulled Milliardo with her, winking at Relena.

"Ball," Umi commanded Duo, who threw the ball to her. "Service!"

Umi threw the ball up in the air, jumped, and spiked it down to the other side, heading straight for Relena. She shrieked as she hit the high-speed ball, but it bounded behind Noin and outside, but Milliardo darted out and saved the ball, knocking it to the other side. Hikaru moved under the ball for a set and Duo jumped forward to spike it down to the other side, which had Milliardo diving to hit the ball. Noin then set the ball, allowing Heero to jump up and spike it down to the other side toward Duo, who screamed and dodged.

Heero smirked knowingly at Umi, who fumed. He knew for a fact that Duo would dodge every one of his spikes, and planned to use that to his advantage.

"Duo! What was that? You're supposed to hit the ball, not run away from it!" Umi scolded him. She was not about to lose to that arrogant idiot. Besides, her team never lost.

"Have you never seen one of Heero's spikes come at you? It was about to cut my head off!"

"And this is Heero. It was going 100, at least."

"Service."

Umi served the ball to the other side lightly, wanting to catch them off guard. Heero received the ball, sending it Milliardo who simply hit it back. Hilde received the ball and bumped it to Hikaru, who also bumped it to the other side. However, Heero jumped up and blocked the ball, and Duo ran forward to save it and set it up for Umi who spiked it down towards to Relena. Relena attempted to rebound the ball, but instead, hit it sideways, hitting a fat man walking by, knocking his ice cream from its cone and onto the ground.

"Hah! It wasn't me this time!"

Hilde sighed and rubbed her forehead, shaking her head at Hikaru's confused look.

Fuu sighed, "This is going to be a long game." She perched under an umbrella, took a book out of her bag, and began reading.


After an hour, the other players were too wary of Heero and Umi and decided to move off the court, letting the two contestants battle it out in the sand. While the others splashed around in the waves and sat around to soak in the sun, Heero and Umi continued their hard volleying, trying to force the other to back down.

"Thought you preferred not to lose," Umi taunted with a smirk, but panting as she sat down on a blanket. He didn't exactly lose, but he didn't win either. Therefore, she could still gloat at the fact that she still never lost a game—she chose to ignore the fact that this was the first game she didn't win in three years.

"Didn't lose," Heero remarked as he sat down in front of her, staring her down. Her smirk irritated him, especially since she didn't win either. Besides, he had to make up for the draw in some other area—and everyone knew he was the master at glaring and staring people down.

"Neither did I, nor will I ever," Umi responded, keeping her eyes straight with his.

"As long as you never play against me again."

"I can play you whenever, wherever, and still win!" Umi answered, still not backing down. Duo chocked on his drink and Fuu dropped her book.

Heero raised an eyebrow. Apparently the girl didn't notice how her words sounded, but he'll correct that. "Didn't know you thought of me like that."

"What are you talking about?" Umi also raised an eyebrow. Replaying her proclamation in her head, her eyes widened as a blush crept up her face. She blinked rapidly as she backed away, shaking her head rapidly. Too late she realized she had broken from their staring contest first, groaning as defeat added to her humiliation. Furthermore, Duo and Hilde were still laughing, Fuu also trying to hide her amusement behind the upside-down book.

"Umi, really," Duo gasped between his laughs.

"That's not what I meant! Stop laughing, damn it. Not you too, Fuu!"

"I'm sorry Umi-san," Fuu said as she tried to contain her laughter.

"I don't get it," Hikaru told them, cocking her head to the side.

Relena stared menacingly at Umi but spoke to Hikaru, "It's better that you don't."

Umi turned away from Relena's intense gaze, nervously wondering why the polite young woman would be looking at her in such a malicious way. Did she do something to offend the other woman? Surely it couldn't have been her ruthless volleyball playing—she hadn't meant to spike the ball so hard in Relena's direction.

"Heero! Where you going, buddy?" Duo called out to the retreating back of his friend.

"Taking a stroll. Alone," he added, seeing the hopeful spark in Relena's eyes. He admits, Umi was very good at volleyball, although he would have eventually defeated her, but she had tired him out and he didn't feel like listening to them chatter. In any case, it was getting dark and he wanted to enjoy the sunset from a quiet place.

As the rest of them relaxed to the sound of the waves and talked about random things, Umi sighed as she rolled onto her stomach, gazing wistfully at the ocean. She missed the constant presence of Ceres and the soothing ocean-like feel he had about him.

"Umi-chan?" Hikaru whispered, a hand on her friend's shoulder.

Umi returned the redhead's smile, murmuring, "I'd like to take a walk."

Hikaru nodded, patting the water knight's shoulder. "Then go ahead. I know how much you love the ocean."

"Thanks, Hikaru," Umi replied as she slowly stood up. Dusting her shirt and shorts, she walked off with a wave at her friends and turned to look admiringly at the orange sky. After a few minutes, she no longer heard the laughter from the others, and she basked in the silence. However, she noticed a solitary figure sitting on a log a few feet in front of her, also observing the sunset. Recognizing the brown locks and well-toned body, Umi tried to turn back quietly.

"Umi."

The girl froze at the sound of her name, although it was neither harsh nor inviting. Sighing, she strolled up to the log and acknowledged the young man.

"Heero."


Author's Notes:

That was a dull and pointless chapter. I definitely need more interesting ideas. Would anyone like to volunteer an idea or lend a muse? I'm not even sure what's going to happen next. Well, changed the chapter title to make it sound a little better, as you did learn a little more about Umi's jewel. I wonder what else it could do…

Anyways, anyone know where I got the 'fat guy with the ice cream cone' from (hint: movie)? Virtual Heero and/or Umi plushie for those of you that guess right! Hehe.