Well, hello everyone! This is Reaven, and I finally got around to writing a Magic Knight Rayearth story!

Chapter One- Nightmare

-Dreamscape-

There was blood on her hands, his blood. The man lay slumped at her feet, looking up at her with hazy eyes. He was dying.

"Umi..." he whispered softly.

"No! Don't leave me here, alone! Don't leave me... don't leave me... please... don't die..." She cried out, hot tears streaming down her face. Who was this man? He was so familiar to her... She knelt down next to him.

"Who are you?" She whispered. Gods, he looked so familiar. Where did she know him from? Who was he!

"Umi...why didn't you come? Why...Umi...why? Why did you let me die?" He clenched his teeth in pain; he stared up at her with sad eyes, a single tear making its way down his cheek.

"What?" She gasped, "I didn't..." His body slowly evaporated in a shimmer of sparks and Umi leapt back with a hysterical sob. She was very close to this man... whoever he might be. She knew that from the way her heart ached when he looked at her with those sad eyes... She couldn't have let him die!

"Umi..." Umi whirled around to come face to face with Hikaru. Her red-haired friend stood some distance away from her.

"Umi..." Hikaru murmured once again, staring sadly at her feet. There was blood all over her face. "Why didn't you come, Umi? Why did you let us die, Umi? Umi!" Hikaru sank to her knees and coughed up blood. "Umi...save us!"

"Hikaru!" Umi screamed, but Hikaru slumped to the side; her sightless eyes stared up at the inky blackness. Her body slowly drifted away, disappearing from sight.

"Save us...save us...save us..." Shrieked the voices of all her friends. Hikaru, Fuu, Presea, Caldina, Clef, Ascot, Lantis, Ferio... The voices beat at her head and Umi screamed and staggered away, sobbing.

"I'm coming! I'm trying! I'm trying!"

"What makes you think you can save them? What can -you- do? You're just some spoiled little -brat-." A voice hissed.

"No! I'm not...I'm a Magic Knight!" Umi whimpered.

"You're not -worthy- to be a Magic Knight! You are just a foolish weakling! You are -nothing-!"The voice laughed. The voice was not distinguishably male or female, and Umi found herself referring to it unconsciously as 'it'.

"No! I'm not! I'm not!" Umi screamed, and whirled around and stumbled desperately away from the voice that was saying those...lies!

"Are they, Umi? Are they lies?" It whispered. Umi jerked backwards.

"Shut up! They are! They're LIES!"

"You feel the truth of it, Umi. You believe me somewhere deep inside of you..."

-End Dreamscape-

Clef jerked up in his bed, gasping. Terror...he felt terror. But it was not -his- terror. He slipped out of his bed while he reached out, palm outstretched, and his staff flew to his hand. Who has a close enough connection with me to make me feel their emotions? Drawing his magic to him, he concentrated on the source of the fear. Umi... Clef's head twitched up and a short gasp left his throat. The Magic Knight of Water is that close to me? I never realized that before... she'sthat close?...Stop. Think about that later. First, find out what's wrong with Umi... Clef murmured something under his breath and he faded from his room and reappeared in Umi's quarters.

Umi thrashed furiously on her bed, the sheets thrown on the floor.

"No! No, I'm NOT! All LIES!" She shrieked, her fists slamming against the wall. "I'm not!" She slumped back down onto the bed, whimpering. One arm flopped out away from her body and Clef could see crimson blood trickling down from her palm. Oh gods, she's bleeding! What kind of nightmare?... He strode over to the bed and grabbed her shoulders and shook her, hard.

"Wake up, Umi!" He said urgently. Her eyelids flickered a bit.

"I'm not..." She murmured again, only half awake.

"Shh..." He said soothingly, "It was just a dream...just a dream, Umi." Her eyes opened fully and she stared blearily at him.

"W...what happened?" She said softly, staring at him.

"You were having a nightmare, Umi. You hurt yourself." He held up her hand, showing her the blood. "I could feel your fear through spells I had placed on the room." He lied. She stared at her hand for a second, then clenched it and burst into tears. He placed a gentle hand on her shoulder and quietly stood there until her sobs subsided.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He said softly. Talking would usually help get over the nightmare. She shook her head mutely. Very well. "Do you want me to get a potion? I have one that will keep away dreams." After a hesitation, she nodded. He flicked his fingers, and a cup appeared in his hand. He offered it to Umi, and she took it. A slight frown on her face, she rubbed the rim absently, her eyes downcast. He stared at her, concerned.

Suddenly snapping out of it, she smiled reassuringly at him, but he was not fooled. She tipped her head back and downed the entire potion in a single gulp. She reached over and pulled the sheets onto the bed and lay gently back onto her pillow. She snuggled into the sheets, closed her eyes, turned away from him, and let the potion take over her system.

Clef pursed his lips in worry. There was definitely something wrong with Umi. She was never that quiet and submissive. The only words she had spoken to him were 'What happened?'. If she was her normal self, she would have whacked him on the head with a mallet, called him 'a perverted old man', screamed at him a few minutes, and ordered him out (then apologized the next morning). He found now that he much preferred the other Umi, this one just troubled him.

Also, the potion had taken over too fast. The stronger one's heart was, the more time it would take for the potion to work, and Umi had one of the strongest hearts he knew. She was, after all, a Magic Knight. That potion had taken over far too fast. What was that nightmare about, Umi? What did it do to you?

After watching Umi for a few more minutes, he transported back to his room, deep in thought.

-Next Morning-

Umi's eyes flickered open and she yawned. She reached up and slowly rubbed her eyes, feeling the dried tears from the night before. She gasped. That dream! She let out a shuddering breath. Hikaru had been dead... and that man...(who was he?)...and that voice...it said... She gasped and clapped her hands over her ears. STOP IT! Stop thinking about it! It was NOT TRUE! It was a DREAM! She banged her fist against her forhead and gave a shuddering sigh.

And then...Clef was here. He woke me up from that dream...and gave me that potion... She let out a soft breath and a smile tugged at the corners of her lips. Clef could be such a sweetie-pie when he wasn't popping you over the head with his staff for disturbing his peace and quiet...or insulting his height. A real smile came this time. The Guru was incredible fun to tease, especially about his height.

Her spirits suddenly raised, she swung her feet over the side of the bed and stood up. She walked over to the closet and after a moment of indecision, she decided on a sky blue tank top-ish shirt with jeans. She stripped out of her sleep clothes and donned the ones that she had chosen a minute ago.

She stepped lightly over to the bathroom that was connected to her sleeping quarters, and over to the sink. This sink resembled the old fashioned sinks that Umi had seen in old houses. She rather liked it. It was ornately carved with pink and blue swirls, and it had a deep basin and an ivory colored faucet. She stuck her hands under the faucet and the water automatically flowed out. Umi grinned. Things like that were so easy to use in Cephiro, because it was a land controlled by will. Therefore, if she willed the faucet to spout water, it would! She splashed some cool water on her face, than grabbed a light blue towel that was hanging on a rack, and dried her face off.

She checked herself in the mirror and decided that she looked fine. I'm to lazy to put on any make-up at the moment... She walked out of the bathroom, out of her bedroom, and into the hallway.

"Umi!" A happy voice exclaimed from down the hallway. She turned to see Hikaru bounding down the hallway toward her. Hikaru skid to the stop in front of her. "Hey, sleepyhead! You're finally up! You slept until one o'clock!" Umi looked startled.

"I did?" Hikaru nodded, grinning. I guess Clef's sleeping potion worked a bit -too- well. She shrugged. "Sorry!" Hikaru grabbed Umi's arm and dragged her toward the breakfast hall.

-Breakfast Hall-

The doors to the hall flew open as Hikaru burst in with Umi in tow. Clef gave a silent sigh of relief. Umi looked a lot better this morning, a lot more like herself. Maybe I'm overreacting. It was just a nightmare.

"Umi-chan! You're awake!" Fuu said happily. Umi laughed and shrugged a shoulder.

"I had trouble sleeping..." She said lightly. Well, that's an understatement...Clef thought to himself. He nibbled on a piece of bread as he watched Hikaru drag Umi over to where Fuu, Presea, and Caldina sat, clustered around a table.

The five of them soon got into a spirited discussion about something or another. As he watched, Umi sat back as Hikaru got particularly excited about something she was saying. After a couple of minutes, no one seemed to really notice that she had stopped participating. She bit her lip and looked down. Clef frowned. There was that look in her eyes again, the one that he had seen last night. It's kind of a lost...lonely look. Her lips pressed slightly together and her shoulders hunched a little bit over.

"Is there anything wrong, Guru Clef?" Lantis asked him, as he came up quietly behind the Guru. Clef gave him a quick smile.

"No. It's nothing." Lantis frowned at him.

"Don't listen to him, Lantis." Ferio joined the two, grinning. "The world could be coming to an end and he would say that, just so we wouldn't worry!" Clef mock glared at him and whacked him gently on the head with his staff.

"No, this time it is the truth. I really have no reason to think that there is something amiss...just my instincts." He sighed. "But I will tell you if I find out anything serious is going on."

"Good!" Ferio said, smiling, but there was a hint of worry in his eye. Clef sighed again and glanced over to where Umi sat. Umi had joined back in the conversationg and was grinning and laughing, like her normal self. There was no trace of the Umi that he had seen a minute before. I really hope that it's nothing, Ferio. I really do...

>

"Damn that Master Mage! He managed to break my hold on her last night, so much that she woke up. And just this morning, just the -thought- of him broke my hold. Damn him." -pause- "Hmm...I wonder..."

>

Hello again!

If you haven't figured it out yet, the romance is going to be Clemi. I -adore- Clemi.

This story will probably be about six chapters, if I get around to finishing it. I have a habit of never finishing my stories, and I really want to finish this one. So I am asking anyone who reads this story to email me, or IM me, or bug me until I post the next chapter. Uh...please? But then you would only do that if you like my story...which I'm not sure you will...:sighs:

Ah yes, let me tell you about my Review Policy. Unless it is a flame, if you review my story, I will read and review any of your stories!

By the way, I have a couple of one-shot Clemi plotbunnies floating around in my head, and I was wondering if anyone would like me to post those. They are veryfluffy, which just proves my obbsession with fluff. >.

Please Review!

Love to all!

: Reaven :