Author's Note: Hello dear readers! I hope you've had a wonderful May! I had a lovely birthday yesterday, and generally a good day. The whole birthday outing and such obviously delaying posting of this chapter a little, but I think it is probably worth it.

Replies: Peach - It certainly would make things more complicated. Imagine the trouble that would cause!
James Birdsong - Thank you!
Mimi - Here is the next chapter! Hope you enjoy it!

Content Note: This chapter has been edited for sexual conent and language. For the full uncensored version, please find this story on AO3

Chapter 12
In which Clef learns of a mistake

The next week didn't pass nearly as quickly as Umi would have liked. By Saturday morning Umi was fidgeting nearly incessantly in her seat in lessons, barely focusing on what her teacher was saying. All she could think about was getting to Cephiro.

It was Clef's day off, and she had decided she was going to make the most of what time he had - as many times as they could manage. Maybe then she would be able to think about something beyond the touch of his hands on her skin as they moved together, his body pressed against hers, the feeling of him inside her.

At the final thought, she blushed, pencil frozen on her paper as she pressed her knees together.

"What's got you all flustered?" Rika hissed, reaching over to poke her in the side.

"Nothing." Umi shook her head and laughed, cheeks burning.

She tapped her pencil against her lips and stared up at the clock, willing it to move faster. If she'd known that missing out last Sunday's visit would leave her feeling so unsatisfied - touching herself this week had mostly just wound her up more - she might have tried to work out some way of getting free from her mother for a few hours, not that she would have managed it, but she'd have definitely tried.

When the school bell rang at noon, Umi was one of the first ones from her class down at the shoe lockers to change. She'd traded her cleaning duties with Yui so she could get out as quickly as possible

Umi had her boots out of her locker and was reaching for her phone to let Fuu and Hikaru know she was going to Cephiro a day early when Mako appeared around the corner. "I knew it! You're ditching us for the boy again, aren't you?"

"I already retired from fencing club!" Most third years had dropped club activities after the summer holidays to focus on studying for university entrance exams. Umi was still turning up for club training during the week despite her official withdrawal, but she had plans for her new free hours on Saturdays.

"At the party you promised you'd come today," Mako said, snatching the boots out of Umi's hands and shoving them back into her locker. "You can wait a few more hours to go see your boyfriend."

"Mako!" Umi wailed, but let herself be dragged back into the school for just a little longer.

.*.*.*.

Clef felt ridiculous about how much he'd missed Umi over the past week. This time last year, Umi had been so busy with family and school commitments he hadn't seen her for several months. A single week apart - when she seemed well - shouldn't leave him so frustrated that he couldn't even talk to her.

Part of that might just be his desperate wish for a distraction. Murano was doing his level best to be a barrier to anything Clef was trying to do in both the Council and the Mage's Guild. Though he hadn't outright said it, Murano was also heavily implying Clef had lost his ability to be rational now he'd ended his near four-hundred years celibacy, as if that suddenly made him unfit to be Guru. If it did, neither the Council nor the Guild would have approved the change in the first place.

It wasn't as if this nonsense would gain Murano anything - whatever he actually wanted. Clef highly doubted the Guild would vote in a Master Mage who was willing to throw over their partner of more than a century to take the post.

Unless, of course, he just wanted to make Clef miserable, which he was managing quite well enough.

Knowing Umi, if he complained about it to her she'd go find someone to shout at, which would probably only make things worse. It would still be better than Ferio's 'I told you so's, and he didn't dare bring up the topic at home. Getz would only say in his 'professional opinion as a healer' they might have a point, before laughing again at Clef not showing Umi nearly as much of Mazda as he should have. 'A tour of the bedrooms doesn't count', he'd said, and Aveo had snorted and agreed.

Clef was glaring at a financial report trying to make sense of the Guild's spending when his office door was suddenly flung open.

He jerked his head up to see Umi stride into the room, glancing quickly about before throwing her bag to the floor and turning back to slam her hand against the door. He could feel her magic pulse through the shield as she threw power into it, far more than was needed to ensure their privacy. His pulse sped up, a shiver running through his chest. "Umi?"

When she turned back, her eyes were dark. "I need you to touch me."

"I have a meeting in twenty minutes," he said, not sure he actually cared. His blood and even his magic were being swiftly diverted from where they should be, and there wasn't going to be much concentrating on the report in his hands even if he sent her away.

"So we've got twenty minutes," Umi said, a grin on her lips and her cheeks flushed.

"But this is my office," Clef protested.

"Well, I've always thought your desk looked sturdy."

Clef's thoughts, his breath - everything stalled out on that one insistant image.

He set his pen down before he could snap it, and cleared his work from the middle of his desk before even managing to formulate a reply. Umi took that as an answer, anyway, crossing the room in a rush and already working her underwear off underneath the skirt of her uniform. She kicked the scrap of fabric off as she rounded the desk, reaching for him, his clothes.

.*.*.*.

Umi clutched the desk, her legs wobbly and weak. That has been… well, more than she'd imagined all those hours she'd spent in here watching him work. She opened her mouth to speak but was interrupted by a sharp and insistent knocking at the door.

Clef yanked himself away.

Umi leaned against the desk, everything still singing with satisfaction and the lingering spark of his magic. Pushing herself upright on trembling arms, Umi straightened her clothing, as best she could, getting everything mostly back how it belonged - except her underwear which seemed to have gone missing again. She was combing her fingers through her hair when she turned to watch Clef fasten his trousers and smooth his robes back over them before lifting a hand to open the door, flushing riding high on his face.

There was a sharp itch tugging at Umi's chest as Clef flexed his fingers.

"I - Your shield," he said.

"Oh!" She turned to the door and grabbed for the magic she'd shoved into the door in her hurry for privacy.

The door burst open and Lantis came charging in. "Guru, there's been a disturbance of the shields in…" He stopped just inside the door when he caught sight of Umi, his sentence trailing away. "...in this… area?"

Umi could only imagine what it looked like, the way she and Clef were standing there, both of them incredibly rumpled. Paper was scattered across the floor and Clef's coronet was nowhere on their side of the desk that she could see; it was probably what Lantis was looking at when his glance flickered to the floor and then back at them. (Hopefully. Otherwise, it was probably her underwear which would be far more embarrassing.)

"Clef's been teaching me how to use shields," Umi babbled, the excuse popping into her head and out of her mouth before she had a chance to second guess it.

"Ah, yes," Clef agreed, his voice squeaking far less than hers, but still not at all steady. "Umi's just been demonstrating what she's learnt. I forgot the wards on this room are monitored?

"Right." There was a pause as Lantis looked them over one more time, and Umi almost thought she saw the corner of his mouth twitch. "Shall I let the Guard know that you're going to be a few minutes late?"

"That - would be useful. If you don't mind?"

Lantis nodded, turned, and left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

"Shit!" Umi hissed, turning to Clef as she leaned back against the desk. She looked down at herself and back at Clef. "He definitely knows we weren't doing magic." She reached up and straightened his mantle with hands that still shook a little, taking her time smoothing the long sashes running down the front of his robes.

Clef gently straightened her tie before slipping his hands back around her waist as he stepped forward. "Lantis will keep this to himself," he whispered against her lips. "And it's not like I'm not allowed. Mostly."

Umi slid her arms up about his neck as she leaned into him and a gentle, thorough kind of kiss which calmed her racing pulse until it started to do the opposite.

"Still, we might be better off using my rooms, rather than my office, next time." He pressed a final kiss to her cheek. "My meeting should be over within the hour, then I'll come find you?"

Taking a breath to steady herself, Umi flicked her hair back over her shoulder and smiled. "Are you going to give me a proper tour, this time?"

"As long as you don't distract me again." He rummaged through one of the teetering piles of papers, then picked up his coronet from the floor and shoved it back on his head.

Umi gathered up the mess from the floor and put it back up on the desk. She found her underwear - under the desk chair and, thankfully, not out where Lantis could have seen it - and put it back on. She had no idea what she was going to do with herself for the next hour, but lurking in Clef's office would be both boring and suspicious.

She followed him to the door, stopping to pick up her school bag on the way, and strode triumphantly down the corridor, going back to the room she shared with Hikaru and Fuu to freshen up and grab some clean underwear.

.*.*.*.

Trying to ignore the lingering headache attempting to reassert itself now she'd come down off the enthusiastic high of earlier, Umi went in search of a snack. As she passed the archway for one of the garden rooms, Umi heard Ascot laugh with one of his friends whistling along. They stood under the largest taiya tree with another of his friends, gathering fruit.

"Hey, Ascot," Umi called, stepping into the room.

He spun around in surprise but smiled brightly when he saw it was her. "Hi, Umi! I didn't think you were visiting until tomorrow?"

"I came early." She grinned. There were large baskets under the edge of the trees filled with the golden fruits, and they looked delicious. Rather than ask to have one they'd already picked, Umi hoisted herself into the lower branches. There was plenty of fruit around her, but she had her eyes on the ones nearest the top, which were the tastiest.

Unfortunately, her school boots didn't have the best grip for climbing trees; she slipped, nearly falling into the hastily outstretched hands of Yaris, Ascot's bird-headed bipedal friend.

"Do you want some help?" Ascot asked, and Yaris clicked his beak encouragingly.

Umi looked from Yaris's hands and up to his face. "A little help would be nice. I just wanted to get higher up," she said, feeling a little silly.

Yaris warbled at her, and she clambered into his hands. He stood there a moment, head tilting to one side as he studied her. Umi blushed, trying not to think about what he might be noticing.

There was no way she was going to ask Ascot why his friend was looking at her with such interest after what she'd been doing. But Yaris warbled again and lifted her up to the top of the tree a moment later, so maybe it wasn't anything important.

Settling into the branches, Umi picked a fruit about the size of a large apple, the skin going from deep gold to almost a rosy colour along one side. She sank her teeth into it, the sticky juice running down her chin. It tasted even better than she remembered, that sweet taste of pear crossed with peach and a sharp tang of something else she could never quite describe.

She ate the second slower than the first, waving Ascot off when he called he was leaving and did she need a hand down? She would manage it somehow. When Clef found her, she was still nibbling a fourth fruit, or was it a fifth?

"How'd you get all the way up there?" he asked, standing at the foot of the tree.

"With help?" she answered, swallowing her mouthful. Only then did she notice how sticky her hands were. She'd managed to drip juice all over herself. "...You can get me down, right?"

Clef laughed, and she glared down at him, tempted to drop the half-taiya she still held onto his head. He only saved himself from the headache by summoning a ladder before she'd managed to aim - and saying nothing about the juice stains when she got down.

"Did you still want that tour of my rooms?" he asked, instead.

Grinning, Umi grabbed his hand - ignoring his protest at how sticky her fingers were - and pulled him all the way back to his rooms through empty afternoon corridors. He stopped outside the doors and laid a hand just above the main handle, instead of actually opening the door.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm giving you access to my rooms," Clef said, lifting her hand and pressing it beside his on the door.

The spell washed up over her arm for a brief moment, tugging lightly at her magic before dissipating. Her skin prickled with pins and needles, and she rubbed her hand as Clef stepped aside and waved a hand at the door.

Rolling her eyes at him, Umi stepped forward and reached for the handle. Something clicked when she touched the door and it opened when she pushed it. "So, you basically just gave me a key to your place?"

"Well, you're the one who said you want to move in with me." Clef shrugged, looking like he was fighting a grin. "It also seems rude not to give you access if you think you might stay the night."

With a laugh, Umi took Clef's hand and pulled him into his rooms, shutting the door firmly behind them.

.*.*.*.

Clef leaned back against the headboard, pushing sweat-damp hair out of his face, and eyeing Umi as she perched on the side of the bed. She was looking at him speculatively over the glass of water she'd just returned with.

"Don't even think about it," he said. "I'm done, and my wrists ache." He wanted to just curl up together and hold her for another hour, but the bell for the start of dinner had already rung. She shouldn't miss any meals because of him.

"I wasn't," Umi laughed. "I was going to ask if you had any of my clothes in here, or if you had them sent to my room."

He waved a hand at the wardrobe. "Bottom shelf. Everything you left should be in there."

"Thanks." Umi passed him the half-full glass, and hopped off the bed to go look.

Clef took a long drink, watching her fish out the parcel he'd brought back and untie the light purple wrapping cloth. Everything had been washed, neatly folded, and sent back to the Castle with him. Getz was still poking fun at him for the underwear he'd found out in the orchard after Umi's visit, but it too was cleaned and in the stack.

"I wasn't sure if you wanted me handing it off to the other girls, so I kept it."

"I haven't actually talked to them about… us, yet," Umi said, looking up at him with flushed cheeks. "It's not like it's anyone's business but ours, right?"

"Well, aside from that whole 'grabbing the ocean to keep Honda from falling off' thing," Clef said, with a huff of laughter that came out darker than he'd intended. "They were still bringing it up in Council this week."

Umi stopped and stared at him. "Clef, did I get you in trouble with that?"

"Don't worry about it." Clef waved her off and took another drink. Even though he wanted to complain, it wouldn't help to have her fretting about it too.

Dress and underwear chosen, Umi tied the cloth and put the rest back. Clef was tempted to ask if she wanted to hang them up instead - he had cleared some space for her - but bit his tongue. She was probably only leaving it there until she left tomorrow anyway. Just because she said she'd like to move in with him next year didn't mean she was going to start keeping clothes in his rooms today.

He waved Umi off to shower first, and he'd almost stopped trembling by the time it was his turn, but he was very ready for something to eat as they headed down to dinner.

Ascot gave them the strangest look when they walked in. Clef would have wondered about it more if Ferio and Caldina didn't also turn and fix him with equally indescribable expressions.

"That's a new look," Caldina said, eyes trailing over him longer than they'd ever done. "Don't think I've ever seen you without all the pomp and circumstance."

Clef looked down at himself. He'd grabbed a belted tunic woven in deep blues and greens over the first not-clashing trousers he'd found in the wardrobe. It felt a little strange to not be wearing his full regalia in the Castle, where he was 'on the job' every waking moment, but he hadn't even thought about it until Caldina pointed it out. With a shrug, he said, "It happens sometimes."

"Looks good on you," Caldina said, thoughtfully. She cast a look at Umi beside him. "But I assume you already know that."

Umi snickered as she sat down. She'd complimented his outfit by offering to take it back off of him.

"That's nothing like subtle, you know." Ferio complained.

"I'm allowed to change my clothes," Clef said, sitting in the open space at Umi's side. "I don't need to be acting as Guru to eat my dinner. You're the one always telling me that I need to separate my work from my personal life. I'm allowed to have one of those, now."

"No, you're allowed to have a sex life. And you know what I mean."

Clef ignored Ferio, distracted by the look on Umi's face when she picked up the tray of gia. She honestly looked nauseated when she shoved it at Clef, waving it away.

"What did it do to you?" he asked.

"It just smells off," Umi said, wrinkling her nose. "Either it's gone bad, or I'm coming down with a cold, or something."

"If I get sick in the next week or two, I'm blaming you."

Umi stuck her tongue out at him, then turned her attention across the table. "Hey, Ascot, I still owe you a cake for your birthday."

Ascot shook his head, furiously waving her off with his hand not holding a fork. "Don't worry about it. You're - you're busy with - with school - and, um..."

"I want to." Umi insisted. "I'll bring one next week. We could have a party." Caldina leapt on that suggestion with great enthusiasm, and kept the topic going through the whole meal.

When Umi had cleared her plate - and dragged another few pieces of bread across it to absorb any leftover traces of sauce - she started picking at Clef's.

"Hey!" Clef swatted her hand away.

"I'm still hungry," Umi complained as she stole a bit of fruit from under his hand.

"Then have a second helping." Clef grabbed the serving bowl of the dish Umi had been eating and thumped it down in front of her. "Stop stealing my food."

"Mean," Umi complained as she loaded her plate again, ripping up yet another piece of bread as she started eating.

Clef studied her over the rim of his cup. It had been three weeks since she'd wiped herself out - but there wasn't much magic in Tokyo, from what she'd told him. It could be impacting on her ability to regenerate her magic to a stable level, which would account for the headache, too. If she was so low her body was trying to compensate with food… that wasn't a good sign. "If it's going to drain you this much right now, you might want to reconsider travelling between worlds on your own."

"Shut up," Umi muttered around her mouthful. "I'm fine."

"Three weeks ago -"

"Three weeks ago, I felt awful! I'm just a little tired still, okay?" she hissed with a glare and a wave of her bread. "I'm not staying home because of a little headache."

Clef dropped it, but kept watching her - at least until they finished and started to head out, and Lantis caught his attention. He was waiting by the door, looking serious, and Clef slowed.

Umi eyed Lantis warily. "D'you think this is about earlier?"

"Maybe?" Clef shrugged. "If you actually did manage to interfere with the shields, I'm making you fix it."

"Hey! I didn't use that much power. If the Castle shields can't stand up to me, they're worthless anyway."

Clef laughed then waved her on ahead. From the look on Lantis's face, Clef felt he'd rather have this conversation without an audience. When Lantis drew him aside into one of the small storerooms where no one could overhear them, the conviction grew.

"About Umi…" Clef began.

"It's really none of my business," Lantis reached into a pocket and pulled out an envelope. "But, here. For your… shielding lessons. I wouldn't trust any of the short-term potions. There's very little magic in their world, and even the protection charms don't seem to hold once they've returned." He pushed the envelope into Clef's hands and just walked out, like they'd only discussed something innocuous, not the fact Clef's week-long affair with a Magic Knight might have greater repercussions than a dent in his reputation.

Clef stared after him. For the briefest of moments, he wondered how Lantis knew the protection charms didn't hold, then he shook that thought right out of his head. There were things he didn't want to know about his students - their sex lives being one of them.

Opening the envelope, Clef stared at the five little packets inside. Two had Tokyo lettering on them, but the text on other three labeled them as contraceptive sheaths from Autozam. Clef took a long, slow breath and folded the flap back down, a wordless shout echoing in his head.

.*.*.*.

Back in Clef's rooms, Umi made herself comfortable on the settee with a pot of tea and book. She'd finished the tea and was beginning to doze off by the time Clef finally returned to his rooms. "What took you so long?" she asked, yawning about the words. "Did Lantis give you the talk, or something?"

"Not exactly." Clef's face was worryingly serious, with not even a hint of the smile he'd had at dinner.

Umi shoved herself up. "Clef, what's wrong?"

He was clutching a small envelope, and she recognised his name on the front of it. He handed it over to her after a moment. "Something I hadn't thought of before, but I should have."

Umi opened the envelope and let out a startled squeak. "What's - why are there condoms in here?"

"With all the excitement, I completely forgot what it means that there's practically no magic in your world." He dropped down on the settee beside her and rubbed a hand over his face. "The potion you took doesn't actually stop the possibility of fertilising something. Unlike the one I'm now taking, it simply keeps anything from, well, sticking. And that's only if the spell wound into it stays active for as long as it might take for everything to - leave your body. If the spell got interrupted by something - like returning to a world without magic to uphold it - it's not likely, but it is possible- that -" He swallowed.

Her fingers tightened on the paper as she stared at him. If the potion she'd used stopped working when she went home, that meant - "Are you trying to tell me that we've had a lot of vaguely unprotected sex, and you think I'm pregnant?"

"Only those first two or three days before mine was properly active." His voice was hushed. "And it was long enough before you went home that nothing from those first days should have been present by then." He wouldn't look at her. "And Cephirans aren't... particularly fertile. That's one of the many reasons why our birth rate is so low."

"And we've never managed to bring anything back to Tokyo from Cephiro," Umi said, the thought reassuring her. "Even stains on our clothes just vanish, so the chances must be practically impossible."

"I know it's really none of my business," Clef looked at her with soft pink tinge creeping into his cheeks. "But when was your last - when did you last… bleed?" He waved an illustrative hand, which had Umi flushing.

"Um… A few weeks before I came out to visit you, while I was here in Cephiro with Hikaru and Fuu." Umi let out a little laugh and brushed a stray lock of hair back from her face. "That wasn't exactly a stomach ache I was complaining about."

Clef let out a relieved sigh. "So you're not due another for two or three months then?"

"What? No? It's more like every four or five weeks." Umi blinked at him. "Is it really three or four months here? I'm jealous. I mean, I'm still not regular. It can be anywhere from three to nine weeks for me, so this isn't so… long?"

Clef went very still, presumably having done the calculation and realised that six - no, seven was more than the average four or five. "Umi… If you are, there are options, you don't have to -"

"I'm not pregnant!" Umi waved him off. "And I certainly don't want to discuss options when it's completely impossible."

"It's not impossible. We've - "

"Impossible," Umi repeated, flailing her hands. "You know how last week I left without really having time to - to clean up? Which should have meant there would be - well, you know… But when I got home there wasn't any trace of you. Despite you - despite doing it twice. And I'm pretty sure you need that to make a baby."

.*.*.*.

Clef stared at Umi for a long moment. He could tell she wanted to drop the topic, and part of him wanted to just give in and avoid the argument. She did have a point, but… "We still should talk about - all of this." One charged conversation about consequences wasn't going to cut it.

"What else is there to talk about?" Umi asked, stifling a yawn. "It's not like anything else has really changed between us. We've just added sex."

"That's all you seem to want to do now. I don't want this relationship to be just about sex."

"We do other stuff besides that," Umi said. "Anyway, that's the bit you're allowed to do."

Clef sighed. "Sleeping with the same person for months, even a couple of weeks, is creeping into forbidden territory anyway, so that's hardly an excuse. It looks more like a romantic relationship, or at least one with some emotion involved."

Umi thoughtfully chewed on her lower lip for a few moments. "So, you'll get in trouble for sleeping with me too frequently if it looks like we're being romantic about it, but it wouldn't matter if you didn't have feelings?"

"Essentially, yes? Not that you can prove the absence - or presence - of feelings, which is why that one's basically unenforceable, but it would be a pain if anyone decides to try running with it. Which some people are apparently petty enough to do." The expression on Umi's face made Clef a little worried about what she was about to come out with. "Why do you ask?"

"That's still so stupid, but… the sex is good, right?" Umi asked. "I know I'm only just learning what to do, but you seem to enjoy yourself."

Clef blinked at her, not sure he was following where she was going. "The sex is excellent."

"Would it be less illegal if you paid me? If we pretended this was just a business transaction, not a relationship?"

"I am not going to pay to have sex with you!" Clef's voice wavered between a laugh and a shout. "No, let me rephrase that. I'm not going to pay every time you want to have sex with me. If these two weeks are any indication of our future, I don't have that kind of money."

"Considering how Caldina stared at that dress at the ball, I think you have more than enough to afford me." Umi grinned at him. "We could consider the current selection the first payment? If we say one dress per day, I still owe you a few more."

"Darling, the point of paying would be to get me attention I wouldn't otherwise receive," Clef told her, now trying very hard not to laugh.

"Would it help if I played hard to get?"

Clef opened his mouth and shut it again, the shook his head. "I still couldn't afford you. Unless you're only interested in another - three days, then you're planning to drop me?" Umi blinked at him. "Aveo cut me off, remember? I can't get you any more clothes."

"Well, what if I paid you?" Umi offered. "I've got a purse full of coins in my room that I don't know what to do with. One coin a time would last a while. Obviously, you aren't as expensive as me..."

"...You want to pay me with the money I gave you." Clef shook his head. "That was supposed to be for you to spend on yourself." He held up a hand when she first opened her mouth. "And I don't mean like that."

Umi hummed thoughtfully, eyes crinkling up with repressed laughter. "How about paying you with cake, then?"

Clef couldn't stop the laugh that came spilling out. "You're ridiculous," he said, and kissed her.

Curling closer, Umi slit her arms around his neck as she caught his mouth again and again. When they eventually broke apart, she stayed put, resting her forehead against his. "So, what sort of cake do you want next week?"

Leaning back and shaking his head again, Clef considered his options. "A chocolate one?"

"Done," Umi said cheerfully, and kissed him again.

.*.*.*.

Of course, all the distraction in the world couldn't last forever. Umi fell asleep almost the instant her head touched the pillows of Clef's bed, and slowly the good humour faded back, anxiety doing its best to reassert itself. He lay in the dim light watching her breathe, the collar of her borrowed nightshirt slipping down over her shoulder a little more each time she shifted position.

Umi had dark marks about her eyes and slight hollows in her cheeks. It wasn't easy to spot when she was awake and her face was animated, but asleep…

He'd have identified it instantly as magic fatigue, if not for the slight but real possibility it was a different kind of drain altogether - either would be his fault, but one would have a far more lasting consequence. Even if nothing came of it, either deliberately or otherwise, if they had started a child -

Umi grumbled and turned over, and Clef realised he was tapping one foot against the foot of the bed so fast it was almost a vibration. He wormed out of the covers and off the bed before he could actually wake Umi up, and let himself out of the bedroom.

It was, most likely, fatigue. All the signs pointed to it, as did logic - Umi had nearly burnt herself out one day then went dimension-hopping the next, and if she was only really able to rebuild her magic when she was here, then she'd probably used more in the last few hops back and forth than she'd have been able to pull in the meantime. But even that was his fault - what had he been thinking of, dropping a barely-trained mage into the middle of a Circle, in a crisis! Had he completely lost his ability to reason?

Yes, said the back of his mind, sounding remarkably like Aveo.

He huffed, and turned, pacing back across the living room floor, carpet muffling his footsteps. It wasn't like he'd told her to go grab the entire blasted ocean.

...He hadn't needed to. Umi saw a problem, and she tried to fix it. In her position, with her limited set of skills - also his fault, as he'd both refused to teach her and refused to tell her so for months, so she hadn't even known she should go look for another mage for lessons - things being what they were, he'd probably have done the exact same thing. Only he'd have ended up with slightly more explosive results.

And none of this pacing was helping anyone, let alone Umi.

Clef forced himself to the armchair by the window, to sit down and to pick up the heavy law book and sheaf of notes he'd left half underneath it. Not hidden, but not right out in the open where he had to confront how illegal his actions were while they were being intimate.

He left the bookmark between the pages. No matter how far he got before the sick feeling in his chest and the thrumming nervousness in his bones faded enough to sleep, he would want to go over it while he was more awake. But skimming through it now would make it easier to digest in detail later - and perhaps exhaustion would least to one of those moments when he saw everything upside down and a brand new connection became apparent.

Hopefully it would. He had so much research still to do before he could even worry about Umi without having to try and hide it. So he kept at it until he was so tired he couldn't hold the book steady, and his eyes wouldn't focus on the words anymore.

.*.*.*.

Umi startled awake when Clef flailed grumpily out of bed. His exit was followed in quick succession by the loud thumping of cupboard doors and the clanking of the kettle being put on. Yawning, Umi slid out of bed and followed.

"Morning," she said, leaning against the doorframe, stifling another yawn.

Clef startled so badly when she spoke that he nearly dropped the tin of tea in his hands. "Did I wake you?" he asked.

"Well, I can typically sleep through earthquakes, but they usually don't curse while they're rattling about "

"Sorry." Clef pulled out another bowl and mug for her. He was dressed and rushing out the door within ten minutes to the first of his meetings, leaving Umi with a quick kiss and a promise to meet her for lunch.

Left to her own devices, Umi decided to spend her morning in one of the gardens actually doing her school work. The gardens near the third tower got the best sun that time of day; her choice was entirely based on that, and not at all because it gave her a good view of the southern training fields.

A handful of young mages were out practicing offensive magic under the watchful eye of a stern-looking teacher. Umi spent more time watching the lessons than studying, but she finished her work by lunch time and headed for the dining hall.

Umi found Presea and Ferio there already, deep in conversation about the Smith's Guild's budget at the end of one of the tables. Umi dropped into the seat across from Presea and reached over for the plate of bread. Getting a waft of the cheese-fruit, Umi hissed in a breath through her mouth and pushed the plate further down the table as her stomach tried to turn over.

She must have looked as sick as it made her feel, because Presea asked, "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine," Umi said, but neither of them looked reassured.

"If you're not feeling well, you should go see the Healers." Ferio said.

Umi rolled her eyes and waved him off. "Just because I have a cold or something? I'm not going to waste their time."

She was halfway through her first piece of bread and a bowl of spiced grains when Clef dropped into the seat beside her with a loud sigh. "I will be so much happier when this Academy nonsense is finally settled."

Ferio pulled a face. "I thought you had everything sorted except the location?"

"Are they still debating where to build that blasted thing?" Umi asked.

"You may have talked some sense into Livina at the ball," Clef told her as he dished himself some food, "and Sandero's willing to listen to reason, but Talbot and the rest of them 'just aren't sure'."

"Want me to come talk to them?" Umi grinned at him as she picked up her glass.

Clef laughed. "I'd like to see that."

They chatted amicably for a while, complaining about their current workload - or schoolwork, in Umi's case - while they ate.

When Presea and Ferio went back to work, leaving the two of them basically alone in the corner of the dining hall, Clef set his teacup down and looked at Umi with concern written all over his face. "How are you really feeling today?"

"I'm just a little tired, so don't go trying to send me to the Healers or anything," Umi complained, picking up a bit of fruit. "I refuse to waste anyone's time to just be told I need to rest more or whatever."

"You still ought to take it easy today. No sparring, or -"

"Rolling around in bed for hours?" Umi finished, amused at the irritated flush that ran up Clef's face at that. She popped the last bite of fruit in her mouth and grinned at him.

"I'm not -" He shook his head and flailed a hand. "If it would get you to agree to have a nap, or at least rest the remainder of the afternoon, I do have a little over a half-hour before I need to be anywhere. But I'm assuming you have other plans."

"Next week, perhaps," Umi suggested. "After the picnic?" She put her hand on his leg, sliding it up his thigh as she added, "Unless I can talk you into going upstairs anyway?"

"We could just talk," Clef practically squawked as he removed her hand. "That would probably be restful?"

"Going upstairs would be perfectly restful if you did all the work."

Clef didn't budge. "I'm not joking, Umi. You need to recover. If this is magic fatigue, you're not going to manage it spending your few quiet hours in Cephiro dragging me -" he lowered his voice to finish the sentence "- dragging me into bed. You need weeks of actual rest."

"It's been weeks! Three of them," Umi said, crossing her arms, and pouting. She wouldn't mind going upstairs for a quarter of an hour, but she wasn't feeling nearly as desperate as yesterday.

"Weeks of a proper connection to Cephiro!" Clef snapped.

"Oh." No wonder she was still feeling a bit worn out. It had gotten worse after last week's visit, and the headache had hung around ever since, if she was honest. "Guess I should work out when I can squeeze in another overnight trip sooner than… next month." With the school festival coming up soon, she wasn't planning to spend much time in Cephiro after next week - not until Cephiro's New Year Festival, which was still weeks away.

"That's not a bad idea," Clef said. "Or at least keep the short trips to a minimum until you're able to stay for longer. I don't want you to stay away, but - I think you might be using more magic to get yourself here and back again than you can rebuild in a few hours. If you keep doing it, it'll make things worse."

Umi sighed. "Well, that sucks," she muttered. "I'll try to find time to get here for longer, I guess-"

"Making the trip with the others would help, as well," Clef offered, but that was all he had time for before someone from his next meeting spotted them and charged over, completely ignoring Umi to ask if Clef would walk with them so they could go over some things on the way. Clef gave her an apologetic look, but left, and Umi pouted for a minute before going to see if Hikaru and Fuu had arrived yet.

.*.*.*.

Umi spent the rest of the afternoon with Hikaru and Fuu, playing rowdy ball games with Ferio, a few of the off-duty Guard he knew, and some of the local children.

It was late afternoon before they made it back to their room for Umi to collect her stuff so they could head back to Tokyo. She shoved her books back into her bag, then stood there staring at the neatly made bed, realising her mistake at the same moment as Fuu.

"Where is your uniform?" Fuu asked, amusement creeping into her voice.

"Um… downstairs," Umi admitted. She went for the door. Hikaru bounced along behind her as she stepped out, and Fuu followed them both into the corridor.

"Guess we're making a stop on the way down," Hikaru giggled, as the three of them headed for the central spiral ramp. She was laughing by the time they stopped outside Clef's door, and Fuu's smile had taken a wicked turn.

"So, you stayed here last night?" Fuu asked, looking around as Umi opened the door. "In... Master Clef's rooms?"

Umi's face went hot. "Yeah…"

Further into the room, Hikaru was biting back a smile as she looked down at something near her feet. "I take it you slept well?"

Umi followed Hikaru's gaze and let out a squawk. Clef's outer robe lay on the floor right there by the door, and Umi's waistcoat a few feet further in. The trail of their clothing extended through the living room to the bedroom door. In a rush, Umi gathered up as much as she could fit in her arms and flailed her way into the bedroom, dropping the lot on the bed to sort through it.

Her skirt and undershirt were on the floor where she'd wriggled out of them. She could only find one sock in her brief search, but decided to just leave it. They'd be switching to winter uniform next week and she'd be back in tights, anyway.

Hikaru and Fuu hadn't followed her in, so they didn't see the more embarrassing stains at least. She rolled her uniform as small as she could and shoved it into her school bag; she had to extend the straps to get it to hold shut, but managed to close it - just.

When a second hunt through the pile didn't turn up her tie, Umi gave it up for lost - she had others at home. She didn't expect to walk back out of the bedroom to find Fuu holding out to her.

"It was under the chair," Fuu said.

"Thanks." Umi shoved it into the side pocket of her bag, face burning.

"Hey, Umi," Hikaru asked, standing near the window. "Is it true that half the country tried to fall off when you first slept with Clef?"

"What?" Umi blinked at her. "Who said that?"

"I overheard some whispering in the Guard room the other week. I mean, they only mentioned 'Guru' and 'Magic Knight' once before they noticed I was there," Hikaru explained, "but there was definitely talk about the country falling apart."

"The country didn't fall apart. It was one ward that was already unstable to begin with and we stopped it." Umi said, and the other two just stared at her. "It wasn't while we were having sex, okay! It was after we fell asleep. Nothing to do with the sex."

"You are actually sleeping with Master Clef then?" Fuu asked.

"Yes? Why else would-" Umi flailed a hand out at the room where their clothes had been abandoned.

"You get lonely sometimes," Hikaru offered.

Fuu nodded. "Your parents were away this weekend, right?"

"So you think I'd spend the night with Clef because I'm lonely?" Umi asked.

"It's not like you haven't slept at his place before," Hikaru pointed out. "You might not have been having sex, even if you were kissing a while."

"That was in his office after I fell asleep in a chair." Umi shook her head. "You know what, it's none of your business what we're doing. Just like it's none of my business that Hikaru's sleeping with Lantis."

Covering her mouth with an over-the-top gasp, Fuu let out an almost convincingly shocked "Hikaru!"

Umi stared at Fuu. "How did you know?"

"I pay attention."

Hikaru laughed. "And how did you find out, Umi?"

"Lantis gave Clef some condoms because he caught us doing it in Clef's office." Umi grabbed her bag and headed for the door. "But only some of them are from Tokyo."

"Oh, yeah. Eagle brought some the last time he visited."

"Hikaru!" Fuu and Umi said in unison, while Hikaru laughed. But she refused to 'kiss and tell' - at least, not while Umi wouldn't share and Fuu didn't have much to be sharing, and they headed back to Tokyo together all giggling.

.*.*.*.

Peach greeted Umi with his usual loud, unimpressed meows, nearly drowning out the message on the answering machine telling her that her parents would be taking her out to dinner this evening when they got home. She went upstairs to change into something a little more appropriate for a fancy restaurant and gathered up her dirty clothes to put them in the wash.

As always there was no trace of the taiya juice or anything else on Umi's clothes when she pulled them out of her bag. It was like nothing had happened to them since she left Tokyo. The shirt was as white as it had been yesterday morning with no hint of smudged ink or sticky traces of juice down the front, just the pencil smudge on the pocket it had got at school before she left.

Seeing it relieved any lingering doubt she had about how impossible Clef's worry was. They hadn't managed to bring anything back from Cephiro except photographs. She didn't expect that would ever change.

If a few little stains couldn't make it across, a baby certainly wouldn't.

.*.*.*.

To be continued...

In the next chapter: Umi bakes the cake she promised to Ascot, and then... she eats some of it.

Well, a few other things happen too, but that is obviously the important bit.

Also, with holiday time and other obligations (like trying to stop distracting Down from working on Protecting You) this fic may end up with a brief hiatus for the month of June, and not have an update until July. But who knows... It might not be paused that long.

While we wait for that, Down is writing me fic of this fic for my birthday (a little late now as I talked her into doing a final beta read of this fic for my birthday yesterday, rather than poking her for that) which will probably be posted in this series on AO3 in the next week or so. And I will actually focus some time on writing some of the commentaries on the chapters and finish the current OC character profiles. (Keep an eye on my Dreamwidth for that).

As always, all questions, comments, and happy thoughts are welcome. Even flailing nonsense and emojis. Knowing I made you smile, makes me smile. All feedback is loved.