30 September 2018: A big thank you to Dragon of Winter Nights for the help on this chapter. I was struggling with it for weeks, and we finally worked out that my timeline was all wrong, and I needed to change when certain events happen in this section. After rewriting half of this chapter from scratch twice, it is finally what it should be.

I hope you all enjoy this update. I'm glad I did manage to get it finished before the end of the month, so there is definitely a September update.

I love an appreciate all of you. Thank you for reading.

Chapter 16
In which Umi sees a doctor and makes a choice

All the effort Umi put into psyching herself up to talk through this in a calm and composed fashion, like an adult, fell apart the moment she walked into her mother's study. Mama looked up and smiled at her, waving her to come in while she finished her phone call. When she hung up, her cheerful "Welcome home" broke Umi's resolve.

"I'm sorry," she said and burst into tears.

"Oh, darling." Mama wrapped her arms around Umi and drew her through to the sitting room where there was a sofa and a box of tissues.

"I'm - sorry!" Umi wailed again, as the tissues were pressed into her hands. "I'm - I'm -"

"Hush," her mother said, sitting down with her and pulling Umi gently against her shoulder, wrapping an arm about her. "Let yourself cry first. You can tell me everything later; there's no rush."

Umi curled into her mother's arms, and let herself cry like she hadn't done for years. Not since the first time they'd been summoned to Cephiro. She'd wanted to badly some days - trying to work out what she wanted to do after high school, and trying to face what she felt about Clef. But it had seemed so petty, compared to Emeraude's fate.

Finally, her resolve was broken. She cried until her head ached and her eyes hurt and she had no more tears left. It didn't change anything; she was still pregnant and still didn't know what to do. But she felt lighter somehow.

"Why don't you just sit here a minute." Mama said finally, rubbed soft circles on Umi's back. "I'll go make us some tea."

She disappeared and Umi took a few long shuddering breaths, closing her eyes.

A few minutes later, Mama returned with a tray with the tea set and a box of crackers. Setting it down on the table, she sat back down and asked, "Was your argument the other week because he wants you to keep it?"

Umi's head snapped up and she stared at her mother, shocked into silence.

Mama was just as poised as always as she poured tea for both of them, handing Umi a cup. "Or was it because he wants you to end it?"

"How did you know?" Umi demanded, fingers wrapping about the china on autopilot.

"I remember how I felt," her mother said, with a wry smile, and for the first time Umi actually understood that her mother had been younger than Umi was now when she was pregnant. "So which was it?"

Umi shook her head so hard she nearly jostled her cup off the saucer "Neither. I was really sick that night, and he said - he said he thought I was pregnant. I said he was a twit." It looked like she had a few more tears left after all; they ran hot down her face. "He was just so insistent I see a doctor, that I yelled at him and came home. I didn't want him to be right."

"Oh, Umi." Mama stroked her hair.

"I was so convinced he was wrong, that we couldn't have - that it was impossible." She wiped at her eyes with her sleeve. "We were careful! We were, but -"

"Nothing is completely effective." Mama wrapped an arm around her.

"But what do I do?" Umi nearly wailed.

"That's a decision you're going to have to make for yourself, love. Your father and I will support you whatever you choose to do - and whatever this 'Clef' of yours thinks about it." Her mother pulled her closer again. "Do you know how long it's been? That may change your options a little."

Umi stared down at the cup in her shaking hands, watching the ripples roll across the tea. "Nearly two months," she admitted, quietly, not looking at her mother.

"Have you spoken to him since you found out?" Mama's voice was gentle.

Umi shook her head. "I didn't know until yesterday. I haven't spoken to him since I came home. I was - I guess I was frightened he'd take me to see a doctor and they'd tell me what I didn't want to hear." She took a breath. "This isn't his fault, Mama. I'm the one that was pushing. And his job is - it's complicated." She closed her eyes, voice getting quieter. "It's a mess."

"He has to sign the form if you choose to end it," her mother said. "So, you'll need to tell him, even if you aren't going to go through with it."

"I could say he's left the country, or fake his signature, or something… Do you think I should?" Umi asked. Her fingers tightening around the cup. "Do you think I shouldn't-" Do what? Have a baby and keep it hidden in Tokyo?

"It is an option, but, unless you're planning on cutting all ties with him, I think you need to talk to him before you make any final decisions."

The idea of telling Clef she was pregnant was almost more panic-inducing than actually being pregnant. What would he say? Would he want her to end it? Or with everything he'd already lost would he want this child, not for the child's sake but like some sort of awful consolation prize?

No matter what he wanted, those blasted laws were about his neck like a noose just waiting for him to slip and fall. Asking him to help choose would be like - like asking him to willfully implode his life.

Well, she'd already asked that of him, if you thought about it. And look how well that turned out.

"Back when he first thought - I didn't let him keep talking, but he was trying to tell me about all the options I had. I don't think he'd - push if I knew what I wanted."

"But if you don't, talking to him might help you be certain," Mama said, gently.

"He's not allowed -" Umi bit down on her lip to keep from blurting out more. "It's complicated, Mama. I can't ask him to make the decision for me. It wouldn't be fair. I just - I need a plan, then I can tell him, and we'll talk about it. But I need the plan first."

Hesitating, her mother took a long drink of her tea. Umi could almost feel her trying to put all the things Umi had said about Clef into a whole that made sense. Whatever conclusions she reached, she didn't push. "We'll go to the doctor on Monday. They'll give you more information, and that should help."

They worked through the rest of the pot in silence, but it was a calm, almost comfortable sort of silence. Until Papa got home. He walked in, took one look at them, and froze in the doorway. "Oh, no. You were right? Oh, Umi, no."

Mama nodded. Umi ducked her head, flushing at the realisation not only had her mother guessed, but her parents had been talking about it.

"But you're so young," Papa said dropping into the chair closest to Umi.

"You forget, dear, Umi is the same age I was when we brought her home," Mama said, sounding amused.

"But you were an older seventeen. This is - Where even is this 'Clef' person? Shouldn't he be here with you?"

"I haven't told him yet," Umi said, trying to keep her voice level. "Can we just leave him out of this right now?"

"Umi you didn't do this by yourself," Papa started, but Mama interrupted.

"Umi is the one who's pregnant; it's her choice. We'll deal with him afterward."

That sounded slightly ominous, but it got Papa to sit quietly for a minute, his hand reaching out to hold Umi's. Eventually, he took a breath and said "I'm not old enough to be a grandfather" with an air of despair. Umi shifted in her seat. "Just look at this face." He pointed at himself. "No one would believe it. 'Do you want to see pictures of my grandchild,' I'd say. 'Don't joke with us, you certainly aren't old enough to have a grandchild,' they'd say." He pulled a face, and Umi couldn't help giggling.

Mama reached over and gave his cheek a pinch. "You do remember you're seven years older than I am, right?"

"Ow!" Papa swatted her away and gave Umi a smile. "I'm not good with things like this," he said. "But no matter what happens, or what you decide, we're here for you. Even if this Clef-person skips town and is never heard from again, we've got plenty of room and money to look after another Ryuuzaki. Right, Mama?"

Mama nodded in agreement.

.*.*.*.

The few weeks since Clef had seen Umi felt like a century. Some afternoons, he could barely work in his castle office because he found himself looking up and expecting to see her sprawled in one of the chairs reading a book or banging through the doors.

It wasn't as if he didn't have other people who barged into his office asking questions, but he didn't enjoy those interruptions. And he could definitely use some diverting conversation right now. He'd just had to put one of their instructors on suspension while they were being investigated for a charge that would mean the permanent stripping of their rank and expulsion from the Mage's Guild.

Clef was in the middle of reviewing the list of documents they'd sent to the Judges so far when the door burst open. The rush of relief was short-lived; rather than Umi, it was Hikaru who stood before him.

"Umi's not taking any of my calls," she said in a rush. "Fuu can't get in touch with her, either."

"Could she be busy?" Clef said, slowly. The excuses he'd been giving himself for the prolonged absence seemed thinner than ever. "With the school play, or…"

"That shouldn't be taking all her time!" Hikaru was projecting worry so strongly Clef could almost see it, and he flinched. "Please - What happened the other week? Was she really ill when she left?"

"We argued," Clef said. He dropped his pen and rubbed his hands over his face. "She still wasn't feeling well, but she wouldn't go to the Healers. She just - left."

Hikaru shuffled on her feet. "I'm really worried. I don't know if I should go over to her house, or leave it another week. I'd understand if she had a nasty cold or something, considering how much it rained that night."

Clef straightened. Rain? Umi hadn't been dressed for inclement weather when she stormed out. She'd barely been dressed at all, considering how many layers went into her uniform this time of year. "She's ill?" he blurted - foolishly, given Hikaru had come to him because Umi wasn't talking to her.

"I don't know!" Hikaru burst out before he could apologise. "I know she made it home that night because she was in her room when I returned her stuff. Her father said she was unwell and sleeping when I called last week. Now it's just 'Umi's not taking calls right now' with no explanation. But, Clef, her parents keep asking questions. Questions about you. Where are you. How can they find you. What's your real name. Fuu said she got the same when she called."

Clef swallowed. "Oh," he whispered, throat tightening. He could only think of one reason for Umi to be unwell and her parents to be hunting him down, unless she'd come down with something terrible the night of their argument - that, too, would be his fault.

Deflating, Hikaru dropped into one of the chairs. "I'm really worried about her."

"Me too." He slumped further into his chair, voice cracking. "Me too."

.*.*.*.

Monday morning, Umi and her mother arrived in front of the cosy little building with the brightly painted sign reading 'Matoba Maternity Clinic'. "Don't be scared," Mama said, giving her a reassuring squeeze. "You were born here."

Umi swallowed and followed her mother in, where they were met with paperwork and a small group of waiting people.

When her turn came, they were greeted by a woman perhaps two decades older than Mama. "Ah! Mrs. Ryuuzaki, a pleasure to see you." She turned her smile to Umi. "And you've grown up well, I see."

"Perhaps a little too well," Mama said, ruffling Umi's hair. "It would seem that the child of a frog is indeed a frog."

Pulling away from her mother's hand, Umi bowed to the doctor with as much polite dignity as she could muster.

"If I could have your mother wait outside, we can have a talk," Dr. Matoba said. Umi followed her in and found herself facing more difficult questions than the paperwork had asked. The doctor wanted to know how she felt about being pregnant, and if she wanted to continue it.

"I don't know," she whispered, looking down.

With a nod, Dr. Matoba stood up and led Umi back to another little curtained off room. The doctor and her assistant did their best to retain some sense of Umi's modesty during the examination, but the curtains and draped clothes all seemed a little ridiculous when someone had their hand between her legs and an uncomfortably large ultrasound wand in a place she'd really rather not have it. It was impossible to ignore, no matter how hard she stared at the ceiling.

"Ah! There it is," the doctor said. Umi looked at the screen and, for the briefest of moments, she forgot to breathe.

She'd expected some sort of shapeless thing, but there, in black and white, was the unmistakable beginnings of a new little person. It had a head with a recognisable nose and mouth, little arms that kept moving as the wand was adjusted, and she barely cared about the discomfort for a moment. There was a little flutter where its heart was beating away.

This was far more real than two lines on a plastic stick had ever seemed.

Dr. Matoba asked if they could turn the audio on, and the sound of that stubborn little heartbeat filled the room - their child who shouldn't even exist. Their child.

Hand going to her mouth, Umi started to cry.

.*.*.*.

Some time later, Umi staggered out of the room clutching a printout of the ultrasound and a paper confirming her pregnancy, along with several damp tissues. She dropped down into the empty seat beside her mother. "I'm pregnant."

"I know, dear." Mama pat her knee, an indulgent smile on her face. "That's why we came, remember?"

"I know, but I - I saw its heartbeat. And its little face…" She handed the picture over and took a deep breath. "Mama, I'm going to have a baby."

.*.*.*.

The last month of the Cephiran year was always a busy one. Between working on all the end of year business and trying to sort out the current scandal in the guild, Clef had resigned himself to not going home to Mazda until the new year. There was simply too much work to be done at the castle.

Aveo was more than capable of handling things without him. Sometimes he wondered if she'd get on better without his meddling in the Ward work at all. He'd called her a few times over the past week, and everything seemed to be running just fine; she seemed more worried about whether he was eating than she was about Mazda.

What tiny amount of free time he wasn't using to catch up on sleep, Clef spent obsessively searching through the chronicles for any instance of someone actually being brought up on charges for either of these two remaining laws. The third, really - he still believed the law on emotion was unenforceable. But the law against dependants - against having children...

That morning in a little eked out gap between meetings, Clef finally found something. The chronicle was old and hadn't made it through the ages as well as others - that pillar's fall had also been a bad one. Some of the ink was fading and the paper was crumbling about the edges, but the writing was mostly legible - enough to make out the guilty conviction, and the sentence imposed.

Exile.

Finding an actual case put enough weight behind the final law that it should have made him feel worse, but he just numbly stared at the word for a long time. With a name and a date, he could retrieve the actual court records from the Clerks while he was preparing his repeal for that one; the Guild's master copies had hopefully held up better than the chronicles.

Leaning back in his chair, Clef ran a hand through his hair. Exile. If he had to leave Cephiro, perhaps he could go to the other world, to the Tokyo the knights came from. Perhaps instead of Umi coming to him, and staying in Cephiro to learn more about the land and her magic, he could go to her for the course of his sentence and - what?

What could he possibly do that wasn't - this? He'd devoted his entire life to Cephiro. What would he do without his land - how could he be a good partner somewhere he didn't understand and couldn't navigate?

He rubbed his hands over his face. He would just have to learn Umi's Tokyo, as she had learnt about Cephiro.

Maybe he could learn more about this technology that Umi spoke about, and her family's business creating it. Perhaps he wasn't too old to learn the things Umi said she expected her husband to do for her, if she lived in Tokyo. He could learn a skill in something that wasn't a magic related field. Aveo even had hope one day he'd understand how a budget worked.

If they did have a child… he could look after them, perhaps so Umi could go about her business unhindered. After all, she wouldn't be exiled - just him. She could continue her Kairu training, if she wished, and come home to them in Tokyo at nights.

The little fantasy of a family to belong to - just Umi or a child too - hung in his mind until he started laughing uncontrollably, the sound edging closer to a sob, but not quite tipping over.

He wasn't meant to want to be charged and exiled!

But it wouldn't be so bad living out the rest of his life in a foreign land, as long as he still had Umi.

.*.*.*.

Umi's mother took her straight to the ward office to register the pregnancy and get her handbook and coupons she'd need for the rest of her maternity care.

Back at home, Umi sat on the sofa in a bit of a daze. It couldn't be possible for her name to be next to words like 'parent' and 'mother'.

She wasn't the only one. Papa's eyes went wide when Mama greeted him as 'Grampa' with the ultrasound printout. Umi leaned over the back of the sofa to watch her father stumble out of his shoes while trying to take the picture in his hands. "We're keeping it?" he asked, staring at it.

Umi held up her new little book. "Due in May."

"You're okay, right? Completely healthy, nothing wrong?" When she nodded, Papa rubbed the back of his neck and looked back down at the image. "Good. Yes, good."

Her mother sighed fondly at them and went to make tea while the shock wore off. Unfortunately, when it did, her father remembered the other half of the equation.

"Now that you've decided, you'll be telling the father today?" he asked.

"It'll have to wait until next week," Umi muttered, staring at the ultrasound image again when he handed it back. "I've got the festival this weekend, and my class is counting on me."

"One phone call isn't going to ruin your practice schedule," Mama chided. "Even if you want to tell him in person - you could call him up now, and we can take you to see him this evening." The way she said it made them escorting her non-negotiable.

Umi shook off her bewilderment and bit her lip. "I can't call him. He… doesn't actually have a phone."

"How can he not have a phone?" Papa asked, confused. "Not even a landline? What about his workplace, could you call him there?"

"They don't - There aren't really any phones where he lives. Or where he works."

"How can that be?" Mama asked. "Does he live in Tokyo, or not?"

Umi winced. "He doesn't."

Papa frowned. "You said he lived near Tokyo Tower."

"Yes…" Her parents both made confused expressions, and Umi's heart rate was uncomfortably fast. She'd been avoiding trying to explain this for so long and she still didn't know how to even start. "It's complicated."

"Well, uncomplicate it," her mother insisted. "How can anyone live near Tokyo Tower but not in Tokyo? It doesn't make sense."

"No, it doesn't," she said, with a wavering laugh. "I'll try, but I need something from my room. Wait a minute?" She fled upstairs. The idea of just taking them to Tokyo Tower and trying to fling them to Cephiro was so tempting, but she needed to coordinate with Hikaru and Fuu to try that.

At least they had done some preparation for this eventuality. Well, for telling their families about Cephiro, at least.

Umi opened the bottom drawer of her desk and started dumping notebooks out of it. At the very bottom was the envelope of pictures she, Hikaru, and Fuu had taken when they first started visiting Cephiro regularly, in case anyone started asking questions and they needed to explain. They all had copies of the original ones. She'd added newer pictures over the years, and once they'd started sort of seeing one another, Umi had made sure that all of the pictures of Clef looking like a child were hidden elsewhere and the only pictures of him remaining were from the past year.

Envelope clutched to her chest, she walked back downstairs and flopped in a chair facing her parents. "This is going to sound completely unbelievable, but… you remember that trip to Tokyo Tower when I first met Hikaru and Fuu? The three of us…" She took a breath, and set down a photo of the view from their room in the castle, the impossible country with it's floating islands. "We were summoned to another world. Cephiro."

They listened quietly, watching her almost as much as they looked at the photographs, as she told them, as simply as she could, what had happened three years ago and when they'd been called back again.

When she was done she paused and Papa looked up from the picture of the castle in his hand. "Mama and I always said you've never been the same since that school trip," he said softly.

"None of us were." She closed her eyes a moment. "We've been visiting regularly since, trying to help - not that we're much help! And this is Clef." Umi laid his picture down on top of the others. "He's the Guru, the Master Mage."

That statement made Papa tense, even as Mama reached to pick up the photo, studying it. "He's a powerful man, then?" Papa asked.

Umi pulled a face. "Yes, but that's not - he's never even - We've been friends for years, and last summer I realised that I - I liked him, and when he invited me out to his house, I thought it would be nice - since we'd be away from the Castle and the Council - to - um - well…" She bit her lip, blushing again. "He didn't think I'd have time to visit until this winter - or even next summer - because Hikaru and Fuu were going back to school. But I still had two weeks, and I think I pretty much just told him I was turning up. I think he'd have rather waited until the laws changed. I guess that would have been sensible…"

"What laws, Umi?" Mama prompted when she stalled.

She bit her lip again, then just took a breath and charged through it."His job is so important under the old system, he wasn't allowed to be in a relationship. Or have a family. It's sort of treason. And two of the laws about it are still in place the moment, but he's working on fixing that!"

Her parents stared at her for a moment - and then her mother burst into laughter. "Darling, I know you like reading romance novels, but did you have to go get yourself tangled up into a mess to rival any of those stories?"

"So you believe me?" She looked between them, clutching her hands together. "I'd take you today and show you, but I need Hikaru and Fuu to help."

"It's a lot to take in," Papa said.

Mama looked up from the picture of Clef. "Even if it does complicate things, it's not fair to keep this a secret from him."

"I suppose," Umi said, clutching her hands in her lap, "I could go see him this afternoon? I can take myself without help..."

Her mother reached over and set the picture of Clef back down so it was facing Umi. "I think that would be a good idea."

.*.*.*.

It wasn't until Umi set foot in the receiving hall that she even considered she Clef might not be in the castle. She took a deep breath, which did nothing to calm the thundering beat of her heart and went to look for him. If he wasn't here, she'd just have to figure out how to get out to Mazda. Ascot would probably help.

She'd promised her parents she would tell him today, and she wasn't going home until she'd done so.

The corridors were bustling with people. Umi slipped through them more or less unnoticed as she made her way toward Clef's office. Halfway up the main spiral, she spotted a familiar figure hustling down in her direction. When she called out to him, Ascot stumbled to a halt, peering around until she waved an arm for him to see. He wormed his way through the crowds and stepped aside with her onto one of the landings where there was a little more space.

"I'm looking for Clef," she said before he could ask any complicated questions like 'how are you'.

"He's in a meeting right now, but I can have him pulled out if it's urgent?" Ascot adjusted his hold on the scrolls in his arms, nearly losing his grip on them, staring at the papers instead of meeting her eyes.

She shook her head. "It's fine. It's not urgent, I can wait."

Ascot nodded his head up the spiral. "Clef usually goes back to his rooms for a little while before dinner, if he has time. I can make sure he does if the meeting runs late?"

"Thank you." Umi jogged up towards Clef's suite before she could meet anyone else who might want to talk to her.

.*.*.*.

After yet another aggravating few hours with the Mages Guild, Clef was finally able to escape back to his rooms. The last thing he expected to find when he walked through the door was Umi was sitting at the table, looking into a cup of tea like it would give her the answers she needed.

"Thank the spirits," Clef breathed, taking a step toward her. Seeing her safe was an enormous relief.

Umi murmured "Sorry to intrude" as she leapt to her feet.

"You're always welcome," Clef assured her. "I just - I wasn't expecting you."

"I've been avoiding you," Umi said, flushing and looking down at the floor.

"Yes, I got that." Clef carefully taking a step toward her. "So what brings you here, today of all days?"

"I owe you an apology," she said, voice trembling. "Before you ask, I've seen a doctor, and she said that everything is fine - that… both of us are healthy."

That was all the confirmation he needed, and he was across the room a moment later, pulling her into a tight hug. Umi clung to him, pressing her damp face into the curve of his neck.

"I'm so sorry, Clef." Her voice was barely a whisper. "I really wanted to move in with you, and attend the Academy next year."

He stroked a hand over her hair. "There's nothing stopping you."

Umi stiffened and pulled back to stare at him. "I'm pregnant. And I want to keep the child."

"That doesn't mean you need to change your plans."

Shrugging out of his grasp, she took two steps back. "I'm not going to get you into any more trouble. I can just stay in Tokyo and-"

"And keep me from knowing my child?"

Umi's voice went shrill. "It's treason!"

"So is the fact I'm in love with you," Clef shot back. Umi stared at him. "That isn't a secret. I should think you, of all people, know my feelings for you. Especially when the entire Council seems to be aware of them."

"The Council? Clef!" Umi backed up farther, shaking her head. "I'm sorry. I should - I'm going to -" She went for the door, grabbing her bag off the chair.

"No - Umi, I'm sorry. Please don't go." Clef followed a few steps and stopped. He hadn't meant to frighten her - he'd been living with the jibes in meetings for weeks, now. He'd forgotten Umi wasn't aware of that, of anything that had been going on here while she stayed away from him.

"But -" Umi paused, hand on the door.

"My feelings won't change if you leave me, and there's little they can do about them if you stay. I'm not currently supporting you, nor have I bound my magic to yours."

She turned around with a wild gesture of her hand. "And what about when I give birth to your baby?"

"We'll figure that out as we go." Clef tried to keep the desperation out of his voice. "I still want you to move in with me, and I will still help you with studying in any way that I can."

"I just can't. It's -" She shook her head harder. "No. I should just go. I've ruined everything by being an impatient child."

"You haven't ruined anything!"

"I'm pregnant! All because I wanted to sleep with you - because I was too - too impulsive. You wanted to wait, and I should have listened."

"Umi, no - I should have put myself on a potion the moment there was the slightest possibility of something happening." He didn't want her to leave like this, thinking that she'd ruined his life. "Come with me," he pleaded, holding out a hand to her. Umi watched him a moment, then put the bag back down, letting him take her hand and pull her out into the corridor. They walked to the lifts at the back of the tower. Without a word, Clef set the controls to the top floor and took her out on the roof.

The top of the central tower had been flattened after the reformation, most of it now made up the main landing platform for deliveries and diplomatic vessels. But on nights like this, it was quiet and empty of anyone but them.

Leading her over to the low wall that surrounded the edge of the roof, he waved a hand out toward the rolling hills and the sea glimmering on the golden horizon. "Cephiro still stands," he said. "She is still whole and steady. Nothing has been ruined."

"That's not what I meant, and you know it," Umi said, pulling her hand free.

"But I think we both need reminding sometimes." Clef leaned forward and rested his arms on the wall. "Cephiro's not going to crumble because we fell in love, and she's certainly not going to come to pieces over the birth of a child."

Umi stood with her arms wrapped about herself, eyes glittering with unshed tears.

Pushing himself upright, Clef reached out for her. His fingers brushed her cheek, magic rippling beneath his touch as she leaned into his hand. "All I want is for the people I care about to be happy." he said carefully, "If leaving me will make you happy, I won't stand in your way."

With a shake of her head, Umi stepped toward him, her voice barely a whisper. "I don't want to go. I've missed you so much, but I don't want to hurt you."

Clef wrapped his arms around her. "Please don't make your decision based on what you think I need. Do what will let you live a happy life." He leaned back slightly so he could look her in the face. The knot in his chest tightened as tears rolled down Umi's cheeks and she took a step back, pulling her hands free from where she'd tangled them into his over-robe.

But she didn't move away.

Umi's hands came up, sliding across his shoulders and up his neck to cup his face. The rush of magic in that touch sent a hopeful tremor through him. "I want to be with you," she said, leaning forward.

For all it's quiet gentleness, the kiss was overwhelming.

Magic arced between them with such ferocity it must have let off visible sparks. Umi's hands were in his hair, dragging him closer. The flood of her power took his breath away.

Hands tangled in hair and tugged at clothing as they both tried to get as close as they could.

A few stumbling steps had Umi against the wall, pulling him in even tighter. Power and more sparked every time they touched skin to skin. Umi's fingers were ticklishly light against his sides and he squirmed forward, his thigh pressing between her legs.

His hands slid up the skin of her back, under her untucked shirt, drawing a swirl of her power with his touch until - until she was arching against him, gasping his name against his neck, her fingernails digging into his skin.

Then, the roof door swung open and crashed into the wall, making them both jump.

Clef's head shot around; three children came running out the door, the smallest chasing the first two cackling with a fireball in their hand.

"Hey!" Clef shouted. "Take that somewhere else!"

The light went out and the children scrambled back through the door, the last muttering an apology.

When he turned back to Umi, she burst out laughing. "Guess it's not that surprising we're in this mess."

He blinked, taking in her flushed face and disheveled clothing and had to choke back a laugh of his own. The prickling surge of his magic wasn't settling even when he'd moved his hands to rest on Umi's hips. If anything it swelled with the thought that their child was there between them.

Umi dropped her head to his shoulder and sighed. "My parents want to meet you."

That certainly changed the mood, far more than the interruption.

"I'd like to meet them, too." He brushed a stray hair from her face. "Will you be bringing them here?"

"I thought it might be better to try taking you to them. It would be less overwhelming, for them, at least, given they only learned Cephiro exists about two hours ago. If you'd be willing to go to Tokyo?"

"...I'm willing to try." The thought sent a chill down his neck - would he even survive a land without magic? But if the Knights could do it, surely he could, too. He had to. He needed to do anything he could to fix this.

"We don't know if it's safe, or if - It could be dangerous." Her fingers tightened on his robes.

Clef tugged her closer, lips twitching up despite the knot in his stomach. "A part of me has made it to your world safely."

Umi pulled a face and thumped him on the shoulder. "I'm being serious Clef.

"So am I. We won't know unless we try. The spell has never harmed anything you have tried to take with you, only sent them back to Cephiro. Surely it will do the same for me, should Tokyo and I prove incompatible." He leaned in to brush his lips against hers once more, twice, but stopping there before they could get carried away again.

Umi sighed. "I need to go, or I'm going to be late."

Clef pulled her back into a tight hug, not ready to let go of her yet.

"I'll try to coordinate things with Hikaru and Fuu this week. Do you think you'd be able to come with us this weekend?"

"Yes." He'd rearrange whatever he needed to arrange to make the time.

"It'll probably be best to do Sunday, since the school festival's on Saturday. But maybe I could spend the night before here?"

"I'd like that."

.*.*.*.

As soon as she was home from Cephiro, Umi was making phone calls. Now she'd talked to Clef, she needed Hikaru and Fuu on board, and this whole baby thing was not the sort of news she wanted to be telling over the phone - not least because she'd have to decide which of them she was telling first.

She'd expected it to be difficult for them to find the time to come over on such short notice, but both sounded relieved to hear from her, and they were both more than willing to come round after school the next day. She hung up and wondered guiltily if baking a cake for them would work as an apology for going silent.

The whole of Tuesday morning felt surreal. Her entire world had changed over the weekend, but sitting in her classroom, nothing at all was different. Everyone and everything was exactly as she'd left it on Saturday. Her classmates all assumed she'd missed school on Monday because she was still feeling poorly and fussed over her. There was even the suggestion that maybe someone else should do her part in the play. Umi wasn't having that, but it was well meant.

The only mentions of pregnancy or babies were the same teasing jabs Satomi had been getting since she'd dared suggest Umi might not have the flu. Umi let them keep thinking it was a joke.

After rehearsal, Umi rushed home. Hikaru and Fuu arrived together, even though Fuu's school was much closer to Umi's house than Hikaru's.

Doing her best to play the role of hostess, Umi led them through to the sitting room, but she'd barely got through offering drinks and snacks when Hikaru burst out with, "Is everything okay? We've been so worried about you!"

Umi dropped into the chair opposite them. "If being pregnant counts as okay, then yeah, I'm fine."

"Oh!" Fuu gasped.

Hikaru stared for a long moment, her eyes growing steadily wider. "So that's why you looked brighter!"

It was Umi's turn to stare. "Brighter?"

"When we're in Cephiro I can see - Well, I guess it would be your magic. Or maybe it's your life force? It's something like that, at least. Recently, you've had an extra sort of... glow? Which I just thought - especially after I knew you were seeing Clef -" she blushed a little "-meant you were having really good sex."

"Too good, obviously." Umi pulled a face.

"This is Master Clef's baby, is it not?" Fuu's voice was quiet.

"It certainly isn't anyone else's!"

"Are you keeping it?"

"Yes." She took a breath and rubbed a hand over her face. It wasn't like she wouldn't ask a friend the same question. "I just - I need to get Clef and my parents in the same place - soon."

Hikaru and Fuu exchanged a look and Fuu pulled a notebook out of her bag. "Are we bringing your parents to Cephiro, or is Master Clef coming to Tokyo?

"I think it's better to bring Clef to Tokyo first. He's willing to try, but we didn't get much time to talk about it."

They spent the next hour laying out a plan. Hikaru offered to bring some clothes for Clef to borrow, to minimise the chance of him appearing in Tokyo naked given Cephiran items never seemed to make the trip. Kakeru was probably the closest fit, and he had an old school uniform he wouldn't miss if something happened to it.

If they arrived in Cephiro Saturday evening - after Umi and Fuu's cultural festivals - it would give them time to rest up for the jump back and talk through the plan with Clef before trying to drag him over. With everything sorted the night before, they should be able to leave first thing in the morning. So long as all went to plan, Umi would then take Clef shopping for more appropriate clothing and then on to meet her parents. They'd then meet up again that evening to take him back.

Umi stared at the notes. "That seems far too simple."

"Simple is good," Hikaru said, grinning. "But I'm sure when we ask Clef for advice on the spell he can complicate it for you, if you like."

"Oh, I complicate things well enough on my own."

Hikaru and Fuu laughed. "I think you had some help with this particular complication," Fuu said.

"Well, we'll just have to make it work, whatever complications come up." Umi's hands crinkled the edge of the paper. If it went wrong, if he was hurt...

Hikaru grabbed her hands, holding them tightly until Umi looked up at her. "We brought Eagle back safely. We'll definitely keep Clef safe, too," she promised, so fiercely that Umi had to believe her.

.*.*.*.

To be continued...

In the next chapter: Clef meets Umi's parents.

How do you think that will go?

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