4 March 2019 - This update is a little later than planned, but still here.
Content Notes - I have removed one word from this chapter to keep it within the teen rating. As always, the full version can be found on Archive of Our Own.
Chapter 21
In which Umi's parents visit Cephiro
Clef smoothed his clothes down one last time before turning the last corner to the reception hall, trying not to worry. All logic said Umi's parents would find it easier to journey between worlds than he had, and with both Hikaru and Fuu there to support the spell, it really shouldn't be much worse than Umi transporting herself. She'd taken no ill effects from helping him across. But he knew enough of the spell to help carry his own weight, a little, and her parents would not.
Either way, he should at least try to appear calm.
He'd planned to wear his usual ceremonial robes, having given up on 'new clothes for a new year' several centuries back when he stopped having much of a wardrobe but his work clothes, but Aveo'd had a new outfit commissioned for him when she arranged her own clothes for the new year.
"You need to make the best impression you can," she had told him. "Show this girl's parents that you are perfectly capable of caring for their daughter as an individual, never mind any of the complications the 'Guru' business brings."
"You cut me off for buying clothes!" he had complained back at her. She just snorted, and waved a dismissive hand at him.
"Buying things for yourself would have been legal - which spending a fortune on someone you aren't allowed to even court decidedly isn't. If that was what you'd been doing, I'd have set you a budget, not cut you off."
Aside from his coronet he could have been any ridiculously rich mage with an allegiance to Mazda - the fine cloth he wore shouted those things loud enough. Subtlety had not been Aveo's goal; she'd decked him out in the deep indigo Mazda was known for, shot through and embroidered with the same glimmering thread that had made the top layer of Umi's dress at the last ball they'd attended. It was, at least, impressive.
Taking a deep breath, he pushed aside any thought of that evening and made himself take the last few steps into the open hall. Caldina and Presea were already there, and both of them turned when he came in. Presea raised a hand in greeting, but Caldina looked less than pleased to see him. She didn't get a chance to unleash whatever sharp comment was waiting on her tongue; he hadn't made it halfway across the floor when a burst of white light filled the room.
As it faded back, Umi and the others were a few inches off the floor, holding hands. Her parents looked somewhat overwhelmed as the group settled gently down onto the floor, eyes wide and gripping each other's hands tightly, but they looked better off than Umi who was frightfully pale and swayed on her feet as they hit the floor.
Clef sped up, but Umi slumped against her mother instead of falling. Her mother stirred into action and wrapped her arms about Umi's back so she could slip her free hand into the draping end of her other sleeve, and pulled out a packet of what looked like the crackers Umi had eaten instead of cake, back in Tokyo.
The disgusted face Umi pulled at the food was reassuring enough Clef slowed down again, letting Caldina and Presea reach the group first. Umi's father took a breath and stepped forward to introduce himself to Caldina and Presea - and, as Clef stepped up, to him, saying "Would you be the Clef we have heard so much about?"
"Yes," Clef said, more startled than he should be at the ready pretence they had never met. "That is, I'm Clef. Shall I show you to your suite while Caldina and Presea help the girls get ready, then we can wait for Umi in my rooms? I'm sure you have many questions about Cephiro, I can try to answer some of them for you."
When they all looked at Umi, she rolled her eyes and shooed them away. "Go, I'm fine, I'm eating. I'll see you in a little while."
"Are you sure-" her father began, and Umi pulled such a face at him that her parents both relaxed, and turned to follow Clef.
He led them at a slow pace, so they could look about them as they went - the corridors weren't all that interesting to his eye, but then Tokyo Tower had been bewilderingly different; he imagined it must be the same in reverse. Besides, the longer they were in public, the longer he had before they started asking him the myriad questions they probably had about how safe Cephiro was, and magic, and whether Umi had ever been in danger here.
The room Ascot had booked for Umi's parents was one of the larger guest rooms that didn't quite extend to a full suite. The large main room had a sleeping area at one end, and a seating area at the other, with a door through to a small bathroom. He walked them through the basics of how things worked - the lights, the kettle, and so forth - and showed them the dresser with nightclothes, and the cupboard which held some tea things and snacks
They both kept glancing towards the windows and the view. Clef lifted the kettle. "If you would like to sit for a few minutes by the windows, I can make you a drink?" he offered. "Or we could go to my rooms and have a drink there and wait for Umi. It's the next floor down, so the view is only a little less extensive."
Umi's mother looked at her partner a moment before nodding decisively. "We should go to your rooms. Umi might well rush through dressing and beat us there otherwise."
Clef led them back to the door. "Neither her friends nor Presea and Caldina will let that happen," he promised, "They will make sure she sits while the other two are dressed at least. Their room is the level above this one - mine is the next level down. We can draw you a map to help navigate the Castle, but it is fairly simple to find my rooms, and you are welcome to find me any time, whatever you need. I can set a spell on the door so I will know if you knock, even if I'm not in. We go down here, turn into the first corridor, and mine is the third door."
"Thank you." Umi's mother smiled at him as he dismissed the shield on his door with as little light as possible and pushed it open.
"Space here does not seem as restricted as I had imagined from Umi's descriptions," her father said as he walked in and headed slowly to the seats by the windows. "She made it sound as though most of the population was crammed into this one building."
"Not anymore," Clef agreed, shutting the door. "The second time Umi visited us, every living being in Cephiro was sheltering in this Castle. The land was… not doing well." He still didn't know what she'd told them about that time. "Things are much better now. At the last count, nearly two-thirds of the population had moved out, and many of us who remain either have another home but stay here for business reasons part of the time, or are waiting for space to open up as the next few wards develop."
They were reacting far more calmly to the whole of Cephiro than Clef would have expected of anyone related to Umi, but both her parents looked a little shaken; he turned the kettle on and started to pull mugs out of the cupboard.
Umi's mother sat in the chair with the best view out of the window, but turned to Clef. "These 'troubles' involved our daughter, did they not? Would you explain to us why she and her friends were brought here the first time, what they could do that no one here could?"
Clef froze, finding himself being watched steadily by both of them as Umi's father sat the other side of the window. Somehow he felt like he was now on trial; his own rooms suddenly hostile territory.
He didn't know what Umi had told them, but honesty was the only option even if Umi had been able to talk to him first. After all, they would be meeting enough people tonight who knew the truth.
They also deserved to know their daughter was a wonderful, determined, powerful woman who had risked her life to save his world from itself.
Taking a deep breath, he summoned himself a chair and began to talk.
.*.*.*.
Umi lay flopped back across her bed, clutching her head. She'd asked to be the last one dressed so she could have a bit more time to recover from the awful nausea the jump had left her feeling. "I really wish I'd stop getting these headaches," she complained. "It's almost every time we come right now, and it's even worse today. Because we brought my parents, I know, but it's a nuisance!"
"Umi, are you sure we can't get you something?" Hikaru asked for either the third or the fourth time, standing patiently while Caldina finished up fussing with her dress. Umi flopped a hand in her direction to turn her down.
"One of us could go and ask Master Clef for that tea," Fuu offered - already dressed and ready to go.
"No, it's fine. I'll have some on the way - I need to collect Mama and Papa anyway, he'll be giving them time to adjust to the whole 'Cephiro is real' thing before I drag them into a room full of people and noise and - stuff. You two should go enjoy yourselves, don't wait for me," Umi insisted, but Fuu didn't move from where she stood by the door "It's fine! I'm just complaining, don't worry so much."
"Are you absolutely sure?" Fuu asked, and Umi just wanted to scream. She didn't want to be treated like some sort of wilting flower. It was just a headache - a really bad one, maybe, but it wasn't going to kill her.
"Go! Find Ferio, let him appreciate your dress before you end up making nice with political guests all evening." Umi shooed her away, sighing with relief when she left. One down.
"How did you get that old geezer to play polite host, anyway?" Caldina asked.
"He owes me a favour." Umi pushed herself up and skulked to the bathroom to wet a cloth and returned to her bed to swoon dramatically across it in an attempt to at least amuse herself. The cool did help a bit - or the water did. "His rooms should be nice and quiet while my parents sit for half an hour and accept that Cephiro's real and so is magic. It's a bit of a shock the first time, you know?"
Hikaru, finally free from Caldina's hands, came across and patted Umi on the shoulder. "They looked like they were doing fine when they left, but I could check on them?"
"Honestly, I think they'll want to be as quiet as possible until they're ready to go down to the ball?" Umi shrugged awkwardly against the sheets. They wanted the chance to adjust in private and also probably grill Clef, she meant.
How much of that Hikaru picked up on, she wasn't sure, but either way, she accepted the refusal and made her own farewells, heading out the room as Caldina put away the bits and pieces she hadn't needed for Hikaru's outfit.
Presea sat down beside her on the bed and touched Umi's cheek. "Maybe you should go see the Healers," she murmured.
"It's just a silly magic-reaction thing," Umi complained, dropping the cloth over her eyes to block out the light of the room.
"Missy, if your magic's making you ill, something's wrong," Caldina said, her voice coming from the direction of the wardrobes.
"Have you spoken to the Healers?" Presea asked. "If it's magic fatigue, you really need to be resting until it's healed. If you ignore it and try to push yourself, things could go really badly. I know you girls don't have magic in your world, but that means you need to be even more careful, let yourself heal properly.
"It's just a headache!"
"Getting headaches for no reason isn't a good thing," Caldina said. "Presea's right, you need to see the Healers."
"You're the one who stopped Clef when he was trying to drag me off to see them," Umi snapped, pushing herself up to glare at Caldina.
Caldina blinked. "Wait, that's what you were arguing about?"
"Yes! And don't worry, he got grouchy enough I went to the doctors back home, it's not just magic, I'm just - it's fine, they're treating me for the headaches which are perfectly natural for people sometimes, it's just - taking some time to get rid of them. Using magic just seems to be triggering the blasted things at the moment, okay? So it's a bit of a magic thing, but it's not a magic thing, and I'm fine!"
Presea frowned at her. "What do your doctors at home think is causing these headaches if they don't know about magic fatigue?" she asked.
"Um. Hormones?" Umi said, then winced. Periods could trigger migraines, right?
Fortunately, Caldina proceeded to interrupt by letting out the most awful shriek when she opened Umi's wardrobe.
"What are all of these?" she demanded.
"Huh." Umi blinked in surprise, staring at a selection of familiar looking fabric. "I didn't know he was going to send those over."
Caldina rounded on Umi, looking like steam was about to start pouring out of her ears. "What do you mean 'he sent them over'?"
"Clef must have sent them over from his house so I actually get a chance to wear more than one of them? And stop being so loud. My head hurts."
"Umi, why is that man giving you several large fortunes' worth of clothing?"
"Maybe because I'm good in bed?" Umi muttered with an annoyed shrug.
"He's paying you for sex?"
"They're gifts! You know presents?" Umi rubbed her hands over her face. "Aveo - his niece, have you met her? She told him he needed to stop hoarding money he never uses and put some of it into the local economy, so he bought a bunch of stuff he didn't actually need and made it into some presents. And if it makes you feel better, I haven't had sex with him in well over a month." Aveo had told her about the 'local economy' excuse back when Clef was dragged off on business.
"Then what were you doing two weeks ago when you barely even left his rooms?" Caldina demanded.
"Talking? Sleeping? We do more than just get naked together." Umi rolled her eyes. "What do you think we did before Ouran's ball?"
Presea's concerned look was more worrying than Caldina's continuing anger. "You know he's not supposed to be courting you, right? Not just you, he's not supposed to be courting anyone."
"I know that." Umi nodded, pulling her knees up to her chest. "We're not- We just - do stuff together. Sometimes that stuff is debating magic theory or talking over tea, and sometimes that stuff is sex."
Presea exchanged a look with Caldina that Umi couldn't quite read. "How regular are your magic lessons with Clef?" Presea asked.
Confused by the sudden change of topic, Umi stared at her. "He stopped teaching me regularly over a year ago. We've had a lesson or two since, but nothing regular. Why?"
"So you're not his apprentice?"
"Of course not! He wouldn't - Not if I was his apprentice."
"Okay. Let's get you dressed so you can go get some of that tea, then." Presea stood and held out a hand to help Umi up off the bed.
"That's it?" Caldina said. "That's all you're going to ask?"
"Clef shouldn't be courting her, but so far as I am concerned, as long as he's not breaking his oath as a master the rest is none of my business."
Caldina was still muttering under her breath when she got out the dress she'd helped Umi pick the pieces for - ignoring the rest of the wardrobe.
"My parents are here, so if we can keep it… tamer than the last dress I wore to a ball."
"I have no plans to dress you like a menu item. Unlike some people" Caldina huffed, shaking out the fabric of the underdress. "I was surprised your parents are here. You tell them you're moving to Cephiro to go to the Academy when it's finally running or something?"
"Yeah, they wanted to see Cephiro, after they found out about it," Umi said, voice quiet as she unbuttoned her shirt, resisting the urge to wrap her arms about her abdomen. There was only a bit of a curve, like she'd gained a bit of weight, not- anything else.
She'd spent enough time staring at her profile in the mirror at home trying to convince herself of that, but she still couldn't quite believe it. And she'd forgotten there was a somewhat more significant change to other parts of her anatomy.
"What are those?" Caldina demanded, staring at Umi's chest.
Umi tugged her shirt closed, face flushing hot. "What? I stopped fencing this year, I'm getting older, I put on a little weight. Hikaru's grown most of all of us and you weren't all over her. I just got a little bigger."
"A little? You've practically tripled in size since we bought this." Caldina poked Umi in the chest, making her flinch.
"Ow!" Umi swatted her away. "That hurts, and I have not! It's just a little-"
"That is not a little anything!"
"I didn't take off my clothes last time, you just wrapped things around us, and-" Umi wrapped her arms about herself. "The fatigue thing made me hungry all the time, and-"
"Oh? You haven't been trying to get curvier just so you can keep his attention, then?" Caldina shot at her, eyes narrowing. "You like him, even if all he wants from you is just sex, so you're trying to keep him - it doesn't work like that, if he doesn't respect you enough to wait until he's allowed to have a real relationship with you then that's obviously not what he's looking for, and-"
Presea shouted, "Enough!"
Caldina turned on her. "Just because you still have some misguided feelings for the creep, doesn't make what he's doing right!"
"I'm not the one who is insisting on upsetting Umi," Presea said, eyes blazing dangerously, as she wrapped a protective arm around Umi's shoulders. "And if you keep throwing around false accusations, I will throw you out that window."
"These windows don't even open." Caldina crossed her arms.
"Through it, then," Presea growled, and glared at Caldina until she backed down and turned away. Presea rubbed Umi's shoulder reassuringly, her voice more gentle when she said, "Let's get you dressed. Do you want to wear something that he gave you?"
Caldina looked bitterly at the fabrics she'd chosen for Umi's clothes and cast them aside. "I guess this won't even fit right now. But we're not using an outfit he came up with!" She flung back open Umi's wardrobe and proceeded to pull together an absolutely beautiful combination that had some of the most intense indigos Umi had seen anywhere in Cephiro, which she was pretty sure only came from Mazda.
With Presea's help, Caldina draped two layers of cloth about Umi, modestly catching both sides up at her shoulders like a chiton, the delicate band of glimmering embroidery along the edge of the top layer as it modestly draped over her chest actually distracting from the amount of curve underneath it.
Presea pushed Caldina aside and gently wrapped the sash around Umi's waist herself, tying it with the ends slightly to the right, and in such a way it managed to help minimise the new curves too.
"Where's this jewellery of yours, then?" Caldina asked, voice still full of bite. "If he's given you all of this, he's definitely given you jewellery as well."
"I don't know if he'd have sent any of that over," Umi said, turning to look in the wardrobe. There were a few pairs of shoes at the bottom, and she picked out a pair of dancing shoes that were almost the same colour as the sash before looking up at the other shelves.
One of the jewellery boxes had been sent across. Umi lifted it down and set it on the end of Fuu's bed and opened it.
Caldina swore loudly beside her. "Are you absolutely sure that man isn't paying you for what he's getting?"
"Caldina!" Presea snapped. "The window is still right there."
"Fine! Fine, I'll shut up, but I still think this is a terrible idea-"
"Think whatever you want and keep it in your head where it belongs." Presea pushed Caldina back towards the bed and the trail of fabric she'd pulled out of the wardrobe. "You can tidy up after yourself while you do it."
Umi forcibly ignored Caldina and picked out a few bracelets and a pair of ear cuffs. When she was finished and Caldina had given her reluctant approval, turning and heading for the door, Presea held Umi back for a moment and caught her up into a hug.
"Don't you worry. It's going to be alright," she said, voice low.
"P-Presea-"
"Come on, let's get you to your parents."
.*.*.*.
When Umi turned up still looking ill, Clef forgot to worry about how she was going to feel about what he'd told her parents, and instead tried not to fret over her too visibly. He made her a cup of tea while her parents admired her clothes.
It wasn't until he brought the cup over that he realised he recognised the fabric. It wasn't just something from Mazda, he remembered standing in Teana's shop holding that bit of cloth - the pattern about the edge was stylised waves breaking on the shore. Teana had been the only seller of that cloth this year, a test of the pattern.
"I thought you said Caldina had picked something out for you?" he asked.
Umi pulled a face. "It's a long story," was all she said. "Mama, Papa, how have you been doing? Is Clef looking after you?"
"He has been very informative," Umi's mother said, calmly enough that Umi looked at her suspiciously, then turned and looked at Clef. He thrust the tea at her, hoping it would work as a distraction - then worried how badly she must be feeling when it did.
Her parents fortunately stuck to easy questions about basic magic and Festival itself while Umi drank, and by the time she was finished with the tea, Umi was looking better, and they headed out.
By the time they made it down to the main level, Umi was practically energetic as she enthusiastically pulled her parents along, taking the lead as they walked into the great hall.
Clef was stopped by a hand on his arm as he followed them through the door, an all-too-familiar voice saying his name, and he spun around to face Aveo.
"We give a farewell to the year gone by," Aveo said, the greeting so traditional Clef gave the ingrained response even while staring at her, bewildered.
"And ready ourselves for the new - what are you doing here?"
"I figured I ought to come meet Umi's parents, before they show up at the house without so much as an introduction, so I will be able to make them feel more at home there," she said, crossing her arms. "I figured I would be polite and let you know I'm here this time."
"They won't be visiting the house just yet, they're leaving again tomorrow," Clef said, then paused. "What do you mean 'this time'?"
"Are you going to introduce me to our new family members?" Aveo said. "Or shall I do it myself?"
Clef waved her on ahead.
"I think I deserve a raise for managing to keep Kalos and Brisa away," Aveo said as they made over to where Umi was introducing her parents to Ascot.
"You control the household accounts; you can give yourself a raise."
"I know. I just thought I should let you know. Someday, you might actually pay attention to the accounts."
Umi looked just about as started to see Aveo as Clef had been, but she moved on and introduced Aveo to her parents without pause. Both of Umi's parents were enthusiastic to meet 'Clef's niece'. Though their questions were just as innocuous as they had been the other week, Clef had a terrible feeling that given enough time with her they would manage to learn his entire life story - including all the more embarrassing parts of his childhood and adolescence - despite Aveo not having been alive for the first part of it.
Ascot seemed fascinated.
But almost as suddenly as she'd appeared, Aveo wound up one last story, emptied her glass on a toast to all of them, and took her leave.
The group left made their way toward the refreshments, and Princess Tarta appeared from the crowd with an excited shriek as she tackled Umi, throwing her arms around her.
"I'm so glad you're here! I was so worried we wouldn't even see you when you didn't visit last week. Hikaru said you were too ill to come. You're feeling better now, right?"
"I believe she merely said Umi was resting, sister," Tatra said, appearing at their side a moment later. She smiled at Umi's parents. "I don't believe we've met."
Clef took over introductions as Tarta seemed to be continuing her barrage of questions - Umi looking more bemused than anything.
.*.*.*.
"Your dress is gorgeous," Tarta said, handing Umi a drink when she realised Umi was empty-handed. "Is it new for this year?"
Umi stared at the pink bubbles. "Um… yeah, it is new," she said, unsure of what she should do. It would be rude to refuse the drink, and she definitely didn't want to spend all night discussing why she wasn't drinking alcohol.
But she didn't have to worry long because Ascot - lovely Ascot - plucked the glass out of her hand. "Last time you had any of that, you blew up a fountain," he said, trading her the glass of juice he'd just picked up.
"Blew up a fountain?" Tarta asked, and Mama and Papa turned to look at her too.
"I kind of threw all the water up into the air?" Umi said. To demonstrate, she grabbed hold of the liquid and pulled it out of the glass like one shimmering thread and wrapped it about her fingers before carefully letting it flow back into her glass. Umi shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"Yes, and you lost control of the spell because you were drunk," Clef said. "You're incredibly lucky that spell didn't rebound on you."
"Maybe, but it only splashed back on us," Umi argued, then turned to Ascot. "Sorry."
"I got to go home early since my clothes were all wet." Ascot shrugged, a sly smile creeping onto his face. "Caldina doesn't know that I can dry my clothes with magic now."
Umi snorted out a laugh. When Umi turned back to the others, Mama was shaking her head.
"Umi," was all Mama said, the tone of those two syllables encompassing every conversation about responsibility and acceptable behaviour they'd had in the past year.
Tone sobering immediately, Umi stood up straighter. "I didn't have that much to drink."
Clef and Ascot exchanged a look, and Umi's face went horribly hot.
"Are the new year flowers blooming yet?" Tatra asked. "I did want to see them this year. I've heard so much about them."
With that, they were making their way out to the gardens, Tatra drawing Umi's parents along with her polite conversation. Umi couldn't be more thankful for the redirection.
Ascot left them at the door, bidding Umi good luck with a pat on her arm and a small smile.
The group of them walked along the wide patio. It was even more decorated this year than it had been last year; streamers and bunting stretched out from the sides of the castle to tall poles hung with lights that were just starting to glow as the sun dipped closer to the horizon. Eventually, they came to a large pergola covered with the delicate twisting vines of the new year 'spark flowers' which would be bursting open over the next few days. None of them were more than white swelling buds so far.
They were sitting on the low benches beneath the pergola with Tatra telling Umi's parents more of Chizeta when the music drifting from the ballroom shifted to a melody Umi recognised and she started swaying in time to the beat. If she craned her neck, she could just see the couples dancing.
"Come on. You know you want to dance." Tarta grabbed Umi's arm and dragged her to her feet. Laughing, Umi handed her glass over to Clef and enthusiastically followed Tarta to the ballroom, leaving Tatra and Clef to entertain her parents.
The first few dances were fine, then the band started up the fast, twisting one she'd once danced with Clef in his ballroom - the one which had ended with her dress coming undone and him running away from her. Umi paused.
"You know this one, right?" Tarta asked, grinning at her. "Want to see how fast we can go round?"
Cackling, Umi nodded; she wasn't going to back down from a challenge like that, and it would hopefully stop her thinking of the last time she'd danced this.
Half-way through, she started to think she might have made a mistake. She was breathless and dizzy before the music finished, leaning on Tarta more than she meant to. The room was spinning and her feet didn't want to stay underneath her.
"Are you alright?" Tarta asked, leading her back off the floor.
"I just need to catch my breath."
Tarta shooed someone out of the way of a chair at the edge of the room for Umi to drop down into it, flapping about her with worry. "I'll - I should go get someone," she said.
"I'm fine." Umi tried to get up but Tarta shoved her back down.
"You're pale as stone. I'm going to fetch that mage of yours." She vanished back out the garden doors.
Rubbing her hands over her face, Umi tried to will the world to be steady around her, with limited success. The others descended on her the moment they came through the doors. Clef was muttering something about wanting her to be seen by the Healers, hopefully too quiet for anyone else to hear, and Umi pulled a face at him, taking her drink back when he offered it.
"I think it would be best if you didn't do any more dancing tonight," Mama said, her voice gentle.
"I'm fine," Umi repeated.
Tarta crossed her arms and let out a huff. "You don't seem fine."
"You've used a lot of magic today," Clef added, touching her shoulder.
Umi shrugged him off. "I just need to eat something."
"When did you last eat?" he asked. When Umi opened her mouth to mention the crackers she'd had when they arrived, he gave her a look. "A proper meal."
Umi pulled a face at him, knowing that if she told him the truth about not eating much of anything, he'd start in on a lecture about feeding her magic.
"Now is not the time to be skipping meals," Clef said. "What do you think could have happened if you'd lost control of that spell? It's more than just your life on the line, you know." When Umi glared at him, he clarified, "Your parents and your friends could have been injured in the backlash."
"I'm fine."
"Repeating it won't make it true."
"It's not the worst thing I've done, and you know it!" Umi snapped at him.
Clef let out a breath and muttered under his breath. Umi couldn't understand the words, but she knew that tone.
"It wasn't anything like that," she argued. "It wasn't even the same spell!"
"It could have had the same result!"
"That I keep the country from falling apart and save people?"
"That the spell could have recoiled and actually killed you this time."
Umi glared at Clef. She'd been very careful to avoid saying how dangerous some of the things she'd done had been, and here he was claiming that the jump from Tokyo to Cephiro was somehow more deadly because she'd been too ill with anxiety to eat.
Clef glared right back at her.
"Why don't we get Umi something to eat," Mama said. "Then we can discuss her poor decision-making skills."
It was still Clef who helped Umi to her feet. He hadn't moved from her side since he'd reached her. His fretting made Umi wonder if maybe she should be more concerned, but by the time she was settled into a chair in the dining hall, Umi decided that he was just being overprotective and forced herself to bite her tongue instead of snapping at his anxious hovering.
Mama, Papa, both princesses, and the princesses' small retinue had stayed with Umi while Clef went to fetch her something to eat, and despite her insistence that she'd be perfectly fine on her own for ten minutes while everyone else got food he wouldn't leave her until Tatra sent him off with the promise that she would stay until he returned with Mama and Papa.
Umi smushed the vegetables in her soup against the side of the bowl angrily, wishing she wasn't so hungry, until she finally forced herself to take a bite. But that was a mistake. As soon as she had the spoonful in her mouth, Tatra spoke.
"So, did you accomplish everything you wished to this year?" she asked, and Umi nearly choked.
It was a perfectly innocent question. The sort of thing people asked this time of year in Cephiro: the first day of Festival was all about looking back at the year past. But that question had a bit more weight this year. Umi had certainly succeeded in accomplishing one of her goals.
She'd accomplished it a bit too well.
Coughing, Umi reached for her glass, her face burning.
Tatra hummed thoughtfully and was looking Umi with a considering look that only made Umi's face burn hotter when she said, "Your parents aren't just here on a social visit."
Umi was saved trying to decide how best to respond when Tarta pulled a face at her sister, saying, "What other kind of visit would it be? It's not like they're politicians or anything."
"Actually, Papa was when I was younger," Umi said, hoping to redirect the flow of conversation away from Clef. "Well, more like an ambassador, I guess. We moved around a lot anyway. These six years in Tokyo are the longest we've stayed anywhere."
"How long are you staying in Cephiro? We're here for the whole Festival thing, plus whatever it is Tatra's supposed to be doing before we head back to Chizeta in a week."
Tatra smiled indulgently at her. "Treaties, sister. Trading agreements."
"Yeah, that. Whatever." Tarta looked expectantly at Umi.
Umi sighed. "We go back to Tokyo tomorrow."
"Tomorrow! But you only just got here!"
"We can only stay for the night. I have school the day after tomorrow, and my parents have work. I wish I could stay longer too. It feels like ages since we've seen each other.
"Then you'll just have to come visit us at home," Tarta declared.
"Sister," Tatra said. "Perhaps now isn't the best time to be making such invitations."
"When you're feeling better, of course," Tarta said, undaunted. "When are you finished with school? Wasn't it supposed to be soon?"
"In a few months, but I have a break in about five weeks." The idea of actually visiting Chizeta had Umi sitting up, excitement giving her more energy than she'd had all day as she realised it was actually a reasonable proposition. Plus, she really wanted to do it before there would be an actual baby to worry about. "It wouldn't be a very long visit, but I think I could squeeze it in."
"Squeeze what visit in?" Mama asked, her voice startling Umi, who hadn't notice them return.
"Going to Chizeta," Umi explained. "I have nearly three weeks off school for winter break, so -"
"I'm not sure now is the time to be making travel plans," Papa said.
"Surely it'll be fine by then." Umi's enthusiasm started to wane as she stared at the three people apparently determined to burst her hopes. "It should be okay. It's not like I'm ill! People travel like this all the time-"
"We'll have to see what Dr. Matoba says about it," Mama said firmly, as she and Papa took their seats.
Clef nodded. "And you'll need to be seen by the Healers to be cleared for travel, at any rate."
.*.*.*.
Clef hadn't expected his words to drain the bright enthusiasm out of Umi. As he took the seat on the other side of her parents, he watched Umi grip her spoon tighter as she took the slow deep breaths that said she was already fighting back tears.
"I didn't mean you shouldn't go," he added hastily.
"But Umi's young and healthy," Tarta burst out. "Why would she need medical clearance?"
Umi's head snapped up and she caught Clef's gaze with sharp eyes.
He took a breath and said, "Someone decided it would be a good idea to move the entire eastern ocean a few months ago, nearly burning herself out." He looked pointedly over at Umi even as she crossed her arms and glared at him. "That sort of injury requires monitoring."
Umi was even more annoyed with him when her parents started asking questions about what he meant. "I'm just more tired than normal. It's fine," she muttered.
"You nearly fainted from dancing!" Tarta flailed a hand at her. "It wasn't even a whole set."
"It's been a long day." The yawn Umi then stifled only emphasising the point.
"Perhaps it might be better to wait," Tatra said, always so much calmer than her sister. "You don't want to exhaust yourself simply travelling."
"I'm sure it'll be fine," Umi said, positivity nearly outweighing the uncertainty still tinting her voice. "And I'll have so much to do once school's over that the break is better for me."
"I can always coordinate planning things while you're back in Tokyo," Clef offered, slowly. "Then, if you did get clearance…"
Tatra nodded, with a knowing sort of smile. "And of course you're welcome to come with Umi. We wouldn't want her getting lonely on the voyage."
"It's not that long a trip!" Tarta declared. "Maybe a day and a half at most."
"And you'd rather have your friend spend a day and a half all on her own."
"She wouldn't be on her own. There's staff."
"It's not the same as a friend, sister-dear."
Umi's mother nodded. "I do believe we would feel more comfortable with Umi travelling with Mr. Clef than alone."
He would have to reschedule an entire week or more of his work to fit around what Umi wanted to do, but he'd done so before.
Smothering a yawn, Umi reached across the table for the pot of tea, and Clef sighed. "Maybe you ought to go to bed," he said.
The look on her face said she hated the suggestion as much as he'd known she would. "But I want to actually see the rolling of the chronicle."
"It will happen again next year, I promise."
When the others agreed with him, Umi's face twisted into a grimace of annoyance. "Fine." She thumped the teapot back down - some of its contents spilling onto the cloth - and shoved her chair away from the table. "I guess it's my bedtime, then. Goodnight everyone." With a little wave, she turned on her heel and strode away.
"Would you make sure she gets back to her room?" Umi's father asked, looking at him. "My wife and I would likely lose our way attempting to return, but I would like to be sure she does not feel faint halfway there."
Clef leapt at the opportunity. It would give him a few moments alone with her for the first time all evening.
"I don't need a babysitter," Umi complained when he caught up to her, halfway across the dining hall. "I can make it back to my room on my own."
"Maybe I just wanted to spend a little time with you," Clef said.
Umi let out a small huff of a laugh.
The two of them wove their way through the tables, Umi giving a few little waves when she passed familiar faces. There wasn't much chance to be alone, as the corridor outside the main halls were also teeming with people, and though the crowds had thinned by the time they made it to the bank of lifts that served their floors, there was constantly someone around.
"I really can make it back on my own," Umi insisted and pressed the stone to call for the next lift. "This thing opens two doors from our rooms, I can't get into trouble taking three steps. Go keep an eye on my parents. Make sure they don't get lost or start any international incidents."
"But-"
"Please, Clef." She smiled at him, tiredly. "I'll worry about them until you do. I get the troublemaking from Mama, after all."
Clef stayed with her until she was on the lift and the doors shut. He stood there another long moment, before returning to the dining hall. By the time he made it back to the table, he found that Hikaru and Presea had joined that table while former was telling about that time Umi had talked him into rearranging part of the gardens because she didn't want to walk so far to her favourite fountain.
In spite of the feeling that Umi's parents were still sizing him up, Clef found he was actually enjoying getting to know them, and even more, getting to know more about the sort of child Umi had been before he met her, as they all exchanged stories. Umi's parents got to learn about Umi educating the Council on water dynamics, and they told a few anecdotes of Umi getting in trouble at school for beating up bullies.
Several other people dropped by the table over the next hour or so; Caldina insinuated herself beside Presea for a while, and Ascot came by. Clef caught his arm just long enough to murmur heartfelt thanks for his help with Umi's drink, earlier. Ascot smiled shyly at him, then Caldina was pulling him away to introduce him to Umi's parents herself, with a suspicious look back at Clef when Ascot wasn't looking. But she left the table not long afterward, shooing Ascot off to bed, and it couldn't spoil the evening.
It was late into the night by the time Clef bid Umi's parents goodnight, having walked them back to their room so they wouldn't get lost. On the way back to his own rooms, he paused momentarily when he hit the main spiral and looked up towards the floor with the knight's room, strongly tempted to check in on Umi, but decided better of it. Hikaru and Fuu would be with her, and she needed the rest. It wasn't like he wouldn't see her at breakfast in the morning.
Clef carried on down, and stepped into his rooms, stifling a yawn as he let the door swing shut behind him.
Before the latch clicked, the door was flung violently open again. Caldina stormed into the room, shouting "You dirty rotten scoundrel!"
Though she didn't have elemental magic, she was surrounded by a miasma of rage. Clef staggered backward as she loomed at him, his mind entirely blank about why he was being cornered in his own rooms.
"Just because you're the Guru doesn't mean you can get away with being scum. I don't care how many nice things you gave her, or money you paid her. Coaxing an innocent young girl into having unprotected sex makes you utterly repugnant." She spat that final word at him. "Have you even had a charm, or has she been exposed to whatever kind of diseases a filthy reprobate like you might have been harbouring all these years?"
She slammed a hand into his chest and shoved him farther back into the room.
"I never-" Clef stammered, as he staggered on his feet.
"You never what? Use protection? You're the sort of good-for-nothing who thinks they don't need to worry about contraception because they're not the one who can get pregnant. Is that it? You can't possibly think a bunch of fancy bits of clothing and some pretty jewellery will make up for what you've done."
Clef stumbled back again when she pushed forward. Before he got the chance to defend himself, the bedroom door burst open behind him with a resounding crash, and the temperature of the room plummeted.
.*.*.*.
To be continued...
Author's Note: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. The next update may take a little longer than usual. Due to a back injury, I am on a new medication that is making it difficult for me to write. But I hope that I can get the next part up within the month as ususal.
But if you are in need of more cute Umi and Clef fluff, I always have more stories posted on Archive of Our Own. (More info in my profile.)
What's your favourite part of the story so far? What are you looking forward to reading about?