28 March 2019: I had this up on AO3 for several days and finally got up the energy to fight with FFN's posting system. I'm still struggling with some things thanks to my various meds, but it will be alright.

Many thanks to Down for the edit of this chapter. She loves me and stays up late to shine up my drafts and make then make far more sense. (I had some really silly typos this go-round. Curse you, mind fogging medications!)

Content Note: This chapter has been edited for sexual content to keep it within 's Teen rating standards. Please go to Archive of Our Own to read the full version of this chapter. (info in my profile.)

Chapter 22
In which Clef marries Umi

The air cooled so fast it prickled painfully against Clef's skin as Umi stormed out of the bedroom and her power flooded the air. Clef was startled enough he flinched sideways, and Caldina actually staggered back towards the door and nearly stumbled over.

"What are you doing here?" Caldina demanded, her voice very slightly slurred. The amount she must have drunk was doing nothing good for her balance.

That wasn't normal. Caldina drank, but Clef had never once seen her drunk. Not until now.

As soon as Umi was close enough, Caldina started trying to grab her arm and pull her away from Clef, not heeding the danger as the air chilled far enough their breath was visible as they spoke.

"I was trying to sleep!" Umi snapped. "Then you came in shouting at my partner - stop that! I'm not going anywhere!"

Caldina turned to glare at Clef on the word 'partner', before shaking her head at Umi. "He ain't your partner, girlie, and whatever promises he's made you, he can't keep them. If he were any sort of decent person, he'd have left you alone."

The statement stung, but Clef knew it was the truth. If he'd been able to say no to Umi, none of this mess would exist. Nor would their child, and that thought gave him the most conflicted feelings; he pushed it away.

"Our relationship has nothing to do with you!" Umi slapped Caldina's hand away, her voice sharp and full of venom.

"You're too young to realise what a mess you've got yourself into - he's done his crime, but you're the one left holding the hostage! He won't even acknowledge a relationship in public, but he's made it look like you're up for fucking anyone powerful enough who'll give you a few expensive dresses. Worse, you are a child he has a duty of care for and he shouldn't be near you in the first place! This will ruin your future in Cephiro, you'll just be 'the girl who fucked the Guru and messed up and got herself pregnant', and no one will take you seriously again-"

Every word she said was true or close enough. Clef would not let this wreak Umi's life, but he'd already heard the gossip flying about, and that wasn't the worst thing about it - that was the way power was flickering visibly about Umi now, and she was in no state to be holding that much magic. Her hands were shaking, and she was still healing, no matter what she said - and she would regret it forever if she lost control and hurt someone who was only trying their best to protect her.

Clef reached out to lay a hand on her arm, ready to block any spell she might throw. "You've said your piece," he told Caldina. "I think it best you leave, and let Umi calm down. You can yell at me later, but leave her out of this."

"You didn't leave her out of this," Caldina snapped and turned to Umi again, earnestly persistent. "Umi, he can't take care of you, or that baby. It would tear his precious Guild apart to have him thrown in gaol right now - he'll choose his country over you, you know he will. He did it before, he even let his precious princess die!"

Clef flinched hard at that, but Umi shuddered even harder, the air shivering about her hands - the hands which had killed Emeraude. He would have snapped at Caldina for making Umi remember that if he didn't think it would make the situation worse. Instead, he wrapped his hands about Umi's, ignoring the sharp prickling of her magic biting at his skin. "And I've promised Cephiro will never harm someone again if I can stop it," Clef got out, throat dry. "No matter what happens, I'll protect Umi, even if it means facing charges-"

"But it won't come to that. The Ryuuzaki family is perfectly capable of taking care of our own without assistance, however kindly meant," came a calm voice from the open doorway.

Umi's mother walked into the magic charged room without even flinching. She walked in so casually that confidence was a weapon itself, but at least Umi looked up, shuddering back to the present moment, and the air lost a fraction of the bite it had acquired.

"Clef-dear," she said with a glance in his direction. "Please make us some tea. I believe Ms. Caldina and I should have a little talk. Umi, darling, drop whatever spell that is and come sit down, there's no need for it. Is there, Ms. Caldina?"

There was a terrible kind of satisfaction watching Caldina flinch in obvious confusion, and Clef made himself turn away to the kitchen, letting Umi's mother deescalate the situation.

Umi's mother closed the door firmly behind herself before continuing. "After all, from tomorrow Clef-dear will be one of our family too," she said, "and any attack on him will be an attack against Umi and our family as well. I'm afraid none of us take kindly to those we love being threatened, though most of us do so without casting spells."

"What changes tomorrow?" Caldina asked, looking slightly off-balance at this mixture of trust and threat.

"He's signing a marriage contract."

"But-" Caldina looked back at Clef, confusion now the plainest emotion on her face. "He can't?"

"I can be punished for doing it," Clef said. "That doesn't make it invalid, and it won't stop me."

Umi's mother took Caldina's elbow while she absorbed that and led her over to the seating area. "Thank you for being concerned for Umi's wellbeing, but I assure you, my daughter is capable of making her own decisions - we are very hard to stop once we find the one we love, us Ryuuzaki. I should know; I married Umi's father and was pregnant younger than Umi is now."

Clef hadn't been certain he believed Umi about that, and it did help a little to hear it. He didn't hear Caldina's response as they got closer to the couch, partially because Umi joined him while he was pulling out cups and setting them onto the tray.

"Glad that's not me," Umi muttered, leaning back against the worktop, and despite himself, Clef laughed - quietly, not interrupting the discussion on the other side of the room.

When he carefully set the tray down on the low table in front of Umi's mother, she was explaining in greater detail the ways that by marrying Umi, Clef would be becoming part of the Ryuuzaki household, and would, therefore, fall under their protection. The words were spoken gently, but he could feel the threat being levelled in them.

He didn't linger on that side of the room, heading back to where Umi sat backward on one of the dining chairs, precariously leaning against the table while watching the other conversation.

"You could go back to bed," he suggested, but Umi shook her head. "Well, would you like some tea?"

"One of the sleep-encouraging ones?" she said. "I think I'm going to need it."

"You can only have the floral one, is that okay?"

"I guess." Umi sighed, wrinkling her nose in obvious dislike.

Handing her the cup a few minutes later, Clef pulled a chair up beside her. "Your mother is terrifying," he murmured.

"Yeah." Umi kept her voice as low. "You could sic her on the Council if you want. I'm sure she'd be more than happy to get his whole law business sorted for you."

"If things get desperate, I just might." He looked back at the discussion. "I wish I could put her on the Council."

Umi curled closer to him, tucking her head against his shoulder as she clutched her mug of tea.
"I was having such a nice dream before I was so rudely woken up," she muttered. "Why'd she have to come in shouting like that?"

"Don't you think she has a point? This-" he waved between them "-isn't a good idea."

Umi let out a huff of annoyance. "If Mama thought you had any bad intentions, she'd have yanked me out of here and let Caldina have at you. Instead, she's protecting you."

Yes, she was. Aveo had done similar things, on odd occasions in the past - cutting him off before he spent more than three small fortunes on Umi probably counted, but it was hardly the only example. It was… nice, to have another person doing it because he was family. More than nice. He had friends who would step in for him if he needed them - his Circle, Ferio, Lantis, Presea - but it was different when it was family.

He wasn't at all convinced he deserved any such care.

"Why are you in here?" he made himself ask. "I thought you'd gone back to your room."

"I figured you'd be the only one fretting over me if I stayed in here," Umi said, taking a sip of her tea and pulling a face. "You gave me access to your rooms. Do you not want me to use it?"

Clef rubbed a hand over his face. "That's not what I meant. It's fine."

Umi opened her mouth to say something but stopped and sat up straighter as her mother got to her feet.

"It's time for us to be going," Umi's mother said, guiding a far calmer, though worryingly thoughtful Caldina toward the door. Clef moved to stand, but she held up a hand to stop him. "We can see ourselves out. You two should get to bed."

The door shut and Clef dropped his head in his hands. "I think I need a cup of very strong tea."

Thumping her half-full cup onto the table, Umi threw herself to her feet and over to the kettle. "Strong as in wakeful? Or sleep inducing?"

"Something strong enough I don't have to think about any of this."

"Well, my suggestion would be chocolate or ice cream or - do you have any alcohol?" She opened one of the lower cupboards, and then another.

"No, I don't." Clef got to his feet and shut the next door she opened. "And the last thing I should be doing in consuming alcohol. I don't need to add to the evidence that despite my centuries of experience, I have terrible decision-making skills."

"Are you afraid you'd take advantage of me?" Umi asked with a grin as she leaned back against the counter. "Or afraid of what you might explode?"

"Honestly, at this moment, I'm afraid of your mother," Clef said, dumping several more spoonfuls of tea than was necessary into his last little teapot. "I definitely don't want to be on her bad side."

"Then you should come to bed like she told you," Umi said, her voice full of suggestion as she wriggled at him.

"I don't think that's what she meant."

Umi shrugged. "Might help you relax."

"Not tonight." Clef picked up his cup and walked around her to the bedroom.

"You're no fun," Umi told him, almost gentle with the teasing, peeling herself away from the counter to follow him.

.*.*.*.

Umi woke to the distant sound of birdsong, and if it weren't for her desperate need for the toilet, she might have just snuggled further into the covers and stayed in bed until someone told her she ought to come out. Sadly, that wasn't going to work.

It wasn't until she stepped back out into the main room from the toilet that Umi realised Clef wasn't around. The bathroom was dark, and a double check of the bed told her that she'd not been imagining waking up alone. Clef definitely wasn't in his little study, either.

She walked across to the final room, its door nearly tucked close to the corner by the window. When she looked inside, she froze. If it had been a storage room, like Clef said, it certainly wasn't now.

Along one wall stood a narrow bed with coverings like those of the bed she'd had at Clef's house. The little bookcase and the practical desk were almost a stark contrast to the ornate baby's bed that was nearly buried under a proliferation of blankets, rolls of soft looking fabrics, and a collection of tiny clothes.

The main door opened and Umi fled guiltily out of the room, feeling like she'd spoiled some surprise.

Clef had his back to her, toeing his boots off by the door before turning, a soft smile blooming on his face when he saw her. "Good morning." He held up the tray of covered dishes in his hands. "I thought you might like something nicer than porridge."

"What's with the nursery stuff?" Umi blurted out, pointing at the room she'd just left.

He didn't seem phased by the question. "Aveo sent those over so I couldn't 'fret about not having anything ready' or something like that. It's mostly family things she had for Kalos and Elysion, or so she claims. I remember the cot, at least."

Umi blinked at him, glanced back at the room, and then back at him.

Clef calmly set the tray on the table. "I'm sorry I didn't make it back before you woke up." He waved her into a seat and started putting food on the plate in front of her.

"Don't we need to meet my parents?" Umi asked, remembering some vague plans of having breakfast together before showing them about the castle.

"Not until lunch time. Hikaru and Fuu offered to take them around to give you a chance to rest. You're welcome to spend the whole of the morning in bed." He poured her a cup of tea out of a little pot on the tray. "Which is a traditional start to today, after the parties last night."

"Are there any more interesting traditions? I've slept more than enough."

"Well, there's always staying in bed without sleeping..."

Hand stopping halfway to the offered cup, Umi looked at him. "Are you serious?"

"It is traditional," Clef said with a shrug, his grin curling into a mischievous sort of smirk. "It's supposed to be good luck for the new year to spend Festival making love with your partner, but that's only one of the options. There's always taking a long walk out of doors, if you'd rather."

Rolling her eyes, Umi snatched the cup out of his hand and took a sip. "What do my parents think I'm doing?"

"Well, it was their suggestion that we might wish to spend the morning together."

Umi nearly choked on her tea. "They what?"

"Your father thought we hadn't had very much time to talk things through on our own."

"Oh." Umi sighed, relaxing. So, it wasn't what it sounded like: her parents giving them time to - well, to have sex.

"Your mother also said you might be more rational if we had a few hours to… 'rest on our own'," Clef added, with enough emphasis on the quote that said her parents meant just that.

Not wanting to think about that, Umi shoved half a piece of pawasute in her mouth and focused on chewing the firm, nutty bread instead.

Having a private breakfast together was actually really nice, and Umi found herself thinking they should do it more often. Clef just seemed so much more open somehow in his own space, rather than down in the dining hall, even with their friends. Though that might be partially because they'd spent so much of the last six months or so attempting to hide the extent of their relationship.

It wasn't any wonder Caldina had gotten the wrong idea about this. Nearly all the time they'd spent together, it had been in Clef's study, or now at his house, or in his rooms - trying to stay out of sight so things between them were less obvious. In fact, Umi wasn't even sure how many people knew she'd been lurking in Clef's study and talking with him nearly every evening they stayed in Cephiro. It wasn't like she tended to announce 'I'm going to go bug Clef now'.

Nearly all the moments when Clef unwound and talked back, about terrible books or whatever bit of legislation was going through the Council or Guild appointments… they were nearly always in private, just the two of them. Sure, people knew they were friends, but only because Clef let her tease him in public, and she badgered him into taking part in things. No one else got to see the hours she'd spent doing her homework curled in a chair by his desk, a comfortable silence between them.

For all anyone else knew, their entire relationship was made up of poking fun at each other and her dragging Clef into things.

Like her bed.

Since he'd grown, it might have been deliberate on Clef's part, trying to downplay things so no one would suspect he was breaking laws all over the place, but if one of her friends seemed to be in a relationship made entirely of snark, unwilling co-operation, and sex, she'd be dubious about it alright.

She might owe Caldina a bit of an apology. Not as much as Caldina owed Clef, but enough she winced, dragging her attention back to the moment, and the man sat at the table with her.

It was just so unusual still to see him in something that wasn't the heavy layers of his Guru robes. The light linen-like fabric of the long tunic he wore was just thin enough to give a hint at the shape of his body beneath it. The embroidered cuffs were pushed up his arms while he ate, giving Umi a good look at his exposed wrists and forearms, and she kept thinking about what he'd said, and the last time he'd wrapped those arms around her, the feeling of his hands on her skin…

By the time she'd eaten her fill, there were no thoughts in her head but taking full advantage of their morning together. When Clef set his own fork down, Umi took his hand and pulled him insistently away from the table. "I like some of these traditions," she told him, and he snorted.

"This is still a terrible idea in pretty much every way it can be," he said, voice roughening slightly as he looked down at their joined hands. "Are you sure-"

"We're about to get married and you still think you can talk me out of wanting to be with you?" Umi asked, incredulous, and Clef flushed.

"I just-"

"You're thinking far too much," she declared and pulled him in to kiss him, then to tug his shirt off so she could touch him.

The sound of Clef's startled gasp gave her nearly as much of a rush as his fingers tangling into her hair. The jolt of magic in his touch sent a tremor of longing through her. As new as all this still was, she'd missed it the past few weeks.

Sliding her hands up Clef's back, Umi sent a surge of her own over his skin. The gasp that pulled from him had her grinning triumphantly as she drew him back to the bedroom, and down onto the bed.

Clef traced his fingers over her like he was trying to relearn every inch, starting with her ankles, moving slowly up her legs. The care and affection in his touch held such promise of what was to come that Umi was gasping and clutching at his hair as he pushed her nightshirt up. His hands slid up her hips, nowhere near where she wanted his touch most.

He stopped when the hem was only halfway up her middle. "Oh! Your shape's changed," he murmured, sounding almost reverent, eyes focused on the new soft curve of her belly. It really wasn't much, but he knew precisely what she'd looked like with her clothes off a few months ago, and there was a difference.

Umi wrinkled her nose at him. "Can we not talk about that right now?"

Clef blinked up at her, his thumb almost tickling where it was stroking the skin just below her navel. "Why?"

"It's just weird to think there's someone in there while we're-" she waved a hand between them.

"It's not like they're watching. It's more like we're keeping them awake, when they're trying to sleep through our nonsense." Clef let out a cheerful little laugh and bent to press a kiss beside his hand. "Sorry for disturbing your nap, little fish."

Umi glared at him. "Our baby is not a fish." The wicked curl of his lips told her that name was far more likely to stick if she kept protesting it. "It's probably just gas, anyway," she said, pulling a face at him. "The baby's not even all that big yet."

"Does that mean I'm going to regret coming back to bed with you?" Clef asked as he helped her out of the nightshirt.

"Depends how strong your sense of smell is."

Clef just laughed and caught her lips in a kiss as he leaned forward, undaunted.

.*.*.*.

Afterwards, they drowsed curled together in the tangle of bed covers.

Umi traced a finger over the too-visible shape of Clef's ribcage and let out a pointed sigh. "You keep saying I need to eat more. What about you?"

"I never said I was a good influence." He pressed a soft kiss to her shoulder. While he was currently all sharp angles, Umi had a new softness to her that he couldn't quite describe, and couldn't stop touching.

"According to some, you're a terrible influence." Umi's eyes glittered as she grinned at him, and Clef couldn't help himself wondering if their child would have those same expressive eyes.

"Perhaps." Clef traced a line down the centre of her chest and onward until he reached the ever so slight curve of her belly. Bending over, he pressed his lips there, too. "You need to grow big and strong, because your baba's going be a bad influence on you, too."

"Baba?" Umi looked down at him.

"That's what I'd like to be called." Clef smiled. "Baba."

Umi snorted as she failed to stifle a laugh. "Do you want to know what that means in Japanese?"

"No, I have a feeling I don't," he said, eyeing her with suspicion. "Here, it's a perfectly ordinary name for a parent, whatever it means where you're from."

Pushing herself up on her elbows, Umi tilted her head and studied him. "No, I can see it." She reached over and ruffled his hair. "You're totally an old woman, aren't you? If you're reading all those romance novels, I bet you even knit in your spare time."

He bent down again. "Don't listen to whatever your mother tells you about that name. I'm your baba, and she can't change that."

Umi's breath caught, and when Clef looked back up, tears were trickling down her face.

"Oh, darling, are you alright?" he asked, moving back up the bed to wrap his arms about her.

With a half-broken laugh, Umi shook her head. Her mumbled assurances that she was fine were drowned out by a sudden loud knocking on the main door.

Clef felt for the edge of his shields about the door, and let out a sigh. "Ferio."

"Should you see what he wants?" Umi asked, scrubbing at her eyes with her hand.

"It's a holiday," he told her, not moving more than it took to summon a handkerchief. He wanted to know what he'd done to make her cry, so he could avoid doing it again.

Umi wiped her eyes and blew her nose and the knocking grew thunderous with Ferio shouting that he knew Clef was in there. "Go see what he wants so he'll stop," she said.

With a heavy sigh, Clef dragged himself out of bed and away from her. He pulled on his discarded trousers, muttering "I need a holiday." Grabbing his shirt up off the floor, he pulled it on before going to answer the door.

"I don't care if you were sleeping," Ferio said preemptively, shoving into the room.

"There are other ways of spending the holiday," Clef said, shutting the door.

Ferio flushed slightly, looking at Clef's ruffled state, but he didn't acknowledge the comment. "We need to talk."

.*.*.*.

Pressing the heels of her hands to her eyes, Umi tried to cool them in an attempt to not look like she'd just been crying. It was silly, she knew, to be so emotional about that word. Her doctor and all of her paperwork called her the baby's mother, but hearing Clef say it was different somehow.

Umi claimed Clef's dressing gown as her own and went to make sure Ferio wasn't jumping to wild conclusions, like their last visitor. She was still tying the belt when she stopped in the bedroom doorway.

Ferio hissed in a sharp breath when he saw her. "Spirits above! Do the two of you even know the meaning of subtlety?"

"Good morning to you too," Umi said.

"Do you know what this looks like?"

"Like I'm enjoying the holiday?" Clef said. "I am allowed lovers."

"But not partners! If it were just one night, no one would care. One week - especially that first week - would just make everyone think you're enjoying yourself after centuries of celibacy." Ferio stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose and took a long steadying breath. "But, Clef, it's been three months! The two of you spend all your free time together, in private, which is worse. And now, with her parents visiting… you realise that if these laws weren't in place, we'd be expecting you to be making some sort of public declaration soon."

"It's none of your business," Umi said, crossing her arms. "Or anyone else's. We're both tired of the lectures."

"Unfortunately, you're wrong. It's a lot of people's business at the moment." Ferio turned back to Clef. "Please tell me that you aren't actually marrying today."

Clef focused on buttoning his shirt. "Umi's parents are bringing the paperwork round before lunch."

Umi snapped her attention over to Clef. He hadn't even mentioned that they'd discussed any of that, only that Hikaru and Fuu would be showing them about. If her parents were letting them get married, she really did get to keep him, whether or not anyone else approved. Sure, Mama had told Caldina that last night, but that could just have been to calm her down. This sounded a lot more certain.

"Are you out of your mind? It's treason! Not only that, you're admitting your plans to commit treason. If this goes before the Judges, I could be charged with misprision because you told me." Ferio flailed his hands. "Laws still apply on Festival!"

"And no new ones are going to be broken." Clef pulled a face as his shirt refused to be smoothed, his indifference far more amusing than it should be. Umi stifled a giggle as Ferio continued to gesture wildly.

"No. No. No. That's not how that works. Signing a legal document of support would be a separate charge from having a child together," Ferio said, and Umi blinked at him. Had Clef told him about the baby? If so, who'd told Caldina, or had she just guessed? "It's also separate from any other promise you've made, too. I know you must have given Umi a promise."

"Tell that to Caldina," Clef muttered, and then let out a sigh. "Or rather, that I intend to keep it."

"What?" Ferio stared at him.

"She came in her last night, shouting about Clef being a scoundrel who has no intention of keeping any promises he's made me." Umi leaned against the doorframe and pushed a stray lock of hair back over her shoulder.

"Oh, don't forget the bit where I supposedly didn't tell you I was unprotected. Though I guess you weren't actually in the room yet, I'm not sure how well you could hear her."

"What?" Umi glanced about the room as if that might help her remember what she'd heard last night - the memories confused and foggy from sleep. Mostly she just remembered being angry. "But that's not true. We talked about that. Multiple times. I mean, I didn't think anything really would happen, but you told me before I even-"

Ferio groaned and rubbed a hand over his face. "I don't want to know the details. I just - you two have a mess to clean up, and I don't even know how to help."

"Then maybe we should talk about it. Tomorrow." Clef walked toward Ferio, arm out to guide - or possibly even shove - him to the door, which opened with a wave of Clef's hand.

"Tomorrow you'll be committing treason." Ferio stumbled out into the corridor.

"Well, that's nothing new. Good day." Firmly shutting the door, Clef leaned back against it and sighed. "Do you think anyone would notice if I just didn't answer for the rest of the day?"

"What do you plan to do instead?"

The corners of his mouth turned up. "Well, we could continue celebrating the new year - oh." The smile fell away. "You were upset before Ferio came interrupting?"

"It's nothing." Umi pulled a face at him. "Just - you called me a mother. Which is true, I guess, so I don't know why it made me feel so weird."

He nodded, slowly. "It's a strange thought, being a parent," he agreed. "I certainly wasn't expecting it, and I know you weren't. Did you want to talk about it?"

Umi shook her head at him, reaching for something less serious. "We could go back to discussing you being a grandmother?" she offered with a grin, backing up as Clef huffed and reached for her, his lips twitching.

When he was within arm's length, Umi darted back into the bedroom, and around the bed, giggling as he followed. They tumbled onto the bed together, and Clef tickled her sides until she was breathlessly shrieking that she gave up.

"Fine. Fine! You're Baba," she gasped. "You're Baba."

Clef beamed triumphantly before ducking his head to press the gentlest kiss to her neck. "What about you?" he asked, breath sending goosebumps over her skin. "What do you want to be called?"

"I haven't really thought about it."

"Six months is sooner than you think." He pulled the knot at her waist, and the dressing gown fell open, the bedroom air cold on her skin.

With a laugh, Umi grabbed the back of Clef's tunic and tugged it over his head. "There's still time to think about it."

"True." Clef slid his hands up her sides again, and the sharp static shock of his magic made her hiss in a breath as she arched off the bed.

Legs wrapping about his waist, she pulled Clef down to her - but she wasn't going to get what she wanted. They'd barely even started when there was another knock at the door. Umi let out a growl of frustration, but didn't let go of Clef. "If that's Ferio, he can wait."

Power flickered across Clef's skin, prickling against her own, where they were pressed together. "It's your mother," he said, leaning back to look over at the timepiece on the bedside table. "How is it that late?"

The loss of his heat sent a shiver through Umi. She dropped her head back on the rumpled bed and rubbed her hands over her burning face. It was embarrassing enough to be interrupted by her parents, but even that had done nothing to cool her desire to drag Clef back into bed and ignore the world outside.

It wasn't until she heard her parents' voices outside the, now closed, bedroom door that Umi shoved herself out of bed to find something to wear. Pulling the dressing gown back around herself, she looked from last night's crumpled dress to the discarded nightshirt on the end of the bed, realising she didn't even know what to wear. A panicked glance at the wardrobe reminded her of the clothing she'd left over the summer. She dressed in a selection of out-of-season clothing she'd have to change again before heading home. Combing her fingers through her hair, she walked out of the bedroom.

Though they were dressed in far more casual clothing than last night, Mama and Papa still gave off a very formal air, in stark contrast to Clef's creased clothing and ruffled hair across from them.

"Ah. There she is!" Mama smiled brightly at Umi. "Good afternoon, sleepyhead. Did you have a restful morning?"

There was no fighting the hot flush that rushed to Umi's face as she nodded, unable to trust herself to speak. The amusement that crept into her mother's expression only made it worse. Umi dropped onto the settee beside Clef, mechanically taking the cup he held out to her.

On the table beside the tea tray were two large envelopes, one covered with a pattern of cherry blossoms and the other a plain white. Three small narrow boxes rested on top of them.

Simple pleasantries gave way to setting cups aside and Papa opening the white envelope to pull out a passport. He flicked through the first few pages and handed Clef a pen, pointing to a blank line. "You can sign as you normally would for a personal legal document."

"Shouldn't I use this script?" Clef asked, staring at the words that must be as indecipherable to him as Cephiran was for Umi.

"Oh, don't worry about that. No one cares if it's legible, just that it matches." Mama waved him off.

Once he'd signed, his signature that same looping one she'd seen for the past few years, Umi took it and let out a laugh. On the next page was a photograph of a slightly startled looking Clef, one Hikaru had been dispatched to take last weekend when Umi was 'resting' and not going over to Cephiro. The page for him to sign on had a birthdate which made him almost thirty and a birthplace which must be in the UK, as the page before it showed the details of a British citizen named 'Clef DeCefiro'.

It also had a section for children to be added to it. She tried not to look at that too long.

"And see-" Papa said, reaching over to turn the pages and reveal a Japanese visa, stamped and signed. "In case he needs it, we thought he'd better be able to prove he's allowed to be in the country. We have a birth certificate, as well, with the names of your parents as well as we could transcribe them."

She half wondered what strings they'd pulled to get it, and if it was legitimate enough it could be renewed when it expired in a decade if the worst happened and she ended up with Clef moving to Tokyo with her.

The next thing for Clef to sign was a paper that seemed to already be half filled in and stamped by the British Embassy.

"It's just to declare that you are not currently married to someone else and are therefore free to marry our daughter," Papa explained. "As you do not have a copy of a family register we can present to the ward office to show it."

"I've never made a promise to someone else," Clef agreed and signed his name where they told him.

When the pink envelope was opened and the marriage form was pulled out, Umi swallowed and looked over at Clef. "Are you sure you want to do this?"

"Absolutely," he said, with a smile.

Umi picked up the pen and carefully filled in the application form, taking care to write out the katakana her parents had used in their translation of Clef's alias. Her hand trembled as she picked up the box with her seal. It was silly to be so nervous about a simple piece of paper, especially when the baby would already link them irrevocably. Still, pressing the ink on to the white sheet was surreal.

Clef squeezed his signature into the space provided, and they turned the paper around for Mama and Papa to sign as her guardians and witnesses before the paper was carefully folded back up and tucked into the envelope. Once that form was filed, Umi would be finishing high school as a married woman.

"After we've filed everything on our end, I can send your papers over with Umi," Mama said, placing the three boxes back into her handbag while Papa collected the envelopes. "If you have some time to visit us soon, it would be worth taking them to the Consulate to have a new passport, if you want to be known as Ryuuzaki. Just in case."

"What do these call me, if I'm not Ryuuzaki yet?" Clef asked, staring curiously at the envelopes holding his new fabricated identity.

Papa smiled. "Clef DeCefiro. It means 'of Cephiro', in another language from our world."

Clef looked at Umi, with a tiny smile. "I think I had better be a Ryuuzaki, then. It does seem more apt, in the circumstances."

Her parents stood, and Umi leapt up with Clef to see them out. Mama drew her aside near the door and gave Umi a bag with the clothing she'd arrived in Cephiro wearing. "In the future, you should remember to give yourselves time to shower before receiving guests," she said ruffling Umi's hair.

Frozen to the spot, Umi stared after her parents until Clef closed the door.

"If I will it hard enough, do you think Cephiro would swallow me up so I could disappear?" she asked, voice squeaking with embarrassment.

Clef blinked at her. "What's wrong?"

"They know we were having sex!" Umi wailed.

"Umi, I don't think they believe the baby was conceived by magic."

"Oh, shut up!" Clutching the bag to her chest, Umi fled to the bathroom.

.*.*.*.

Every time Clef tried to reassure Umi that sex was perfectly natural and nothing to be ashamed of, Umi either spoke over him, plugged her ears, or dunked her head into the bath water. In the end, he gave up, and it was time to join the others in the dining hall for lunch anyway.

All through the meal, Umi flushed brightly anytime she looked at him, or even her parents. She still chattered on happily to Tarta, Tatra, and the other girls, but she stopped making eye contact with Clef after the first few glances.

Her embarrassment was like a blade twisting into an already gaping wound. Sanctioned or not, legal or not, she was still so young. It left Clef feeling all the more like he was exactly the kind of person Caldina accused him of being.

But as Umi said, if he really were a repugnant old man, why would her parents give him their blessing? Unless… it was just for the child. Though Umi surely had more choice than just him.

Pushing away from the table, Clef excused himself. He needed a few moments alone with his thoughts, but he'd barely it through the corridor to the garden doors before Umi was calling out to him.

"Hey, Clef!" She was weaving through the other people in the corridor, completely ignoring any of the looks they were throwing her until she got to him and pulled him aside. "What's wrong? You seemed upset, or worried, or something. Is it the papers? I don't have to file them. They don't have to mean anything. We can just leave it until you're allowed, if that's what's got you worried."

It wasn't until she paused for a breath that Clef was able to respond. "What about you? You've hardly even looked at me since we came down."

"Because every time I do my face gets so hot it must be bright red! Why'd you have to go and say stuff like 'Your parents have sex'?" Umi said, flapping her arms. "That's something I really didn't want to be thinking about today. Or ever, really."

"Well, you didn't just magically burst into being."

"Oh, shut up." She looked around and then lowered her voice. "Every time I look at you I just keep thinking that someday this kid is probably going to hear us, and they won't even have a mini-disk player to drown out that sound."

Clef blinked her, vaguely remembering that was some sort of music device. "There are muffling spells," he said without really thinking.

Umi let out a soft laugh. "So, we're fine? You're not getting cold feet about all of this are you?" She stopped and stared harder at him, before poking him right in the middle of the forehead. "You're not starting the whole 'too old' thing again, are you?"

Clef sighed.

"Oh, you are." Umi pulled a face at him.

"It's true. I'm far too old for you."

"You didn't seem to be worrying about that this morning," she said, crossing her arms.

"I know. I'm sorry. It's just-"

Umi let out a sigh and took hold of his wrist, tugging him back toward the dining hall. "Come see us off, and then you can go back to panicking again."

Seeing them off involved having another cup of tea while Umi and Tarta were excitedly discussing what they would do on Umi's visit to Chizeta. Umi's mother shot an amused smile Clef's way when Umi and Tarta started working out specifics, both scribbling in their own languages on a sheet of paper Tarta had acquired from one of her entourage.

The two of them were still deep in discussion on the way to the receiving hall, falling behind the group more than once as they debated the details.

"Will you be able to accompany Umi?" Tatra asked.

"I think it would be easier to find the time if it were a political visit," Clef admitted, glancing back at his partner.

Tatra hummed thoughtfully before giving a decisive nod. "That can be arranged."

The others were waiting for them in the hall. Ferio with Fuu, and Hikaru was practically bouncing as she was talking to Presea, Ascot, and - Clef wasn't sure why he was surprised to see Caldina so soon after last night, but maybe she wanted to see that Umi was still whole and happy this afternoon. Ascot mouthed something that looked like 'I'm sorry. I've talked to her' and Clef shook his head. It wasn't Ascot's responsibility to apologise for his guardian's actions.

Umi hugged both princesses enthusiastically. "I'll see you soon," she promised, giving Tarta an extra squeeze before bouncing on and throwing her arms around Clef and pressing a quick kiss to his cheek. "And I'll see you sooner."

And just like that, she was gathered up by her parents and friends, and when the flash of bright light faded, she was gone.

Clef stood still a moment, blinking. When the room was properly visible again, nearly everyone was looking at him. Expressions ranged from surprise and curiosity to frustration and probably anger - he wasn't looking at Caldina to check - and he didn't want to deal with any of it.

"I'll be in my office," he announced, and quickly walked out of the hall.

.*.*.*.

To be continued...

Note: I have plans for a short story of Caldina's POV, but depending on how I chose to write it (and how much Caldina probably swears in it) the story may only be posted on AO3. I will make a note in the next chapter, if that is the case.