Chapter 27
In which Umi is rushed back to Cephiro
Clef had hoped the trip back to Cephrio would be an uneventful one and that his concern was nothing but paranoia. At first, it seemed to be just that. Umi spent the first several hours sleeping almost peacefully, but Clef was on high alert the moment she woke with a groan.
Umi shifted in her seat. "I feel sick," she complained. Her movements were stiff and disjointed as she took the travel sickness bowl from Clef. The touch of her fingers brushing against his was like ice.
Clef grabbed hold of her hand - nearly knocking the bowl to the floor - and found a pulse of magic growing under Umi's skin. Her body temperature was dropping with every beat of her heart.
Wrapping an arm around her shoulders, he pushed a warming spell around her. "I need whatever blankets you have," he called out to the attendant. "And a warm drink." It had been several decades since his last first aid refresher; he desperately wished he remembered more of it.
The two Chizetan healers Tatra had sent with them were at his side almost immediately. One knelt before Umi and stared at Clef as she took her pulse. "How is she so cold?"
"The reaction must have affected her magic equilibrium, or something else," Clef said, hating he had to explain a potentially life-threatening complication to the people who should be helping Umi. "It's affecting temperature regulation, and the - the system which uses the heart and lungs, whatever it's called, it's too stressed and carrying too much magic."
"The circulatory system?" the healer asked, face growing more worried by the second. "Is there a way to reduce the - magical loading? Stop any spell she's casting, or-"
"She's not casting any spells!" Clef rubbed a hand over his face. "Cephiran magic resides in the physical body, it responds to physical stresses as well as emotional ones, and I don't know how to heal the strain she's under. The Cephiran healers can, when we get there-"
"So we need to get there as fast as possible," the healer agreed and fled in the direction of the bridge.
One attendant returned just then with an armful of lightweight bedcovers designed with Chizetan weather in mind. Umi was shivering as Clef eased her forward to drape one of the blankets about her shoulders and over the top of her head like a hood. The other he tucked about her body. All the while he murmured words of a warming spell over them.
When another attendant returned with a warm cup of tea, looking terrified, Clef took the cup and offered it to Umi. "Can you drink?"
"I don't want to," Umi said. "I feel sick."
"I know, but I need you to drink."
The tea didn't do what Clef had hoped. Not only did Umi sputter and gag as she tried to force it down, but her body temperature only started to drop faster with the effort. Her magic was building, he could feel the pulse of it through the pathetic excuse for a blanket.
He took a breath and prepared to try the only thing he could think of, hoping it would help - hoping it wouldn't make things worse.
Taking Umi's hand under the edge of the blanket, Clef focused on her magic as he reached for a spell he knew very well. When children touched the heart of Cephiro too young and couldn't control their magic, he would help siphon off the excess power until they learned how to. Hopefully it would reduce the strain enough for her body to stabilise; even more hopefully, her body wouldn't overcompensate by calling up power to replace what he was taking.
"It itches," Umi complained, trying to tug her hand out of his.
"I know. I'm sorry." Clef tightened his grip. "Please bear with me."
Umi grimaced, but didn't fight back as he concentrated on draining off the excess power.
It took well over an hour of focused spell-work to bring her temperature back up to a reasonable level, trying to leech away the excess power gradually enough to not trigger any kind of reaction. Clef was feeling ill himself as he drew one last pull of Umi's power away, but he heaved a sigh of relief when the healer confirmed she was indeed back to normal.
When the healer bent to listen to the baby's heartbeat, Umi's fingers tightened around Clef's.
"The little one's heartbeat is a little fast, but that's not unexpected, given…" the healer assured them both. "I can check again in a short while, but it's not so distressed as to be worrying at the moment."
Umi drifted off to sleep curled tightly against Clef's side, and Clef didn't dare move. Arm wrapped about her side and head resting against hers, Clef gave in and drowsed a little to regain a little of his strength should he need it.
The next thing he knew was someone shaking his shoulder to wake him.
"What is it?" Clef blinked up at the healer stood before him.
"Her temperature is rising. I don't know if it's her magic," the healer said, voice low and urgent.
Beside him, Umi was still sleeping quietly, but her face was flushed and hot to the touch. Magic once again pulsed too strongly under her skin, building faster than before.
.*.*.*.
Umi grumbled loudly as Clef jostled her, waking her up. She was sticky with sweat and couldn't get the blankets off fast enough, but her arms didn't want to work right, aching and weak as she tried to push the covers off.
More than one set of hands helped untangle her, and she felt so awful that when Clef asked her how she was feeling she could only cry.
The sudden cold chill of a damp cloth full of ice on the back of her neck made her hiss in surprise. It almost hurt, it was so cold compared to the rest of her, but she would gladly jump into a bath full of ice if she could have.
"We're going to have to shift your clothes a little," Clef murmured, and she nodded against his shoulder as he loosened her clothing.
More ice-filled cloths were pressed between her legs and under her arms, but they did little to stem the overwhelming heat until Clef took hold of her hands.
The hot pressure of magic flowed through her arms and poured out her hands into Clef's. She wondered if this was what it felt like to be a kettle. Did that make Clef a cup of tea? She blinked at him, already gasping for breath before she started to laugh at the idea. It was ridiculous, but if she let herself think really about what it meant that her power was hurting her, she would probably start panicking, and that wouldn't do anyone any good.
She closed her eyes and tried to focus on her magic to calm it. The connection to Cephiro wasn't the warm reassurance it should be, instead, it boiled inside her chest. The heat was unbearable. Not just for her; she could feel the agitated fluttering of the baby too.
Clef didn't waver as he drained the magic, even when he hissed in pain. When he finally relaxed his hold, both their hands were blistered as if actual boiling water had been poured over them for the past eternity.
But Umi felt like she could breathe again.
"Give me a minute," Clef said, voice rasping slightly. "Then I can heal that."
"It's okay." Umi took a cool cloth from the healer worrying beside her. It stung her hands but felt so good on her blistered skin.
Clef stubbornly shook his head and took hold of her wrists a moment later. The spell burned as badly as the original injury did, but it was over mere moments after it had begun.
When he was done, Clef slumped back in his seat, looking ghostly pale.
.*.*.*.
Clef felt like he'd barely caught his breath before Umi's temperature began to plummet again.
.*.*.*.
They were an hour out from Cephiro when Clef was called to the cockpit.
"What do you mean we can't land at the Castle?" Clef growled, glaring at the communication screen. "This is a medical emergency!"
The young person on the other side of the transmission looked like they were barely out of school, let alone old enough to be making landing decisions. "My apologies, Guru, but the Ambassador from Valero's transport is still in the dock, and-" They were nudged out of the way as Lafarga came into view.
"We weren't sure of your frequency, as this wasn't the craft you were supposed to be returning in," Lafarga said. "There is currently a conflict with the airspace above the Castle, but you are cleared to land in Mazda. A healer will meet you on arrival."
"I need Miura," Clef said, urgently. "Umi's magic is deregulated - it's killing her. I can't stop it."
"I'll make sure she's there," Lafarga promised.
The communication ended with a snap and Clef took another step back as something to his left began beeping again, before hastily retreating back to Umi.
She was still curled up right where he left her. Her face was creased with pain, and the feverish flush was creeping back into her cheeks.
"Are you feeling sick again?" Clef asked, stroking her hair.
Umi let out a choked sob. "When will it stop?"
"Soon, darling. Soon. We're almost there."
Clef pressed a kiss to her forehead. The heat growing under her skin confirmed what he already knew. He waved a hand at the healers, who immediately sprang into action fetching cool damp cloths and ice.
Taking hold of Umi's hands, Clef concentrated on pulling the excess magic off Umi before it could overwhelm her. This was the sixth time he'd had to do it so far, and his whole body ached from the effort. He could only imagine what it must feel like for Umi.
Tears were welling up in her eyes as she gripped his hands tighter.
The closer they got to Cephiro, the more swiftly their magic could renew itself, which meant each swing was worse than the last, and Clef was beyond exhausted. It was getting more and more difficult to siphon off Umi's power before it could overwhelm her. Clef was leaning more heavily into physical means of trying to keep Umi's temperature down. If his control slipped for even a moment...
When it became apparent that the cool cloths and cold compresses were not enough, they ended up sitting in the bottom of the shower stall. The cold water must have done something, because - if only for a moment - the pulsating heat eased and Umi almost seemed to be able to catch her breath.
She leaned heavily back into Clef's chest. "When?" she whispered, hand clenching on his arm
All Clef could answer was "Soon."
Rather than trickling beneath her skin as it normally did, Umi's magic had taken to bubbling like water in a kettle nearing a boil. The current surged again, getting faster and faster as Umi doubled over in pain. Clef held on tighter, trying to pull the magic off her faster, but his own was growing so weak with exhaustion he simply couldn't keep up with the flow.
He couldn't stop trying. He was all she had.
With a burst of scalding hot power that filled the cold shower with steam, Umi collapsed in his arms.
"Umi?" Clef said, shaking her.
Magic poured off her like water. She was barely breathing and he couldn't find a pulse.
"Umi!" He pushed all the pathetic excuses for healing spells he knew through her, hoping for some sort of a response, but there was nothing. He shouted for the healers, for help - for anyone.
The response came in the form of rushing footsteps
But a light burst in front of them before anyone else could get there.
A wave of familiar power slammed into both of them as Miura dropped to her knees beside him, reaching out to lay both hands on Umi's chest. Another crashing wave of power had Umi jolting slightly in his arms, then she coughed faintly, and Miura was ordering someone 'see to him' even as she cast a spell and whisked herself and Umi away in another flash of light.
Clef slumped back against the wall, tears running down his face. "Please don't let her die."
The water stopped and Aveo knelt beside him. "Miura's too stubborn to let that happen. So's your Umi."
With a weak nod, Clef slumped forward against Aveo's shoulder and passed out.
.*.*.*.
When Umi first came to, she heard Getz snapping, "Don't you dare die."
The amount of magic being pushed through her chest felt like fire. She groaned and tried to shift positions only to have a cool hand touch her forehead, sending her back into darkness.
When she woke again, the pain had stopped. The air felt sharp in her lungs and a metallic taste lingered in her mouth. She felt so heavy that it took an exceptional amount of effort to even blink her eyes, and even more so to speak. "What happened?"
The bed dipped as Clef dropped onto it, grasping hold of her hand and kissing it. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered. "Don't do that to me again. I'm too old to handle it."
Umi swallowed, and looked about the room instead of trying to respond to that. The utilitarian nature of the furniture and the sharp medicinal smell told her she was in some sort of infirmary, let alone the fact she seemed to be surrounded by healers. Getz she recognised, and the healer that had been in Clef's rooms that one day, but the other one she'd never seen before.
The woman who had been talking to Clef that morning sighed, stepping forwards. "Out of the way," she told Clef, her voice brisk, but not unkind.
"But-"
"You're messing up the monitoring spells." The woman rolled her eyes, shooing him aside, and Umi watched with bemusement as Clef moved. "I should have let you stay unconscious until we'd got our young friend here stabilised. That would have kept you out of the way for a while."
"I wouldn't bet on it," Getz said.
The woman touched Umi's arm with one hand, and the rest of the room seemed to fade a fraction as a wave of - well, wellness, seemed to flow out from that touch.
"I'm Miura," the woman said, and Umi recognised, that name, distantly recognised that she was wearing some fairly fancy clothes for a healer, and that probably meant she was pretty important. None of that registered as much as the gentle flow of her magic. It was nothing like the zing of Clef casting a healing, or even the rush of a spell cast by Fuu or Getz.
"You're a water mage," she heard herself say, her own voice distant.
Miura grinned. "I'm a healer," she corrected, firmly. "But my grandmother was a water spirit, so it's not surprising if I lean that way too. Now, take a deep breath and hold it, please."
Umi did as she was asked, frowning slightly, unable to ask any questions as another wave of power settled over her. It took some of the fuzziness with it.
Nodding slightly, Miura patted Umi's arm, her shoulders relaxing slightly. "Stable, both of them," she pronounced, and everyone in the room seemed to slump a little in relief.
Everyone but Umi, who really wasn't sure what was going on. Her memories were blurry and confused - she remembered visiting a market in Chizeta, and then a whole heap of things which didn't seem real. "What happened?" she repeated, but she wasn't prepared for the answer.
"You had a heart attack," Clef said, from where he had flopped in a seat at the side of the bed. He looked ill himself, his skin was virtually grey.
Then his words processed.
Umi stared at him, wondering if it was a failure of the translation spell. "What?"
"You were seriously ill, and then you had a severe allergic reaction pushed your already strained circulatory system to the breaking point," Miura said, waving the woman Umi didn't know forward so Miura could claim the folder she was holding and flip it open, pulling a pen from a pocket so she could start adding notes to it. "We will be talking about taking risks with your health, by the way, young lady, but you're not going to be awake for much longer today. It can wait."
"But- how?" Umi said, again. "They said I was fit to travel!"
"Yes, that's what Clef said," Miura tilted her head at Umi. "The certificate does not, however, appear to have been entered onto your file, and as Getz failed to take any reasonable notes about your ordinary magical baseline-"
"She wasn't my patient until she tried throwing the ocean around! I had no idea what her baseline would be!" Getz protested and was ignored.
"I should have known if someone was undergoing the particular tests to establish that level, as they can only be authorised by the top tier of the Guild, and there aren't many of us," Miura continued. "Something, therefore, has been missed." And she looked straight at Umi, with a waiting kind of expression which made Umi feel like squirming away, her cheeks flushing as all the things she'd decided not to tell the healer that time ran through her head.
Still, she shook her head. "The fatigue thing was going away, I started feeling a lot better before the morning sickness started," Umi protested. "It can't have been - I wasn't-"
"You were seriously ill then, and you're still seriously ill now," Miura told her, voice gentler than the words were. "Overextending your magic can cause damage that only time and rest can heal; we can undo the physical damage that results from it, as we have this time, but we cannot undo the strain itself. From what I understand, you have been leaping back and forward to your homeland - you should have been under a healer's care even before the pregnancy added another stress. But as Getz failed to notify the Guild of your condition-"
"I started a file, didn't I?" Getz protested, and the look Miura gave him had very little gentleness about it. "I was mostly glad she was alive! It's not like I could force her to stay when she decided she had to leave, and it's not like I've seen her since then-"
"And you wanted to avoid having to get involved with her care as soon as there was a child involved," Miura retorted, rolling her eyes at him. "Remind me why I nominated you for the Circle here?"
Getz pointed at Clef. "I can ground that fool's power?"
Miura snorted and shook her head. "How the file didn't get flagged when it hit central records, I will have to investigate. Anyone seeing this report should never have signed off a travel certificate." She frowned down at the folder in her hands.
"The healer who gave me the certificate said my power was much better than it had been the time before, though," Umi said, very certain about that.
She wasn't expecting Miura's head to shoot up. "Time before?" She asked.
"When they told me I shouldn't be doing magic or practise with the Guards."
Miura flicked through the papers in the folder. "...Getz," she said slowly, "you did submit this file to central records, didn't you?"
Getz blinked. "Why? She's not a central resident. Anyway, Clef told me she'd seen a healer, the files will have synchronised when they set one up." He hesitated, as Miura slowly raised her head to look at him. "Uh. Won't they?"
The folder was held out to Umi and she took it, bewildered, looking down at the first page. The only thing on it she could vaguely understand was where it said her name.
"Do those details match the ones you gave the healers at the castle?" Miura asked, and Umi blinked.
"Getz spelt my name right - well, the way Clef spells it - but that's the only bit I can read." She frowned. "I can't even read that bit, not really, but I know it looks different."
There was silence for a moment before Getz started swearing at the back of the room and Miura sighed, holding her hands out and concentrating for a moment. A second folder appeared in her hands, and she flipped it open, looked inside, and then closed her eyes to rub a hand over her face.
From his chair, Clef sat a little more upright. "Did the spelling difference-"
"Stop the files synchronising so the healers Umi saw had no idea the extent of either her normal power level or the injury she received?" Miura glared at Getz again, even as she took her pen and edited something on the first page - Umi's name, presumably. "Especially as she signed the set at the Castle, but Getz failed to have her sign his? Yes."
The moment she did so, the file in Umi's hands glowed slightly, and when it stopped glowing it had several more pages in it. She stared down at it.
"Well," Miura said. "That explains a lot. But you should never have been granted this certificate without significant further investigation - even the first healer you saw should have flagged your condition, no matter how much you may have downplayed what happened. Looks like we have some significant retraining to do." She looked at Getz. "I wonder who is going to volunteer to design that training. And deliver it. And remember in future that we have procedures for a reason."
Getz wilted, and it looked very much like the other healer was trying to keep a straight face and only just succeeding.
"But that's a matter for later." Miura turned back to Umi, taking the folder from her and setting it aside before laying her hand on Umi's arm again, with another faint echo of that soothing power. "However it happened, we need to concentrate now on rebuilding your health - and ensuring that your child remains well. You will start feeling a lot worse as the spells we have on you right now wear off, and that's likely to be so for the time being - we need to make sure you don't tax yourself by trying to do too much, too fast. So I'm afraid it's bed rest for the next few days for you, and after that, we'll see how you're doing."
"But- we're going to see Granny next week," Umi protested, looking at Clef. He looked away. "We're going to Kyoto, to see my family-"
"You're staying here until I think you'll survive the trip home," Miura told her, firmly. "But I'll be dropping in a couple of times a day to check on you. The more you relax and let yourself heal, the quicker you'll be well."
That very much was not a promise Umi would be well enough to do so by next week, and she knew it. She frowned at Miura. "But-"
"Nope." Miura patted her hand. "You're not going to talk me into signing you off, either. Now, if you would drink this, then you can rest a little longer while I sort these two out." She glared at both Clef and Getz.
"She had a certificate!" Clef protested, at the same time as Getz said: "She never came back to sign anything!"
Miura shook her head. "It might take a while. Dyna, here, you help Umi with a drink, please - Umi, this is Healer Dyna, she's Mazda's primary midwife and maternity healer because Getz is terrified of the reproductive process. She'll be helping out while you're here."
Getz protested louder at that, but Clef snickered slightly beside Umi as that other woman came forward with a drink, and somehow actually drinking was enough to make Umi feel exhausted again.
Possibly, she thought, as she watched Getz offer excuse after excuse for being terrified of babies, it was a potion of some kind. But she didn't have enough energy to care, and Dyna took the glass away before she could drop it as she fell asleep with the argument continuing at the foot of the bed.
.*.*.*.
Once they'd moved Umi from the infirmary and safely settled into her bedroom, Miura tried to chase Clef off to his own bed, but he refused to leave Umi's side.
"You've already done yourself a fair amount of harm - yes, I know it was to keep her alive," Miura told him, poking him on the shoulder. "That's the only reason I'm not yelling at you."
"I'm fine," he muttered. "It's Umi who's-"
"No, you have a pretty decent case of magic exhaustion brewing yourself right now." Miura poked him again. "Which is why I'm banning you from any active spell-work for the next three days, at least."
Clef blinked at her. "But I'm the Guru?"
"And I'm the Naru," Miura retorted. "I outrank you when it comes to health issues. So are you going to behave, or do I have to make it a matter of official record?"
The thought of the amount of paperwork that would entail had Clef wincing - at the moment, he was on holiday, so no one would be expecting him to do any work. The moment he was absent due to sickness, there were all sorts of contingency forms and procedures that needed to be filled out - even though there was already cover in place for him.
"I'll try."
Miura pointed to the new chaise that now sat in the corner. "Then lie down and at least try to get some sleep," she told him, far more gently than all the threats would imply.
.*.*.*.
Every sigh or whimper Umi made had Clef snapping awake to check on her, despite continued reassurance that she was going to be fine.
There was barely even a hint of light on the horizon when Aveo came to fetch him with an absurdly strong cup of tea. "Sandero's waiting for you in your office."
Taking a long drink from the cup, Clef dragged himself to his feet and cast a glance at Umi's sleeping form.
"I'll keep an eye on her," Aveo assured him, shooing him out. "Go see what Sandero wants this early in the morning."
With brief, sleepy pause at the door of his study, Clef stared into the dark room wondering why someone hadn't turned on the light, only to remember Aveo had said "office". What was so serious Sandero wanted to meet him in his public office and not his private study?
Clef downed the rest of his tea before going to find out.
Sandero was pacing the floor, his robes fluttering about in glittering waves. As soon as Clef set foot in the door Sandero spun around and nearly slapped Clef in the face with some paper. "Would you like to explain this!"
Clef stared down at Umi's medical report and then back up at Sandero. "Umi had an allergic reaction in Chizeta that led to a heart attack. I guess you got a report as her listed teacher?"
"I understood that part just fine. It was this bit I am struggling to understand." Sandero jabbed the paper.
Looking closer, Clef read the paragraph stating that Umi's unborn child's vital signs were still strong. "Oh. Umi's pregnant."
Sandero glared harder. "Either this is new information, or you didn't have the decency to tell me."
"I didn't think it would matter right now. She's not allowed to be doing magic anyway."
"Of course it matters!" Sandero flailed his hands in a gesture that looked just like one of Umi's. "And not just because it would have been polite to warn me."
For a short moment Clef found himself fondly remembering how, four hundred years ago, Sandero had also been a wiry spring of muscle who was just as interested in swords as magic. To say Clef didn't have a type would be lying. Especially when you added in the sheer stubborn refusal to give up when it came to getting his attention.
Not that Sandero wasn't attractive now, but they'd both moved on - teasing aside. Clef wasn't attracted to him anymore, and they both knew it.
The reverie was cut short by Sandero continuing. "There was a complaint filed while you were away, and you're now under investigation for gross misconduct."
Clef's thoughts stuttered to a halt, and he dropped into the nearest chair. "On what grounds?"
"Inappropriate relations with a student," Sandero said.
"But she's not my student!" Clef wailed. He'd been expecting someone to start some sort of investigation on him. His sudden push to remove these laws was questionable, but gross misconduct? "She's your student!"
"Who I've never met." Sandero perched on the edge of Clef's desk, looking far more serious than he had in years. "It's out of my hands, anyway. There are far too many conflicts of interest for me to be involved in running the investigation, so I've passed it on to the Priests. As long as there's nothing else I don't know, it should be fine. Though, they seem to have put that Zafira in charge of the inquiry, and she's a bit of a rule follower. Not sure what she'll make of your offspring - It's yours isn't it?"
Head in his hands, Clef sighed. "She's my partner, San. Any child she bears is mine regardless of the seed they grew from."
"You're not allowed partners." Sandero clapped a hand on his shoulder. "That's treason, remember? As this child will be, when they arrive."
Clef snapped his head up to glare. "Which is why I tried to resign."
Sandero narrowed his eyes. "Which is why you should have said something!"
"Because admitting treason is the perfect thing to do while my guild is under scrutiny." Clef rubbed a hand over his face. "Maybe they're right. Maybe I am a bad influence on the guild."
Whatever Sandero was about to respond was cut short by something rattling across the gravel outside, and Clef looked out the window to see Hikaru helping Umi's parents out of one of the winged-disk transports. He hadn't even thought to send for them, he'd been too focused on Umi.
"Umi's parents," was the only explanation Clef gave as he leapt to his feet and rushed out to greet them.
.*.*.*.
Umi was startled to find her parents sitting in her room. Her head was fuzzy, and she wasn't entirely sure she wasn't dreaming them at the little table by the window talking quietly with Miura. "Mama? Papa?"
Miura excused herself, and Mama came to sit on the side of the bed.
"How are you feeling?" Mama asked.
"What day is it?" Umi didn't think she could have possibly been out long enough for someone to have gotten in touch with her parents. Hikaru and Fuu still had school this week, so they shouldn't have been in Cephiro to know anything was wrong.
"It's Thursday."
"But how did you get here?"
The answer to her question came only a moment later in the form of Hikaru carrying a tea tray. "Oh! You're awake!" She rushed to set the tray on the table and joined Mama on the side of the bed. "We were so worried when we heard you'd been rushed back."
"But when did you - how did you know?"
Hikaru grinned at her. "I was staying with Lantis for Christmas."
Umi stared back at her. "What about school?"
"Well, I would have gone this morning, but-" she waved a hand about the room "-there were more important things to be doing."
The gesture made Umi realise who was missing. "Where's Clef?"
"Your mother sent him to bed," Hikaru said with a laugh. "Apparently no one else has been able to."
"He looked awful," Mama said.
Papa nodded in agreement. "I understand not wanting to leave your side, but he wasn't going to be doing anyone any good making himself ill with worry." He poured a glass of water from the jug on the dressing table and brought it over to Umi. "I'm sure he'll be back as soon as he wakes up."
It took two hands and help from Mama for Umi to drink without spilling water all over herself because she was shaking so badly. When she was finished, Mama took the glass away and set it on the bedside table.
"They're saying I'm going to have to stay here for weeks," Umi complained. "I can't even come home for New Year."
"I think that's for the best, Umi-dear," Mama said, brushing a stray hair out of her face.
"But what about introducing Clef to Granny?"
"We'll just have to do that later. Right now - and I'm sure she will agree - the best thing for you to do is rest and recover."
Umi flopped back into bed. "But what will I do for weeks? I'm not allowed to practice magic. I'm not even allowed to leave this bed without help." The last bit was a little overdramatic as she was pretty sure Miura had suggested she'd be off bedrest in a day or two.
"I'm sure you can get Clef to entertain you," Hikaru said. The glitter of mischief in her eyes belied the innocent tone of her comment.
"Yes, I'm sure you can." Mama patted her knee and laughed. "But only once you're allowed to."
Papa harrumphed and got up, heading for the door. "Why don't I go find you something to eat," he said. "Do you know which way the kitchen is?"
"If you take the little stairs all the way down, it's just across the corridor," Umi answered, not even looking up. The door clicked shut behind her father and she let out a sigh. "I was looking forward to showing Clef around Kyoto."
"You have years to do that." Mama smiled gently at her and then looked about. "This is a lovely room."
Umi didn't know why that was the comment that made her blush. She sank further under the covers. "It's, uh, I guess it's mine," she admitted.
The comment prompted Hikaru to get up from the bed and investigate, which included opening up the wardrobes. "Wow!" she exclaimed, running her fingers over the cascades of fabric. "I think I can see why Caldina was concerned. How much did she say this was worth?"
"A lot? I don't know. Aveo cut Clef's spending allowance off over it." Umi sighed. "He was really embarrassed. I don't think he realised how expensive it was; he doesn't really use money very much."
"How is that possible?" Mama asked.
Hikaru helped Umi explain a little about Cephiro's economy as best they understood it, that everyone was provided what they needed, and money was for extras. So, Clef would have had the uniforms for his post, daily meals, and a place to stay for centuries without having to do anything with his wage, if he chose.
Umi snorted. "He probably just spends it all on books. He has a romance novel habit."
"But he can get those from the library," Hikaru countered.
Papa came back a short while later with stew and bread for Umi to eat.
After food and another round of potions Getz brought up for her, Umi started to drift back to sleep.
.*.*.*.
Sleep hadn't dimmed Clef's awful headache. He rolled over, burying his face in the pillow. A kettle and headache-relief tea were simply too far away for him to be bothered sorting it out just yet.
"Are you actually awake this time?" came an all too familiar voice.
With a groan, Clef sat up and glared at Sandero. "What are you doing here?"
"Work?" Sandero said, and the corner of his mouth quirked up as he waved at the papers spread across the table-top. "Plus keeping an eye on you. Apparently you nearly burnt out your connection to Cephiro yesterday. While that would be one way to remove yourself from your post, I wouldn't recommend it."
"Neither would I." Clef squeezed his eyes shut and pinched the bridge of his nose. He felt awful.
The flash of Sandero gathering up his paperwork into the gem of his bracelet made Clef hiss in pain. "You know what I can't wrap my head around?" he said, folding his arms on the table and looked across at Clef. "How is it that you managed to go three-hundred years without starting a child before becoming Guru, only to be so careless immediately after ending your celibacy?"
"Reckless enthusiasm?"
Sandero studied him. "Enthusiasm, I remember. Not recklessness. There's a reason you're told to be more vigilant after changing form. You of all people should know the hormone shifts can affect your judgement."
"So I'm not being rational, then?" Clef flopped back into the pillows and rubbed a hand over his face.
"Not taking precautions in your situation certainly isn't sensible, at the very least. Being 'swept up in the moment' is a pathetic excuse for an adolescent, let alone someone halfway through their eight-hundredth century."
"We took precautions!" Clef's voice cracked. "But I didn't do enough, and what we did have failed, leaving Umi with a child she didn't plan to have, and a partner who's not allowed to acknowledge her as anything more than lover, even when she nearly dies - twice in two days!"
With the gentle rustle of his robes, Sandero came to sit on the side of the bed. "They're going to be alright. Both of them."
Clef sighed. "We shouldn't have gone to Chizeta."
"Why did you go?"
"Because Umi wanted to? She had a certificate. Besides that, it was a political invitation, to have refused would have injured our relationship with Chizeta," Clef argued with little conviction.
"And I'm a kettle of fish." Sandero patted him on the shoulder.
"A kettle of fish would be quieter." Clef climbed out of bed and flung open his wardrobe. He shed his nightclothes and pulled on a simple shirt and trousers. He needed to get something for his head and then he would return to Umi.
Sandero followed him out and downstairs like a lost child - or perhaps Clef was the child and Sandero the babysitter.
"Don't you have anything better to be doing?" Clef asked as he put the kettle on and started searching the kitchen shelves for the headache tea.
"Well, I was hoping you'd introduce me to the mother of your child-to-be," Sandero said with a grin.
Clef pulled a face at him. "You're her teacher. You can introduce yourself. She's upstairs in the room across from mine."
Sandero's grin only broadened as he leaned against the doorframe.
Dumping a few heaping spoonfuls of leaves into the teapot, Clef shook the spoon at him. "You are babysitting me aren't you?"
"Maybe."
"I'm fine. I feel awful, but I'm not going to drop dead at any moment." Clef stopped and stared down at the swirling leaves in the pot. He'd had the same argument with Umi multiple times over the last few months and she nearly did die on him. Leaning heavily against the worktable, he took a long steadying breath before looking back at Sandero. "I'll take you up to her after I drink some of this."
.*.*.*.
Umi was still mostly drowsing when Clef came into her room carrying a tray of food. She sat up in bed and smiled at him. "Hi."
"Hi to you, too." Clef smiled back. "How are you feeling?"
"I've been better. You?"
"Same." He answered with a soft laugh. He looked better, with a bit more colour in his cheeks. "Do you remember the tutor I mentioned a few weeks ago?"
Umi nodded, uncertain.
"He would like to meet you. Is it alright if I let him come in?"
"Okay?" Umi adjusted the collar of her nightgown and ran her fingers through her hair. She wasn't exactly looking her best to be meeting new people.
When Clef had told her that she had a tutor waiting for her to move, Umi had expected that person to be someone rather like Clef, with a small, slender, studious sort of look to them. She definitely hadn't expected the man who walked into her bedroom when Clef called to him.
"Umi, this is Sandero."
Sandero was well over a head taller than Clef with a physique that wouldn't be out of place in the Guard, broad shoulders and muscular arms, if slightly round about the waist. He wore some of the most beautiful robes Umi had seen, layers and layers of billowy, translucent fabrics in a myriad of colours. They fluttered around him as he approached the bed and bowed to Umi.
"I'm glad to see you are doing well," he said. "The report I received had me a little concerned."
Umi blinked at him. "Report?"
Clef sighed. "Sandero is your registered instructor, and as such, he's one of your emergency contacts, and technically one of your legal guardians here in Cephiro."
With a dramatic flourish, Sandero sat down in one of the chairs at the table. "I must say, I was a little surprised to learn you're expecting a child. The first time I heard of it was in this report."
"It is a bit of a shock to most people, apparently." Umi wrinkled her nose. "Including us, I guess."
Sandero nodded. "I just would have expected Clef to have told me that information before I agreed to take you on."
The teapot clattered on the tray, and Clef was glaring at Sandero. "If you've come in here to tell Umi you're quitting before you've even had a single lesson, you can get out."
"Oh don't get your bits in a twist. I was just going to say it changes how I should be planning my lessons. I only have a few months to prepare." Sandero smiled sweetly, completely unbothered by Clef's threat.
Grumbling to himself, Clef sorted the dishes on the tray and settled a few onto a lap tray and brought it over to Umi. There were enough plates for the three of them, she realised, just before Sandero started sorting food for Clef and himself.
Good.
Umi was interested in learning more about the person she was going to be spending a lot of time with soon.
Sandero turned out to be really easy to talk to. Umi told him all about her plans to become a Kairu, which led to them talking sword techniques and practice drills while Clef smiled fondly at the two of them, murmuring something about "Swords-people."
They finished eating and Umi curled around a cup of tisane while Sandero cheerfully reminisced with Clef about various ridiculous incidents that had happened to each of them when they were younger, which mostly involved casting the wrong spell or accidentally summoning creatures in inappropriate places - like poor Fyula nearly squishing then out of Clef's office when he was merely a lower administrator for the Guild. The one that had Umi laughing hardest was the story Sandero called "The Paperwork Incident", and one of the funniest parts was probably Clef's face as Sandero told it.
"This happened when Clef had only just become Guru. It had been a few months at most since he was confirmed." Sandero paused, and grinned at her. "Have you ever seen a field bird?" he asked, and Umi had to shake her head. If she had, she didn't know it. "Well, they're bright little things. In the spring, their plumage gets long and even more colourful as you start to see them bursting out of the tall grass, leaping high into the air and yelling half a song before vanishing again."
"I don't like this analogy," Clef muttered, dropping his head in his hands.
"So, that afternoon, I walk into Clef's office and call out to him, only to see him bounce up from behind the piles of paper on his desk, robes flapping about him like far too colourful wings." He made a flapping gesture with his hands. "I swear that man even squawked before he disappeared from sight, taking all those ridiculously tall stacks of paper down with him."
Umi took a moment to catch her breath from laughing hysterically before she could ask, "Were you alright?"
"Oh, Clef will tell you he bruised nothing but his dignity," Sandero said, with a grin that told her there was more to it than that.
Clef pulled a face at him. "If you hadn't startled me like that-"
"Startled?" Sandero interrupted. "How could I have possibly startled you? You weren't even alone when I walked in - Megane was just walking out."
"But I wasn't expecting-" Clef shook his head, cheeks flushing. "I wasn't expecting you to come straight after Guard practice."
Sandero leaned on the table toward Clef, voice surprisingly flirtatious. "Wait. Are you telling me - after four whole centuries - that I am the reason you regressed yourself?"
"I didn't want the added distraction," Clef snapped.
"I rather thought you liked being distracted," Sandero teased. He turned to Umi with a conspiring grin. "I'm sure I'm not the only one who knows that."
Umi flushed violently as she remembered just how easy it had been to make Clef late for a meeting. Chewing on her lip she looked between Sandero and Clef realising that there was probably more than just simple friendship in their shared past.
Clef's response basically confirmed that thought. "I don't enjoy being distracted by inclinations I am disallowed acting upon."
"True, the anticipation is only as good as the release," Sandero agreed. "But do you still live up to the anticipation, or has the equipment rusted with age and disuse?"
"Either way, you will not be getting a demonstration." Clef leaned back in his chair and took a drink of his tea. "You don't even want one, you just want an excuse to not take on any more Guild jobs."
Umi stared at Clef a long moment before saying. "Clef, is my tutor your ex?"
Clef looked chagrined. "I forgot - I was going to tell you before you met."
Sandero grabbed a spare cushion off the chaise and flung it at Clef with great accuracy. "You could have at least told her before you let me in. Rude, Clef!"
"I wanted someone I could trust," Clef protested.
Sandero snorted. "No, you wanted someone who wouldn't say no based on her reputation."
"I have a reputation?" Umi asked, still bemused by the whole conversation.
"Well, you were rather forceful with Livina at Ouran's ball," Clef reminded.
"But I was right."
Sandero laughed. "Which is why she refused to take you on."
Umi hadn't given too much thought to Clef's past lovers. They had all been hundreds of years before she was born, so it had basically been like they never existed, but confronted with Sandero and the admission that, once upon a time, this man had known Clef as intimately as Umi did - or maybe even more - left Umi with so many questions she wanted answers for.
Romance novels would claim Sandero was her rival. Umi was certainly a little envious that they'd known each other so long, but he felt more like a potential ally than an enemy of any kind. And he also seemed more than happy to share all the stories he had about Clef.
Before she could ask one of her questions, Miura knocked and was called in by Clef.
Greeting her with a bright smile and wave, Sandero announced, "I've just been telling Umi about Clef's unfortunate paperwork incident."
Miura blinked, then snorted with laughter. "Oh, I heard about that from my predecessor. Apparently getting you to admit you had a concussion was bad enough, but then you had to go and be stubborn about the sprained ankle too."
"Clef!"
"Don't even start! You refused to see a healer for magic fatigue," Clef argued.
"I thought it just meant I was tired," Umi snapped back. "I'm not from Cephiro, so how was I supposed to know I would end up having a heart attack if I ignored it?"
"Fair point," Clef said with a sigh.
Sandero nodded. "So, Umi, you'll help make Clef behave himself and take it easy now before he does the same thing to himself, right?"
"Before he what?" Umi demanded, turning to Clef. When he just sighed, looking sheepish, she looked at Miura and Sandero instead.
They obliged with details, and Umi wasn't going to let Clef get away with ignoring how worn out he was - not when she knew precisely how atrocious it felt when it went wrong.
Clef spent so much time fretting at her about her health, he could hardly fault Umi doing the same.
.*.*.*.
to be continued...
Author's Note: Another part of the delay in posting was that I was trying to decide where I wanted to end this chapter, and I ended up moving about 1,500 words to the next chapter.
Also, as you know, it's November, and I like to participate in NaNoWriMo. I have been working on some other writing projects this month, and may not have the next chapter up in December.
BUT If all goes to plan, I will be posting at least one new complete multi-chapter Umi/Clef fic over the holidays. With any luck, I might also manage to finish a few more of the little (and a few longer) one-shots I hadn't completed for last year.