Hikaru Umi and Fuu found themselves in mid air falling fast.
"Just once I wish that we were transported to Cephiro already on the ground!" Umi shouted
"Look on the bright side." Hikaru said, "At least it's the beautiful Cephiro, and not the crumbling one." The three of them looked around and saw that Cephiro had reverted back to the beauty that they saw when they first got summoned by Princess Emeraude.
"You're right Hikaru." Fuu said, "Look there's the floating mountain. where I first met Windem."
"And there's the volcano where I first met Rayearth." Hikaru said.
"And that's the ocean where I first met Celece..." Umi said. "And it's getting closer!" The three girls went into chibi mode and screamed as they realized that they were falling directly towards the ocean, with nobody in sight. They clustered together and closed their eyes as they got about fifty feet from impact... Forty feet... Thirty feet... twenty... ten... Boing boing boing, SPLASH! The three felt some sort of slimy substance under them, so they opened their eyes.
"We're not wet." Hikaru said, as she looked around and found that they had landed on Clef's fling fish, hovering inches above the ocean's surface moving towards the land. Hikaru let out a joyful scream, "I knew that you wouldn't let us fall into the water." and she gave the fish a hug.
"Don't get me wrong, I'm grateful that you caught us..." Umi said, "... but did it really have to be at the last possible second?" Umi then realized that Fuu was scanning the ocean, "What's wrong Fuu, did your glasses fall in?"
"No." Fuu said, as she turned to Umi, who saw that Fuu's glasses were still on, "But something doesn't add up."
"What do you mean by that?" Umi asked.
"If we all landed on the fish, then what was that loud splash that we heard?" Hikaru and Umi gave blank faces, and the three pondered over Fuu's question, but it didn't take long for the answer to reveal itself, for just a few seconds later a giant bird like creature swooped in front of the fish, which suddenly stopped, knocking the girls off balance. Mounted on top of the bird was Master Mage Clef, whose robes were waterlogged, and had water dripping from his face. He looked at the fish with a scornful expression.
"So, you think it's funny to just toss me into the water while I was taking a nap." He said. The fish shook from side to side, trying to give a gesture that the deed wasn't done intentionally, but Clef wasn't listening. "Maybe this will teach you some manners." He said, as he raised his rod and shouted "Creature Return!" The fish turned into a white ball and flew into the glass ball on the top of Clef's rod, as the three girls fell into the water. Clef, who was surprised by the splash that was created, stared at the ripples, and saw the girls' heads pop out of the water.
"Awww." Hikaru said, "Now we are all wet."
"Girls?" Clef asked with a perplexed face. The girls looked up and saw Clef atop his mount.
"Clef!" Hikaru shouted with glee, and a wave.
"What are you three doing here in the middle of the ocean?" Clef asked.
"Well, we were on the fling fish until you recalled it." Umi informed the Master Mage.
"Oh." Clef said, realizing what he had done, "Sorry about that." Clef lowered his creature to allow the three girls to climb aboard. "You really should have said something, that way I would have known."
"It's kind of hard to do that when you're being tossed like a salad." Umi said, as she got right up to his face. Her mood changed though, when she noticed that he was now smiling,
"It's good to see you three again." He said, "It really is." Umi blushed so red that you couldn't tell her face from Hikaru's hair.
"I-i-it's good to s-s-s-see you t-too, Clef." Umi stuttered, and she turned around and sat down, breathing heavily.
"Onward, to the castle." Clef told his creature, and they started moving again.
"What's wrong with Umi all of a sudden?" Hikaru whispered to Fuu.
"I don't know." Fuu whispered back.
"So, what's been going on in your world?" Clef asked. "It's been ages since we last met. I bet you three have many stories to tell."
"Do we ever." Hikaru said. "So much has happened since we last met." Clef let out a little chuckle.
"I bet." He said. "Not much has happened here. Cephiro has pretty much restored itself to the shape it was in before the war. With a few modifications of coarse."
"War bah." Fuu scoffed, "That's the one thing I'm sick and tired of hearing." The other three looked at Fuu with curiosity.
"Why do you say that Fuu?" Clef asked.
"Because, our world is on the brink of a third world war." Fuu replied. "It started far in the East and blew Westward. I watch the news everyday half expecting the reporter to officially declare it." Clef let out a heavy sigh,
"I'm sorry to hear that." Clef said.
"Cheer up Fuu." Hikaru said. "Look, the castle is right up ahead. How do you think Ferio would feel if we got there and you were all mad? He'd probably think that you didn't like him or something."
"Ferio!?" Fuu said under her breath. The thought of Ferio seemed to make Fuu forget about the troubles of her own world. As she thought about him slowly a smile creped onto Fuu's face. She turned to her friend and said, "Thanks Hikaru, I needed that." The rest of the trip went uneventfully. When they arrived at the castle Clef recalled his creature and the four of them walked towards the entrance.
"Remember, you three arrived unexpectedly." Clef said as they got to the door, "So don't be expecting a welcoming party." But as soon as Clef opened the door someone shouted "They're here!" and when the girls entered, the castle erupted in celebratory noise. Everybody was there to greet the heroes of Cephiro.
"Howdy y'all!" Caldina exclaimed as she came up to the girls, and then she noticed the state in which they were in and said, "Now why's all of you wet, did y'all go swimming'?"
"Not exactly." Hikaru said.
"That would be Clef's doing." Fuu said, and she explained what happened. Caldina turned to Clef.
"You ought to be ashamed of yourself Clef!" Caldina scolded the Master Mage, "Goin' around and tossin' the three poor innocent young girls into the ocean like that. Wha'd they ever done to you to deserve that?"
"How did you all know we were here, Caldina?" Hikaru asked.
"Aw, that's easy." Caldina replied, "Mokona told us." At that time, some creature that looks like a hard boiled egg with bunny ears jumped right into Hikaru's bosom.
"Mokona!" Hikaru shouted gleefully as she caressed the furry creature.
"I don't want to sound ungrateful." Fuu said, "But I do prefer to be dry."
"Well then," Ferio said as he walked up to her, "I'll show you to your room, so you can get changed into something else." And with that, Hikaru, Umi, Fuu retired to their room, led by Ferio.