AN: First, I would like to apologize for how long it has been since I last updated. I know that many of you have been waiting and fussing over how long it takes me to post. I could take this moment to point at Dragon of Winter Nights and say that it is her fault. But that wouldn't be fair, she didn't force me to watch and be distracted by Doctor Who, but I did. Sorry. Now that series 3 is over, I should be able to do some writing until I start back at my multitude of classes in the fall.

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"I hope there is a way
To give me a sign you're okay
Reminds me again it's worth it all
So I can go home"

-Within Temptation

Try to Wish

Chapter Six : Ease the Pain

Stretching the cramp in his neck, Clef woke achy and sore in a small wooden chair. The child in the bed beside him was breathing easily. The mage reached out a hand to touch him. The boy's fever had broken. But that miracle was due to a large price on the mage's herb and potion collection. Sometime soon he would need to go on the long trek to find the herb that had always been scarce but was becoming even more so.

The soft grey light of dawn crept over the horizon as the gentle sound of small footsteps pulled clef out of his thoughts. Kili stood in the doorway in her nightgown, clinging to a small stuffed doll.

"It's alright." The mage reassured.

The girl timidly stepped forward to see her brother. Standing on her tip toes she still couldn't see him as well as she liked. With no questions, she climbed into clef's lap, and hugged him before settling herself on his knee. The mage smiled a little. Outside of the laws they would be breaking—not that their mere relationship hadn't broken every other one—he had no real objections when Umi had brought up the topic of starting a family.

Though he preferred his quiet time, he did enjoy children. At least those who were well behaved.

The mage gently ran his fingers through the little girl's hair, as his mind began to wander again. Was it physically possible for him and Umi to have a child? Or were their peoples somehow incompatible? Twice Umi had become pregnant and twice she has miscarried. But if there were and incompatibility, what would become of the royal line? Fuu and Ferio could never have a child either.

He almost hoped that this was the case, so he would not have to worry about Umi, for if she was in fact pregnant when she left, the child most assuredly had been born. And Clef feared for the heartache such a birth would cause.

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Umi felt like crying. For the past twenty minutes, Hideaki had done nothing but cry. Nothing would calm him. His diaper was clean and dry. He would not nurse, and he had belched twice. She was at her wits end. What was wrong with him? This was making her want to scream too. She paced the floor of her bedroom, the hallway, the living room, the kitchen, hell they paced the entire house until her mother returned home. At which point Umi placed the screaming baby in his grandmother's arms.

The boy quieted almost instantly.

"I give up!" Umi cried before she stormed up the stairs.

Mrs. Ryuuzaki calmly ascended the staircase after her daughter. She crooned softly to the baby in her arms.

"Don't worry; she is not angry with you. Your mama is in pain from missing your father."

The older woman opened her daughter's door. The water knight was curled around her pillow, sobbing. Her mother laid the tiny baby in his basinet and sat on the bed.

"My baby hates me." Umi muttered into her pillow.

Mrs. Ryuuzaki laughed. "Of course he doesn't."

"Then why does he scream every time I hold him?"

"Now you are exaggerating. I can count the times he has screamed in your arms on one hand." She reached out and ran a hand through her daughter's hair. "You actually have done better than I did when I first brought you home."

Umi sniffled and mumbled into her pillow. "Really?"

"Yes. I was terrified. I thought I would kill you by accident. You were so tiny." Mrs. Ryuuzaki smiled. "But you, you do what you need to do, and have little fear or doubt."

"But I am afraid." She rolled over to look up at her mother.

"Of what? Of hurting Huki? Of doing something wrong? No, I think you are too occupied with your fear of raising him alone, that you have given no thought to usual fears of a new mother."

The water knight sat up and wiped her eyes. Her mother was making a good point.

"You have a bond with him no one else can claim. He is a part of you. You carried him in your womb. He has no idea what love and hate are. All he knows is that the person, this warm body, holds him and nourishes him."

"But…"

"Babies cry. It is a fact of life. We will never know all the reasons why. But you are his mother. That will never change."

Slowly a small smile crept across Umi's face.

Mrs. Ryuuzaki stood up and walked toward the door. "Come down and help me with dinner."

---

Saleen stood in the doorway of her children's bedroom. The scene before her was endearing. Clef sat in the same place he had been when he finally sent her to bed last night. Kili sat in his lap, listening as the mage told a tale of a princess from the moon. He was nearly as enthusiastic in telling the story as Kili was in listening. The descriptions were so vivid that even Saleen found herself sinking in to this world he was creating. Leaving the world of make believe, she made her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for her family and their guest.

The warm aroma of food worked as fast as any sort of summoning spell. Both the mage and her daughter appeared in the doorway nearly as soon as she had finished and was placing the bowls on the table.

Kili directed Clef to the spot she deemed appropriate for him to be.

After assuring herself that the other two had enough to eat, Saleen joined them at the table.

"What was the tale you were telling Kili?"

Clef looked thoughtful for a moment. "I forget the proper name, but it is a legend from the magic knight's world."

Saleen was rather taken aback by that idea. How did he know this foreign tale so well? "May I ask how my master came to remember it in such vivid detail?"

"It was a favorite of the magic knight of water."

"And that is the only explanation?"

"That is the only explanation, at this time." He cast a meaningful glance at the little girl to his left.

Saleen nodded in silent understanding.

They finished meal quietly, aside from the occasional question comment, or happy thought from Kili. Once her plate was cleared to the very last crumb, the girl excused herself and left to find her friend, Maki.

Saleen turned her attention back to the question burning on her tongue.

"What is the real story?"

"Which version?"

"The one that has you knowing every detail of a magic knight's favorite tale from her world."

Clef picked up his glass and finished his juice before replying. "She suffered nightmares."

The woman raised an eyebrow.

"She came to me for solace. I found that the best way to make her relax was a story or a song. Either one of us sharing one was helpful. She loved to tell me that tale. She slept easier afterward."

"I don't know that I even want to ask how you knew she slept easier after telling you a story."

The look on the mage's face as he shifted in his seat reminded her of her son, when he didn't want to tell her something. She'd pinned him. Saleen would prefer to hear him say it rather than simply assume what she thought. It was only a matter of time before she got it out of him.

"How old were the magic knights when they firs came to Cephiro?"

"Fourteen years."

"Fourteen! You spent evenings alone with a fourteen year old girl?"

"You act as though I would take advantage of her. As I recall you came under my tutelage when you were quite young yourself, and I did no harm to you." He spun the glass around on the table. "It has been five, nearly six, years hence. She is twenty years by now."

"She's a child, Master."

"Their people are not so long lived as ours. She is legally an adult."

Saleen rested her head in her hand a moment. This was already a lot more to take in than she thought it would be.

"Are you saying you and she were…involved?"

"I am saying nothing. You are insinuating such things."

He was purposely avoiding the questions. She looked him straight in the eye.

"Were you?"

He took a deep breath. "Forgive me if I have shattered your image of me."

"What image?" Saleen laughed. "I had always seen you as human. I just wondered what your weakness could be. Truthfully, I never thought it would be a young girl, but I am not curious as to how long it took before your will power crumbled."

The mage lowered his head "Six months."

Saleen face distorted into a look of disgust as she added that to the original age Clef had given her.

"It was nearly a year since we had met, that Umi decided to start pushing me to go further. It was not six months after their arrival. Do not think what you are thinking, please."

"That still only make her age fifteen to your…what was it…746?"

"747", Clef corrected.

"That is a rather large age gap to overcome." Saleen had taken to pacing the floor as her mind was processing this new and unthought-of information.

"It was her choice, not mine."

"A poor excuse. In my experience, you needed to be just as involved as she."

He rubbed at the back of his neck, embarrassed at how pathetic he sounded. Of all people to learn this truth, Saleen would have to be one of the harsher that remained on his side. But at least she would be one of the last to place judgment on him. She had he own past, none too much different from his own.

Leaning forward over the back of her chair to look at him-realization blooming on he face—she spoke, "If she is now twenty, this illicit relationship has been ongoing for four or five years. The political upheaval this could cause."

"That is why your daughter found me in the audience chamber, thus expediting my arrival at your son's bedside."

"In all this time, you chose now to go before the council?"

"Umi is on Earth with no way to return, as far as I can see. This is definitely one of the most useless times to do this, but if she returns…" Clef paused and took a shaky breath.

"What would change if she were to return?"

"I have been having dreams."

"What type of dreams?" Saleen was definitely intrigued. This had to be the most interesting conversation he had ever had with her.

"I fear she may have been pregnant when the portal closed." Clef muttered through his hand as he rubbed at the bridge of his nose.

The mage was mildly frustrated with himself for pouring out his heart like this, but as it was becoming such a common occurrence recently, he was willing to ignore it. Hadn't he always said it was better to talk about things than keep them inside?

"If it takes four years of stupidity to get her pregnant, I doubt you have anything to worry about."

Clef clutched at his napkin. "But it didn't take four years. It took three months."

If Saleen's full attention wasn't on her master before, it definitely was now. "What happened?"

"She lost the baby." Clef stated with an air of sadness. "Same with the second a few years later. I have begun to wonder if there is some difference between our two peoples that makes if difficult if not impossible to carry a child to term."

"She was so young. Did she even understand the political ramifications of such a birth? Even the relationship in general?"

"Do you think I did remind her of that so many times I lost count?"

"Well, I don't know. To find that my master broke the very laws he preached to me for all those yeas, is a bit of a shock. Now you tell me there is a possibility that you have fathered a child by this girl?"

"People change."

"Yes, people definitely do change. Especially ones who are seducing young girls."

"We are not even going to approach that topic again."

"Right, I forgot. She seduced you."

"Need I remind you that you are the one who started this conversation in the first place?" He glanced out the window checking the position of the sun. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to organize myself to stand before the council. As I obviously missed my first opportunity yesterday."

Pushing his chair back, Clef rose and proceeded to the door.

"Master?"

He turned back to his former student who still sat at the table, smiling gently at him.

"If she does return, I would like to meet this girl, this woman, who is responsible for this change in you demeanor. I want to meet her even more if there is a child, as you fear."

---

"Every time." Kuu whines as she looked down at the tiny boy sleeping in her arms. "Am I that boring?"

"Maybe." Umi answered from the kitchen doorway as she came out with two iced drinks. "Though the trait might be useful when you have children of your own."

The blonde wrinkled her nose. "That may be the case, but I want my boyfriend to stay awake when I talk to him."

Umi shook her head.

"What?"

"It is just a little odd to hear you refer to my son as your boyfriend. I think the age difference may become a bit of a barrier." The knight joked.

"Right, and how much older was his father?"

Kuu smiled as her friend scrunched her face in annoyance.

"Oh, Miss Umi doesn't like to talk about age difference." She paused for dramatic effect. "Is this because she jumped into bed with the oldest man in Cephiro when she started high school?"

Umi muttered something to her drink.

"Pardon? Could you repeat that?"

"Junior high."

"What about it?"

"I was in junior high."

Kuu readjusted Huki, so she could see his face. "Damn. What would you have done if you'd had a baby in high school?"

"Would you mind choosing a subject unrelated to my teenage idiocy?" Umi picked up a fashion magazine from the table and began to flip through it, trying to ignore Kuu's probing looks.

The blonde scooted closer to her friend. "Just one more question."

Umi shook her head. She really didn't feel like answering any more questions, because she knew what topic Kuu was still stuck on.

"Please?" A little closer to Umi on the Sofa, Kuu gave her a pleading, sad puppy eyed sort of look.

"What?"

"How old was he? When you, you know…"

The water knight sighed. "747 that past week."

"Ew!" The other girl pretended to cringe away from her friend as she passed the baby off as if he had the plague.

"Shut it."

The older girl smiled. "You know he really wasn't bad looking. Maybe your boy will be the spitting image of his daddy and have all the under aged girls after—ouch!" Kuu rubbed her arm where Umi had pinched her. She thought it might leave a mark.

"Okay! Change of subject. Sorry."

"I don't believe it is necessary for everyone to know every detail of my sex life."

"You were the one to volunteer that it was in junior high. I am not even going to ask what you were thinking."

"Please don't"

It was silent for a time. Kuu twirled her drink in her glass a bit. "How are you holding up?"

A ghost of a smile skittered across Umi's face as she looked down at the tiny baby in her arms. "I will survive."

"Are you nearly packed?"

Kuu set her drink down. It was time to get back to the business part of her visit. Umi didn't have much stuff. It was Huki's things that would take up the most room.

"Yes, Papa can drive us down this weekend. Are you sure you want us there so soon?"

Hideaki wasn't exactly sleeping the whole night through, but six hours straight was far better than the two and a half she had been getting in the beginning.

"You have no idea how quiet it is there. I am on the verge of insanity from loneliness. Of course I want you there!"

Kuu bent over and kissed Hideaki's forehead. "Tell my boyfriend that I love him."

"He is young enough to be your child." Umi teased.

The older girl debated on making some crude comment of how she was young enough to be Clef's great great great… and then she decided that she liked to live and thought it best not to push her luck.

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The walk back to the castle was all together uneventful if not completely boring. He had grown used to having a constant companion of Umi when anytime he left the castle. She always wanted to see any new place she had never been before. Even if it was a market in the next town. The world was so much more beautiful through her eyes. Perhaps he had become too jaded to see it for the beauty she did.

Why did he have to tell Saleen so much about his life? He had always felt close to her, but that was just too close for him to deal with. At least he hadn't told her everything about that particular tale that had led to his great divulge.

It was a tale that Umi would tell him in the dark warmth of his bed. Late at night, when she would wake, he would do his best to get her back to sleep. There was one song in the old language that she loved to hear. It also became a tradition for him to sing it to her before she fell back to sleep in his arms. It was for the purity of her memory that he would stand before the council.

And if he was correct, which he normally was, today was still open audience before the council. He would go before the upper council that day, the very hour he made it back to the castle. There was no point in waiting. He wouldn't be able to concentrate otherwise.

The sounds of the chamber were much the same as they were the previous day. His absence had likely been noticed, but the mage didn't care. This was something he had to do. The door to the council hall swung open. It was his turn. Stepping into the strong light, Clef solemnly paced across the floor to stand at the foot of today's council assembly.

The contempt in Vespasian's voice was clear as he spoke in the traditional manner.

"What do you ask of the council?"

Clef braced himself assuring he would remain calm and composed in his address.

"I wish to amend the laws governing the post of Supreme Yil in the new hierarchy."

To be continued….

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Author's Note: I'll try to get to work polishing the next chapter of this. But it is not quite out of being an incoherent jumble yet. Thank you for reading. I hope you enjoyed it. Reviews are love, but at over 2500 hits, I know that there are some out there enjoying this, whether or not you review.