AN: Ahahaha three years I'm so sorry. Apparently this 'real life trying to be an adult' thing takes up a lot of brain power, and I've been struggling to have enough processing capability to work on these last chapters - there's a lot of threads I'm trying to catch hold of (many of which won't come into play until the sequels).

Sooo I've totally been absconding and writing other snippets of Umi and Clef and the rest of Rayearth here and there. (I'm working on uploading it all to AO3, but haven't got around to fixing the files for FFN yet...).

This chapter hit about 20,000 words so I've had to split it - the next one should therefore be quicker, but then I say that every time!

Thank you to all the people who have commented over the years (ack!) since the last chapter. It gives me a huge boost in working on this! Thank you for keeping faith in me. I'm going to do my best to repay you by getting to the end as soon as I can.

This chapter has no cliffhanger. It is not, however, the end of the plot... not that much may technically happen in this section, but I promise that most of it is important!

Also this is now the middle of the night, but I really, really want to get this finally posted. If there are any really glaring mistakes I'll try to fix them tomorrow!

oOo

Chapter Twentyfive : Over and Out

oOo

Heading down the hotel corridor for the last time, Umi side-stepped a large plant and slowed up with a frown. "Remind me, if the last of the decisions were made yesterday, why do we all have to turn up this morning?"

"We've made a lot of decisions, but now we have to formally agree that our lands are actually going to uphold them. The Representatives have to ratify the conference records or else none of it is binding." Clef tugged on her hand and she sped up again.

"You mean we have to - agree to agree to the agreements we agreed to agree?" Umi's voice trembled as she began to snicker.

Clef shook his head at her, lips twitching. "It's mostly an excuse for a bit more pomp and parading about, but sometimes a land actually does have so much of a problem with something that they choose to not ratify the meeting. There are pretty heavy sanctions if you don't, so it's rare."

"Sanctions?"

"Effectively being outside the Alliance for at least the year until the next conference - reduced access to funding, import-export duties like an outside land would pay, that kind of thing. Some of the smaller things can be removed for a fine, but anything with as much impact as the defence force would be non-negotiable." He grinned, suddenly. "Cephiro not having turned up to a millenia of meetings, we're still going back through and working out what we're meant to have implemented in that time. I've managed to, uh, skip some of the arrangements that really wouldn't work for us."

Umi grinned; he looked so pleased with himself for managing that piece of sneakiness. "Hasn't anyone noticed?"

"Unless someone does an audit of our entire political and economic structure - which I doubt anyone wants to try, given the basis for all of it is magic and that seems to give economists a headache - I don't think it's going to be a problem."

Shaking her head, Umi pushed open the door to the stairwell. They entered together, neither looking back down the corridor they'd been walking every day for a strange short age. (Very short, as it was their second corridor. And as it was practically identical to every other hallway in the building there wasn't much to be nostalgic about.) "The sanctions make sense, though I'm surprised everyone agreed to penalties," she said, and then the door on the next level opened. Cerys came through it, trailed by the man who'd been staying next to their original room. Umi yanked Clef backwards, but Cerys had already seen them.

Cerys nodded politely, and hesitated a moment while Umi stood frozen. Umi grasped Clef's hand hard enough he winced, but Cerys didn't say anything, just walked on down the stairs.

The sound of the door below closing behind them let Umi breathe again, and Clef still didn't complain about his hand hurting.

"…Are you alright?"

"She - how can she think she's in the right, to go about poisoning people?" Umi got louder with each word. "I liked her! I thought she was nice!"

"I'm sorry." Clef squeezed her hand back, though his grip was gentler than hers. "At least this might be the last day you have to see her?"

Glaring, Umi let go of him to put her hands on her hips. "If you think I'll let you come here without me next year, after all that's happened-"

"I'm not that daft! But even if I'm still playing Representative for Cephiro by then, she may not return. Aides change more often than Representatives, and some of those don't last a whole Assembly - Brooke, for one."

"If you're still- Clef-"

He turned and started walking down the stairs again. "Well, it's not as though I'd miss it. Come on, or we'll be late as ever, and I'd rather not go appearing from thin air this morning. I suspect security will be tighter than usual after yesterday, and we already tried to crash into Princess Tatra."

"Clef." She didn't move. There was no emotion filtering through his magic even when she paid attention, and that would be suspicious enough on its own. But he also wasn't looking at her.

"Not now," he said, quietly. "…Later?"

She swallowed. If he lost his position - did he think he was going to- but he was right, this was neither the time nor the place. She closed the gap between them and took his hand again. "Later, when we're out of here."

He leaned in and pressed a fleeting kiss to her temple before walking on. Their fingers were still laced together a minute later when they walked out into the sunlight, neither of them about to let go.

The path to the Hall was almost empty, but Tatra and a lone member of her retinue stood in conversation where Tatra could watch nearly every path between the buildings. The moment she spotted them, Tatra handed a datascreen over to the aide and sent them off with a quick gesture.

Umi grinned and sped up, dragging Clef along as Tatra started to smile - until she focused on Clef's hand in Umi's, and then the smile fell away and she began to loom.

"Whatever you're thinking, stop it," Umi ordered, flushing; she had basically no memory of the state she'd been in when Tatra helped them leave the not-really-a-ball last night, but Clef hadn't done anything to earn that glare.

Tatra didn't look reassured. "I was thinking you look closer than you did yesterday, and last night-"

"Last night I slept for hours while Clef fretted about life and Selece watched over both of us, and then I woke up and yelled for a while. If anyone was out of line, it was me."

"Umi, no," Clef protested. "You did nothing wrong, you were just - a little argumentative?"

"I woke you up to argue with you!"

"Well, I probably deserved it," he muttered, and Tatra huffed a laugh, looking a lot less scary.

"I spoke from worry about your wellbeing. You frightened me last night, Umi. I'm sorry if I upset you."

Umi let go of Clef to pull Tatra into a hug. "You were looking out for me. Last night, too. Clef told me you got us out of there safely. Thank you."

Tatra pulled her closer still, the little metal baubles on today's outfit pressing uncomfortably into Umi for several long seconds before she pulled back far enough to look over Umi's head. "I do apologise for any insult I have given, Master Clef."

"There is nothing to apologise for. I would have said far worse in your place," Clef told her. "But - I don't want to rush you, but were you just waiting to check on Umi, or did you need us for anything else?"

"I did want to be sure you were both well, after yesterday," Tatra let Umi go and smiled softly. "Aside from that, I thought you might not have seen the departure schedule yet?" Umi hadn't even realised it would exist, though an arrivals one certainly had, so that made sense. "You have an early slot. Directly after my own, and mine is not quite an hour after the ratification ceremony is due to end. I know you have generally waited a fair while before escaping previously, Master Clef."

"I certainly didn't expect to be bumped up the list today. Have you been requesting adjustments to the order?" Clef asked, as all three of them began to walk towards the Conference Hall. "Though I suppose Kuregu might want us out of here before we can cause any more trouble."

"I do not know what the Honourable Representative thinks." Tatra waved one graceful hand, not actually answering the question. "But Eagle will leave after you, and the party from Fahren after that, when the rest of us are safe away."

"Ah, you got ChangAn to fix it, then," Umi said, and Tatra just grinned at her. The rest of Tatra's guard fell into place as they walked out onto the main path; they had been waiting close by their Princess behind one of the cafes, and they passed into the Hall together.

Inside, a new contraption had been extracted from the recesses of the central table. A sheet of crystal was glowing softly at the near end, where the whole room could see it, and the projectors were throwing the symbol of the UCA up into the air. The chairs had all been reshuffled to make room at the end, which meant more than a few aides were being directed to a new row of seats out of the way down the floor. All but one of Tatra's guard split off to join them, but no one tried to send Umi away.

There were only two of them, and Clef had actually been attacked so probably had a better right to backup than anyone else in the room. But she would have liked the excuse to be argumentative, now they were being watched by hundreds of people again and the back of her neck was crawling. She wanted to shout, run about. Do something.

Clef brushed his fingers against her wrist. /No one would be so foolish as to ask you to move. You would not be the only strident objector, and they know it./

/That's far too sensible of them, how dare they./ Umi sighed, and dropped into her seat, looking up at that high glass ceiling. This was the last time she would ever see it, after countless hours sat here. It was a strange thought. She wasn't going to miss the Conference, not precisely… except in parts, yes she was.

The Table was filling up fast. Eagle had Geo by his side as he settled down, but there was still no sign of Zazu. Then again, Zazu wasn't an aide or a secretary, and maybe he was just waiting outside… or avoiding Kuregu. Umi wouldn't have minded doing that herself. He was standing at the head of the Table, glancing imperiously about the room, and every time he looked in their direction she had to concentrate not to fidget.

Last night, what he'd tried…

Her temper was fraying fast now they were in the same room, but she wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of reacting. Even when he kept looking at them-

There was a weight like a growl building at the back of her mind, not her own, and a sensation like Selece mantling his wings inside her head. Umi took a breath, calming herself down. /You still can't eat him,/ she thought at Selece, and the growl rumbled louder.

/If you are certain that is your will. At least your little mage has impressed the foolishness of his actions on him./

Umi blinked and remembered Clef's soundless, vicious declaration sent across the dancefloor last night; Kuregu's lingering gaze suddenly translated into fear. She snickered, and Clef looked at her, confused; she lay her hand on his to open the twist of the communication spell between them. /I have an idea./

/About Kuregu? You're the one he wronged, it's your choice how we react, I meant it last night and I still mean it now. If you wish to bring a formal suit against him, I will find a way. I think I would even enjoy researching that./

/He was attacking you and Cephiro, not me, not really, but - I have a better idea. We're not going to do anything official, for Cephiro's sake, and I'm not going to let you - or Selece - do anything unofficial. So, we do absolutely nothing./

/We - what? How will that-/

/This is Kuregu, he's been a politician for how many years? He has a nasty suspicious mind and he's already afraid of us, he wouldn't have tried to drug me if we weren't a threat, right? So how do you think he'll feel if we just… leave him alone?/

/He'll be expecting us to do something. All the time, he'll be waiting for us to make him pay…/

/Yes! He'll be paranoid, unable to put us out of his mind, while we get to forget he exists./

Clef drew her hand up and kissed her fingers. "You're right," he said, aloud, "that is a better plan." Which probably didn't reassure Kuregu very much.

They waited for the last few people to take their seats, and then Kuregu was starting some opening speech (closing speech?) about how their work here would lead to great improvements and- Umi tuned him out. She also ignored the look she could see Eagle giving them over the table after that gesture and Clef leaving their hands laced together in view of everyone. Selece was quiet now, but present, as Kuregu went on.

/Hey, Clef, how long is this going to take?/

/Well, every Representative has to come down and sign agreement to ratify the document, so… a while. It could be longer, but they haven't read out the minutes and the list of decisions in about three thousand years. Mostly because it would take about that long to read it out… they sent a compiled version out to everyone last night, I was meant to sit and read it in our rooms, but…/

/You were busy panicking instead./ She tried not to feel guilty about that. He leaned his shoulder against hers.

/Yes. Anyway, the clerks are bound over under the law to make a full true and honest account, and Princess Tatra will have read it. If she has no objections I'm willing to take the risk./

One by one, starting with the land furthest from the Inner Table and proceeding in order, Representatives came down to the dias and lay their hand on the sheet of crystal at the end of it. The projector was now showing the header of the conference agreement, and below it each land appeared in turn. As their hand touched the crystal, the seal of each land shimmered over the agreement, and Umi could almost read some of the names as they came up.

Not that she was meant to be sat just staring at it as the queue of people went on, and on, and - she was starting to feel slightly ill at the amount of revision she'd meant to do and not got around to (more, thinking about Fuu's reaction to all she hadn't done. She had promised faithfully she would study. Non-earth writing systems weren't going to be on the entrance exams). But watching the different worlds spin up was still more interesting than reviewing English grammar rules (which didn't make any sense anyway), and she was distracted still further each time Clef moved, his leg pressed against hers under the table.

They'd been as close as this on-and-off for days. Longer, if she really thought about it, but… it was like she had given herself permission to really notice the way he sat up straighter and held his breath a second when her fingers brushed his wrist, or the back of his hand. And he was leaning into her more and more, as though even the bond wasn't enough for him to be certain she was there, he needed to be able to touch her just to prove it.

With his yes still ringing between them, it felt new.

Eventually, they reached the point where Ost should have stepped up on Pedredan's behalf. As he was decidedly not present, the aide standing by the crystal stepped forwards to enter something into it, and Pedredan showed grey with a line of text circling it. "Ratified by general consensus in the absence of a legal Representative", Clef murmured, which must have been how Cephiro had appeared for a thousand years.

Kuregu waited with one raised hand for silence to follow the whispers. "Pedredan's envoy has been arrested following significant evidence he was intending harm others," Kuregu announced, voice steady. "His land has removed him any position of trust, and indicated they were neither aware of nor condoned his actions here. However there was not time to elect a replacement, so in line with the rules of this Assembly, their ratification is accepted by default. Now, if the Honourable Representative for Temes would come forward…"

Pedredan vanished swiftly as Schwarzem walked up, and then they were down to the Inner Table; Eagle, first, then it would be Cephiro's turn.

oOo

Clef stood, pressing a hand to Umi's shoulder when she shifted. She pulled a face at him, and okay, the back of his neck was itching, but there would be little to gain in attacking him now the agreement was mostly signed off. Even if the whole building fell down, enough lands had set their seal to it that it would stand.

It wasn't that many steps to the end of the table, and the reader-crystal was warm under his palm, vibrating very slightly. A point of heat pressed against the centre of his palm, tickling, and he concentrated on not moving as the sensation expanded across his whole hand before Cephiro's seal shimmered into place and he could step back. He waited the few seconds for the reader to drop Cephiro's copy of on a non-editable data chip into a slot below the reader, and was halfway back to his seat while Minli of Gegnesberg was still standing up.

Several people later, Lady Samesu took her turn, and Umi leant into him. /You were going to talk to her last night, weren't you. But you couldn't?/

/Yes. I think we could get started on the extension to the roads without waiting for next year if we got Whit to throw their weight behind it, now a preliminary agreement's in place. Being a week from most of the UCA has worked to Cephiro's advantage in the past, but it's becoming far more a hindrance. But she had already left last night, and- why are you staring at me?/

/A week? How can it be a week's journey to Cephiro? We managed it in half a day!/

/…Um. We were in a military ship, for one?/ Umi kept staring at him. /Cephiro can... speed the trip, for recognised allies. She can hold a path stable as a true road. And from the Portal that connects us through to Dleivus there is a constant suggestion of a route. Nothing formal, but it eases the journey, and I can strengthen it if I'm there./

/Clef… Clef, did you build your own road system so you could spend as little time in Transports as possible?/ Umi was laughing silently, a hand pressed to her mouth and her eyes glittering, warmth flooding over the bond.

Clef bit his lip. /Not intentionally! But the first time I travelled, Cephiro was still working through the wave of energy Hikaru created when she reformed the Pillar system, and… I think I accidentally may have tapped it. The ships from Autozam have been using it for two years now, but it doesn't work so well without, um, me. And thankfully no one has reported it yet. Given it goes through a lot of territory which absolutely does not belong to Cephiro./

/Your accidental space road is illegal./ Umi was struggling to muffle herself by this point. /Yes, then, we'd best make it official before any of our new enemies hear of it! There's a little time before we get off this rock, you think we can grab her for a conversation?/

/It's certainly worth trying?/

Kuregu was last to walk about the table, pressing his hand to the crystal with a flick of his arm which managed to show off the fancy lining of his sleeves. Clef just about managed to not roll his eyes - and then they had to wait for him to parade back to the head of the table (both times taking the side away from them, Clef noted,) before he spread his hands to address them all. "Fellow Representatives," he declaimed, "may peace and prosperity follow you this year, and may you all hold true to the accords we have made with each other. Now, I declare this Assembly officially closed!"

Under the applause, Clef heard Umi mutter 'well at least that was short'. Everyone was getting up and trying to get out of the Hall as quickly as possible. They had opened up all the doors, and a lot of people weren't bothering to hide their relief at escaping.

If he could just find Lady Samesu… But by the time he looked across she was gone from her seat. He stood, trying to spot her in the crowd, pushing his chair back - and nearly knocked her over with it. Samesu had come to find him.

She raised an eyebrow at his haste. "Do you need to leave swiftly? I was of a mind to speak with you a moment. There are some matters I think we may agree as mutually beneficial, and ChangAn indicated you might be of a similar mind…"

With a swift silent blessing for ChangAn - of course he knew Samesu, Whit and Fahren had far too much overlap in their usual spheres of influence to not know each other - Clef bowed and attempted to match her formality of tone. "I too think we could be of use to each other, my lady. I was trying to find you when I stood so abruptly; my apologies."

He could see, from the corner of his eye, one of the secretaries approaching with a data chip that probably held confirmation of their departure time. They were intercepted by Umi, who was standing between them and the flow of people making their way about the table. With her watching out for them both, Clef turned his attention entirely to the polite but fierce negotiation that began.

oOo

Umi had turned in time to see Samesu walk up - and that was probably a good sign, her approaching them. But she didn't have time to warn Clef before he nearly knocked her over - and then they were off, talking roads and boundaries, sustainable development and trade distribution networks at a rate Umi couldn't hope to follow, she didn't have half the background knowledge she needed to keep up. So she tuned them out and watched the rest of the room, fiddling with the datachip she'd been handed by an aide who bowed low and vanished swiftly.

At about the point Clef and Samesu sat back down at the table to start making notes and review a map Umi couldn't really read, the rest of the room had cleared out and there was no one much left to watch. She glanced back at the map, trying to work out where Cephiro might be, how they would get home. She knew Clef had told her something about the portals while they were travelling, but couldn't remember much of what he'd said. They anchored a lot of the formal roads, maybe, and allowed Transports to do physically improbable distances in a few moments…

She'd not noticed passing through any of them, but they must have done. Even she knew the distance from Dleivus to Cephiro, or to Chizeta, would take days even with a good road unless you used a portal to skip some of the way.

It probably didn't matter, but it might have helped her understand his current conversation if she could remember any of it! If he was going to be working on getting the roads extended out their way over the next year… well. She'd just have to make him explain it again.

Eventually Clef shook Samesu's hand. She left with a polite nod for Umi as she passed.

Clef's smile as he stood answered Umi's question - it had gone well.

"We should get going, if we don't want to be late - I think the Princess wants to see you safe away with her own eyes," Clef said.

"That's going to be hard, as she's on the flight before us."

"Perhaps, but I doubt she'll let them leave airspace before she's sure we're safely out of here…"

The tunnel was echoing emptily as they passed through it for a final time. Umi winced slightly as they stepped out into the light, but she waved a hand at Clef before he'd managed to look at her. "It's brighter out here, that's all," she promised.

"And you certainly were not unwell last night, for any reason." He leaned over and kissed her cheek softly, and Umi stumbled. He took her hand and pulled her on towards the front of the complex, where she could see a transport taking off, just getting high enough she could see it over the buildings. "We'll get you some tea as soon as we're safe on board, that should help with the headache. And some more sleep…"

"And somewhere in there we should probably talk about what we're going to do when we get back to Cephiro, apart from keep breaking the law, but- oh."

Umi halted as they came about the corner, pulling Clef to a standstill beside her. The ground in front of the building was a sorry piece of churned up mud, rather than the lush green sward it had been the day before. It looked like someone had bashed the lumps flat and then given up on anything more, and the small group of people waiting were all on the paving in front of the building, away from the dirt and the puddles. She wrinkled her nose, looking at the mess.

Zazu sidled away from the group of people when he saw them. "Not impressed with your handiwork, Umi? Geo told me all about it last night. I wish I hadn't missed it!"

Clef patted Umi's shoulder and walked on, leaving her pulling a face at Zazu. "It wasn't all that entertaining," Umi promised, and studied him. He looked unhurt, the only bruises showing were from lack of sleep. "How are you, anyway?"

Zazu shrugged, lopsidedly. His smile faded when she just watched him. "I'm good! Fine, really. It wasn't - it was a bit creepy and weird, being locked up, but…" he glanced around to where Eagle was greeting Clef and leaned in closer, conspiratorial. "I was less scared of the prison guards than I was of Eagle?"

Umi smothered a laugh in her hands. "He can't be that mad!" to which Zazu shuddered theatrically, making her break out in another round of giggling.

"He can! When things went - well." Another awkward shrug, and for a moment Zazu looked old. Umi stopped laughing then. "When it went… wrong, Eagle managed to get in touch just long enough to tell me to get off the planet, keep out of the way. I was in the Transport already, checking her out before making the run to Dleivus. I got away, like he ordered, only I managed to get word to some of the other pilots too. And a message out to the military ships on the internal network. A lot of them managed to get away, and all the warships were locked down. The people leading the coup couldn't do without all of us pilots, they needed to make it look like Autozam was still functioning, and maybe I arranged switching out some of our ids with those of people who weren't - well, who hadn't served with Eagle."

Eyebrows getting higher with each sentence, Umi folded her arms and really watched Zazu as he went on.

"And it's not like we could do much with a bunch of unarmed passenger ships! Which was fine, that was what he meant me to do! I just added a few details! Only… I may have hacked into the schedules to get people I trusted assigned to bring some of the more important people here, make sure they made it safely. And then got myself assigned to bringing you? And once everyone was here safely I made sure we kept as many transports away from Autozam as I could manage. Which… maybe wasn't what Eagle meant when he said to stay out of trouble."

"And then you got back in time to bring Eagle here?"

"Yep!" Zazu grinned. "I snuck back to Autozam - just one little ship, it's not really that hard. And I was really strict about the Conference rules, because that meant I could lock myself in the cockpit and he wasn't allowed to argue. But he was frowning the whole trip, I could see him on the cameras! I don't know what he's going to do when we get back. I wasn't breaking orders, just… expanding them? It's not like I could call for an update! And I was already punished! I can't pilot outside of Autozam's territory now-"

"No, you can't pilot at all." Eagle had snuck up on them, and both Zazu and Umi squeaked. Clef and Geo weren't far away, either, and both looked amused.

"What? Why not!? I'm only banned from B-class and up, I can still do satellite runs! There's no need to-"

"The dubiously honourable Representative from Dleivus was unable to place any stronger measures on you as it would have looked like a political statement, and he needs us stable. I, however, am perfectly capable of disciplining you for the unnecessary risks you took-"

"Unnecessary! I got you here, didn't I?"

"Unnecessary risks," Eagle insisted, "which could have been better undertaken by someone trained to deal with that kind of situation, of whom there were several among the free pilots, my messenger to Master Clef being one of them. Not a mechanic!"

Eagle was frowning, arms folded, and Zazu was slowly sidling behind Umi - and then Geo started laughing. Eagle's frown turned his way, only Geo wasn't bothered by it. "You taught him too well, Eagle; it's your example he's following, and you can't blame anyone else for that!" Stepping up beside him, Geo wrapped an arm about Eagle's shoulders, and some of the tension drained out of him. "Plus, it worked. Zazu's pilot rebellion kept all the military ships and most of the non-military ones out of reach."

"He's still not piloting anything for the next eighteen months," Eagle declared, with a sigh.

Tatra joined them, ChangAn (and his SangYung-shadow) close behind. "Let us hope that the next eighteen months are quiet enough his expertise will not be missed," she said, and though she was smiling, her voice was serious.

Umi shivered and took a step closer to Clef.

Clef bumped his shoulder against hers. "I'm just hoping for an uneventful eighteen minutes, right now," he said. "Once we get out of here I'm sure things will be calmer."

ChangAn muttered something about the low chance of his getting out of there without anyone doing anything dramatic. Tatra smiled, the little baubles across her clothing jingling merrily as she moved. "You could always trade with me, just in case," she offered, but ChangAn's head drooped as he sighed.

"Princess Aska has demanded an account of everything which happens. As she's showing an interest in politics, I'll not let her get distracted by missing anything."

"We could all promise to be unremarkable until we get out of here - as far as we can, that is?" Eagle offered, and Geo hit him gently on the shoulder.

Tatra tilted her head. "As I am leaving first, I appear to have the best odds."

"Nothing is going to happen!" Umi insisted. Tatra just smiled, and turned the conversation to safer topics.

oOo

As the talking continued, Clef pulled Eagle to one side, just far enough away they wouldn't be heard easily. He made himself face Eagle, not precisely feeling shy, but… not as far from it as his dignity would prefer. "I have - a favour to ask. I… all this time," he began, and stalled.

"…You want me not to tell Lantis about the two of you." Eagle said it flatly, and Clef winced. "Something changed, last night, and now you want to take back your promise to tell them about the bond. Am I right?"

"Partially, but-" he ran a hand through his hair. "Not take back, just delay. For a week and a bit. Please? We never planned on keeping it, until - yes, something changed last night, and there's a chance we won't be dissolving this. We haven't had time to even talk it through with each other yet, but. Until we know if we're going to have a chance at making this work - Umi goes back to her home in a few days. It may not even survive her returning, but I want us to know, to be able to decide what we're doing, before anyone else starts adding their opinions! It's not as though we can't complicate things enough on our own. Umi won't even be in Cephiro for most of it, it can't harm anyone. Not in one more week."

Eagle was watching him far too closely. "And what will stretching the bond from Cephiro to Tokyo do to your magic, while she's gone? Assuming it doesn't break."

Clef slumped, glancing back at Umi. She was grinning at Tatra, Zazu and SangYung both laughing at something she'd said. "I have no idea. I don't think it can be more disruptive than forming the bond was, and this time I would at least know what was happening."

"Lantis will never forgive me leaving you in danger without even telling him." Eagle said it quietly, but there were years of pain in that statement.

"Lantis forgave you invading Cephiro," Clef pointed out, just as quietly. "And he knows it would be my fault, not yours, if anything happened."

Eagle sighed one last time. "I understand why you want your privacy, I truly do. One condition, and I will hold my tongue for a week and a half - and persuade Geo to do the same. If your magic and your ability to protect yourself is affected in any way, you tell the Guards." He held up a hand to stop Clef's protest before he could make it. "I know, you've caught the assassin, and you will be well shielded, but you have made enemies as well as friends here and I still feel uneasy. Please, will you let your friends help as they are able?"

Faced with that, Clef could do no more than agree.

"Well, then," Eagle began. He was cut off by Umi calling Clef's name in a sharp voice. They both turned to see what the others had spotted; a patrol of guards were making their way out through the doors and taking up stations either side of it, flanking the group of four people escorting Hardwick out into the open.

Clef moved to stand by Umi before he turned to look at the next ship coming in. It was small and bulky, with the hard lines of a military ship, but the shape was wrong for anything he'd seen produced by Autozam's shipyards. The charge on the side was Dleivan, and the air seemed to grow heavier as it came down, atmosphere pressing on him.

Umi flinched sideways into him, her hand catching his as the pressure hit them both. The dampening effect shouldn't have been as strong here, in the open air, as it had been in the closed corridors of the makeshift gaol – and yet it pressed harder, and he recognised the bitter sense of it from his time on Dleivus. They had used their local magic-repellent minerals in the construction of this thing.

Out of deference to the occasional mages among the Representatives and their followers, the Reception on Dleivus had been held in one of the few parts of their government complex young enough it had been built without the suppressant – there had still been enough in the area to add to his ship-based headache, but there had been so much going on that was new to Umi she'd probably not even noticed it then.

"Where did they dig that relic up from?" Geo said, startled.

Zazu snorted, and nodded at the thing as it settled on the ground. "No way they dug that out of a museum, she's far too well maintained! No stiffness in the legs as she came down, and those old three-hinged designs are terrible for that. Plus look at the wear in the paintwork about the hatches. She's in regular service."

"… That is interesting." Tatra murmured, and Clef noted she also was getting no closer to the thing. Her bodyguards had moved closer, pulling the perimeter in a careful fraction. "There are no ships with dampening capabilities listed in the Dleivan roll of arms. I wonder how many others they have with the… extra capability?"

"How'd you get a look at their Roll?" Zazu asked, wide eyed, then remembered himself and blushed. "I, um, sorry, Princess. Your highness! I didn't mean-"

"Do not worry," she said, with a soft smile. "My sister wished to see it, so I … acquired a copy. It was a few years ago, but I am certain I would remember dampening ships being listed among their military vessels, and that ship was not constructed recently."

"Given those weapon ports, it probably wouldn't be legal to build it today." Eagle's head was tilted, his eyes narrowed. "Zazu, do they look…"

"They're in use, yeah. Pretty certain an inspection would class that thing a warship with dampening capabilities and therefore illegal."

Umi leaned into Clef's shoulder. They all watched as the assassin was led into the carrier. He didn't flinch, but he had been walking slumped from the start.

"One of you certainly made an impression on the Dleivans." Eagle glanced back at Clef, and he wasn't smiling now. "They will not have timed this for you to watch without reason."

"Particularly with a barely legal transport," Tatra added. "That is a risk they would not take lightly."

"Either they are more paranoid about Hardwick than I thought – a neat insult, given they have my word the binding will hold his magic - or they are showing us they are dealing with him seriously… and that they could deal with us seriously. If Kuregu thinks he can intimidate us-"

"Clef," Umi said, quietly, and he shut himself up. His free hand was a fist at his side; he forced himself to flatten it, and managed to find a thin smile in answer to Umi's worried look.

"If you would just let Selece have a little talk with the honourable Representative…"

"No." Umi pressed closer as she said it, and he wrapped his arm around her, holding her close. Clef swallowed as the prison-ship lifted from the ground, refusing to shudder as the oppressive weight lifted from his head. It went smoothly enough even he could see it was well cared for. But it was gone, and they were leaving.

The next transport was already starting its descent, a reassuringly normal ship with Chizetan markings, and Tatra's guard split so half of them could check the inside of the transport before letting their Princess near it.

Umi stepped away from him so Tatra could wrap her up into a swift hug, and then Tatra let her go (Umi blushing bright red at something Tatra must have said) and stepped forward to wrap her arms about Clef's shoulders too. He froze stone-still as she murmured into his ear. "You look after her, Master Clef."

"I will do my best," he promised, and she let him go before he had to work out how to return the embrace. She made her farewells one more time, and swept up into the ship which lifted away smoothly as soon as the doors shut.

Their own transport was coming down to land, this one marked openly with the crest of Autozam's military. Umi straightened up, brightening. "Time for our getaway now!"

"Yes, it's our turn. Eagle, thank you-"

Eagle waved him away. "I'm sure we will speak soon enough, Clef. Now would the two of you please get off this rock before anything else happens?"

Lips twitching, Clef noted that their pilot had stepped to the top of the opening ramp, where he could be seen by Eagle - and was the same man who had given them the message on their way to Dleivus, that first journey. "Your week has been just as interesting as ours has…"

"But I can't get out of here until you have, so the sooner you go, the higher my chances of getting home without excitement!"

Clef managed to turn and bow to ChangAn and SangYung before the same harried and ink-stained organiser who had been in charge of the departures on Dleivus practically chased them up the ramp, busily muttering about how to recover his schedule now the prison-ship had delayed everything.

oOo

Umi's face was hot as the door shut behind them, and she couldn't look at Clef, so she stared about the ship instead. It was a utilitarian thing, not at all plush, and absolutely borrowed from the military. As was their uniformed and familiar pilot, who gave them a quick safety briefing again before asking them to buckle themselves in while he got them off the ground.

The viewing windows were clear, this time, and Umi sat where she could watch the hotel shrinking below them. Clef was quiet beside her, and she tried to be discreet as she let the small parcel Tatra had handed over flick back into her gauntlet. Most of it was just tea, but-

'And something for if you get carried away before making your own arrangements. It will stop you regretting anything nine months later. Not that I think your mage would put you in such a position, but you seem bad for his common sense…'

Umi shook her head, cheeks burning, and watched until she couldn't see any of their friends anymore, the hotel a faint discolouration on the ground far below. The pilot had shut the door to the bridge, and they were alone apart from the soft hum of the engines. "Clef…"

"Yes?"

She met his eyes, blushed again, and started laughing. "Don't- don't ask, it's just Tatra, I didn't mean to laugh at you-" Clef's lips curved into a smile, but he was already starting to look pale, even with the viewports open. "I know we said we should talk, but did you want to get some sleep first?"

"If I manage to get to sleep, I'm going to try staying that way until this thing is safe on Cephiran soil. Best we talk now - but I did promise you something for your headache, first. Which panel did she say had refreshments?" He unbuckled his harness and was halfway across the room before she could reply. "One of these, I think…"

"It's better in here, honest, Clef. I don't need anything."

"Well, I do. Would you like a cup while I'm making it anyway?" He touched one panel which looked just like the others to Umi and it receded. Behind it was a small station with cups and a large urn, plus a box of what looked like cereal bars alongside a couple of pieces of fruit. Clef twisted his hand and a couple of teabags appeared in it, and he turned back to hold them up to her. "Yes? Or no?"

"Do you always carry headache tea with you?"

"I emptied out what we had in the room this morning, before we left. Given neither of us unpacked after Chizeta there wasn't much else to pick up."

"I didn't want to lose all my clothes again, that was inconvenient. And I like the things we made." Umi unbuckled her own harness and went to join him. "...Huh, I didn't realise that was for headaches. You've been drinking a lot of it."

"It also tastes pleasant. Most people drink it for that reason." He dropped a teabag into both cups she took off the strapped-in pile, and filled them when she couldn't work out how the urn worked.

"What were you talking to Eagle about, anyway?"

Clef looked away. "...I was asking for more time. Before we tell anyone about the bond. He wasn't best pleased about not telling Lantis. I pointed out Lantis forgave him both invading Cephiro and nearly dying, but I'm not sure that helped much. We'll be far safer on Cephiro than we have been, of course, but - Umi, I have no idea what the distance between Tokyo and Cephiro will do to the bond, whether it can be sustained over such a distance, or be borne if it does, and I can think of no way to test it save you returning home. And until then…"

She crossed her arms, glaring to stop her eyes from prickling hot. "So, what, this is only a maybe relationship after all?"

"No! No, Umi - I don't mean- nothing negates this." He set both cups down, leaned in, and kissed her soft and slow. The adrenaline that had rattled through her started to drain away, and Umi made fists of her hands to keep them from shaking as he pulled back and kept talking. "I'm serious. But binding our magic isn't an essential part of any relationship even if it is nice. I don't want to move too fast, and-"

"Four years is not too fast!"

"Four days, Umi! Or close - how many days has it even been since we came back from Chizeta?"

She would not be distracted. "We met four years ago. It was slightly memorable!"

Clef rubbed a hand over his face. "We may have met then, but you haven't been trying to talk me into bed for four years!"

"Well, I wouldn't have wanted to get in bed with you back then! But we did a whole lot of arguing, and see where that leads…" Umi trailed off as Clef gave up and huffed a laugh at her. He sobered up after a minute, and took hold of her hands.

"We need to chose, certainly about the bond, before this gets any further. Or whatever we decide to do you may end up turning around in a few years and wondering if you made your choices in the excitement of something new or because this tangle of magic influenced you, without the information you needed." He looked at her steadily, and she could feel the anxiety jittering through him. "I can't bear the thought of you regretting this. Regretting me."

With a sigh, Umi stepped closer and wrapped her arms about his shoulders. "So, what? You don't want to tell people about the bond - or don't you want to tell people about the rest of it?"

"If they know about this relationship it would be easier to guess the bond exists. If you don't mind, I'd really rather try not to tell anyone until we can make a real informed decision. We may both want to keep the bond, but if it is going to snap every time you return home, then that's not going to work. Or if it interferes with my magic when you are so far away- and I want the decision to be ours. Not made under pressure by our friends, no matter how well meaning…"

Umi pulled away and pulled a face at him. "You don't think they'll be happy, do you."

"With my wilfully breaking the laws surrounding my post?" He wrinkled his nose back at her. "No. But that's not their choice to make."

She dropped that particular argument for a moment. "What did Eagle say?"

"That he understood, and agreed to hold his tongue until we've had a chance to make our decision, on one condition - if our ability to use our magic is affected in a way which makes either of us less able to defend ourselves, we are to tell the Guard, or he will." Clef rubbed a hand across his face, like he was trying to rub away his headache. "I think he's planning to just know if something goes wrong. I wouldn't put it past him to start calling Lantis every day to check in on us, too. …I do understand if you want to tell Hikaru and Fuu. I don't mind, I know they would keep your confidence, and it's not that I don't want you to have people to talk about this with - I don't want to stop you talking things over with your friends."

"I… maybe. They won't care about it the same way as someone from Cephiro would." She thought about that, but it seemed wrong for her to tell someone while Clef couldn't, and… well, it would be a nice, everyday kind of secret to keep, unlike the rest of the past few weeks. Something just for the two of them, for a little while. "Not until we're on Earth," she decided. "That way they won't have to worry about accidentally telling people."

"…And they may be better placed to help you decide what you want to do than anyone else would be."

Umi picked up one of the steaming cups, and walked steadily back to the seats, ignoring that. "We were also going to talk about the law thing. What it actually means if we do want to break it by keeping this."

"I would be, you wouldn't - it's a restriction on the Guru, no one else. And it's a bad law! You were right about that." He stared reflectively into his own cup. "Sometimes we can be as paranoid about magic as Dleivus, and it never seemed important that I couldn't do something I had no intention of doing anyway. Perhaps Cephiro is more inclined to listen to me than to others, connected a little more immediately, but in the absence of the Pillar every mage has direct access to the heart of Cephiro. You've shown no sign of sharing the other gifts she grants me." He walked across to her, eyes unreadable. "No matter what happens when you return to Tokyo, or what we chose, I will be working to get this law repealed. Even if the bond dissolves the moment you leave Cephiro, and changing it only benefits whoever comes after me." He sat down beside her.

Umi clutched at her cup, watching steam rise off the golden liquid. "But you would still be breaking the law, until it changes. If it changes! Clef, if it did come out, your job-"

"Should have nothing to do with this! My magic, my heart, should be mine to do with as I please so long as it harms no one else! Whatever danger it was meant to prevent, I have no doubt Cephiro herself would have rescinded my title if this was a threat to her."

"So you're planning on keeping on lying? You've told me how much you hate that often enough the last few weeks."

"I was thinking more of… just not telling people?" Umi stared at him, and Clef flushed. "Aside from our friends if we do decide to keep it. Unless someone catches us in the middle of a spell together, or decides to do a random aura check - which would be particularly rude - no one will see it. And no one is going to guess."

"What, not even if we're, um…" Umi waved her cup-free hand in the air, flushing, trying to think of an appropriate way to talk about the other non-magical things they might do together. Clef bumped his shoulder against hers gently, lips twitching, and she gave up. "Tatra certainly guessed quickly enough!"

"Princess Tatra had a good view of us struggling to get our magic under control, and we've worked that out now. And it's not- even if some people wonder whether we might bond one day they won't speculate we've leapt straight into this. It usually takes years before people decide to - it's not normally an accident. Casting joint spells doesn't normally lead to people's magic getting tangled up! People only go about secretly binding themselves together in terrible romance novels which have no resemblance to reality."

Umi leaned into him. "Except, you realise, that's exactly what we've done?"

"...Hush." He turned to press a kiss to her temple. "I don't intend to quit my post quite yet, but if it happened - I don't think it would be so terrible. I'd get out of all the politics and Council work I hate, and get to go do something I like. So we only tell the people who need to know, and if the Council finds out somehow, then they find out, and they can decide then and there if they want to change the law or let me step down." He grinned, suddenly, turning to her. "Anyone who thinks you'd use my tie to Cephiro to corrupt her is out of their senses. Lord Selece is a far more direct source of power! Last night, when I called it, my staff came. My coronet has remained solid every time I've put it on my head. Cephiro doesn't seem to mind; I find myself increasingly unable to care what anyone else thinks."

Umi turned her head, and the angle was awkward, sat side-by-side, but she tilted her head back until she could press their lips together. She meant it to be quick, and light; it stayed that way for perhaps a second before she was twisting further into the touch, breath catching in her throat and a shudder chasing through her.

Clef's free hand tangled in her hair, and they were both still holding cups of tea - that was stupid, she didn't want to spill a hot drink over them both. Umi put hers down on the seat beside her, blindly, and took Clef's cup so she could set that down too, still kissing him. As soon as his hand was free he wrapped it about her waist, pulling gently until she sat across his legs, pinning him back into his seat.

Umi held on to his shoulders for balance, and his mouth was soft under hers as they kissed, and kissed, and kissed. Her knees started to hurt where they pressed into the back of Clef's seat, and she didn't care. There was a sharp-quickening heat low in her belly and she shook as Clef's hand slid from her waist to rest against her shoulderblades.

She bit his lower lip, not quite gently, and Clef made a shaky little noise at that which… well. Her body responded like the sound was a physical touch; she pulled away from the kiss to gasp for air, trying to calm down and breath a little slower.

Clef rested his forehead against hers, his hands trembling against her, and it was all so much more than she had planned on.

"That… wasn't what I meant to..."

"I know," Clef said, and his voice was shaking too.

Umi took another deep breath, and then started to laugh, dropping her head to his forehead. "Well, I guess I can stop wondering if you're actually attracted to women or not."

"...What?"

"Well, no one ever talks about any relationships you might have had in the past! I don't think anyone knows about any, and then you kissed me and then you tried very hard to ignore doing anything of the sort! It was confusing!"

Clef started laughing too, his hands relaxing. "Well, sometimes I'm attracted to people who are women, and sometimes to people who are not women, and sometimes to people who are not human. It just doesn't happen all that often with anyone at all. ...Most Cephirans don't care that much about gender preferences. Some do get a little upset about cross-species relationships, but as long as everyone is happy…"

"I've… heard talk about Eagle and Lantis. And I don't think they're even in a relationship."

Clef tilted his head so he could see her, not just her neck. "That's more about getting involved with the military of another country and letting them try to invade Cephiro. The questions about Lantis's loyalty are still loud enough that LaFarga is the one with the final say on things with the Guards, despite their holding a joint headship. He can retrospectively change Lantis's vote in the Council, if Lantis is there instead of LaFarga, and when they're both there the vote is LaFarga's alone. They wouldn't let Lantis stand in for him at all but the shifts the Guards work mean LaFarga misses half the meetings."

"I suppose that makes sense." Umi shifted back onto her seat, and retrieved her cup of tea. "Most of Earth is less relaxed about things. So I thought... wait, you've had a relationship with someone who wasn't human?"

"A couple, actually. More spirits than humans seem to understand being so fascinated by magic that it's the focus of your life. Though even they worried I was going to vanish into my studying. That was the general theme of my last few relationships; I haven't bothered with anything like that since I became Guru, so who knows; perhaps they were right." There was a pause, and then he looked at her. "...Wait. If I wasn't attracted to women, what about Eorl?"

"...I was trying not to think about her." Umi crossed her arms. "She was mean to you!"

"Well, she's a politician now."

"How old is she, anyway, if you knew her before you were Guru?"

"Eorl? About 500 by now, I guess. Her land is pretty long-lived."

Umi sighed, and sipped her tea. That kind of number seemed impossible - here she was, probably technically just eighteen if you figured they'd gained about two months in Cephiro before the timelines matched up, and everyone else was…

"If we converted your age and maturity to a Cephiran one, you'd be somewhere over your first century now." Clef said it quietly, looking into his drink. "Not that it's a precise thing, age in Cephiro, but…"

"Are you trying to make me feel better?"

Clef snorted. "Both of us! And trying to stop you from starting to argue you're an adult again, because that's just awkward."

Finishing her tea, Umi walked over to set it back with the refreshments without responding to that. Stood up, she felt it through her feet when the vibration of the transport changed subtly. She spun to look out of the viewports and caught a glimpse of a giant floating… circle? Then they turned towards it, and it was out of sight along the curve of the ship. She was left with an impression of an enormous ring, made of sections with lights flashing on each of them, cables and struts like an aura about the outside of it and the space inside glowing faintly.

"Um. Clef?"

"It's the first portal," he said, sounding resigned. A moment later a speaker crackled to life overhead, the pilot's voice coming through.

/I'm going to shut the viewports for portal travel now - we're currently in a slight queue, but we'll be through in a few minutes. I would appreciate it if you at least stayed seated for the passage, but you shouldn't need the harnesses./

Umi came back and dropped down beside Clef, who had closed his eyes as shutters came down over the windows. "...Was that a subtle reminder that there are cameras back here so maybe hold off on the kissing?"

"Probably." It was his turn to lean into her shoulder, like he was anchoring himself.

"How did I not notice these on all our other trips?"

"There's not much sensation going through them, and I suspect the Venue was pretty close to Dleivus this time, so there was no need to use the portals to get to it. And the Princess's ship had those curtains draped about the windows, and you were talking - even getting between Dleivus and Chizeta only takes about five jumps."

"Still! You seem to feel them, why don't I?"

"I feel the distance between myself and Cephiro changing in a rush. Believe me, you're not missing anything."

"Maybe, but if it's sending us thousands of miles through space, I just feel like I should notice it!"

"Further than that," Clef told her, and when she opened her mouth again he grimaced. The very faintest flicker ran back through his magic to her. "And there you go."

"That was it?"

"That was it."

Umi shook her head. Even the waver in Clef's magic felt more like him being upset at the portal rather than a direct effect. "Are you sure it's because of Cephiro being tied to your magic, Clef? If we're all bound to her now, like you said, surely I should be feeling something."

"Of course I'm sure! I told you I'm closer to her. Besides, you jump to Tokyo and back regularly. Maybe you're used to it."

"…I did feel peculiar for a while afterwards, when we first came," Umi murmured, and Clef nodded like that was obviously the answer to it all.

The speakers crackled again. "We're bouncing through a couple of hubs to get out to the Fahren interchange so I'll keep the ports closed, but please make yourselves comfortable - sailing is going smoothly today. Once we're there it'll be a few hours slog out to Cephiro, but if you could give us a boost, Master Mage, sir, it will only be a few hours - we can clock faster speeds than the civilian vessels do."

"Anything to get out of here as swiftly as possible!" Clef promised, signalling a thumbs up to the speaker on the basis there was probably a camera close by - and in the hope they weren't being listened to, given the sense of 'oops' coming from him. He was looking more worn about the edge again, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes.

"You were planning to sleep," Umi prompted, after a few minutes of Clef looking increasingly pale now he wasn't being distracted. "Do you want me to move so you can stretch out?"

"What, you don't want me tipping over onto your shoulder and trapping you there for the next eight hours?"

"I'd move you, if it came to that," Umi promised.

Clef tried to grin at her, but it looked more like a grimace. "If you're sure you don't mind…"

"Sleep," Umi insisted, and waved a hand to summon her textbooks and trying not to panic about facing Fuu's impending assessment. Perhaps now, without anything more important to do and no distractions left, she'd be able to find the motivation to get through her own work.

oOo