Magic Knight Rayearth Fan Fiction ❯ Cross ❯ Welcome, R&R, A Time of Recovery ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Disclaimer: Is this really necessary? I think not. I don't own Rayearth, never have, never will. Unless of coarse Clamp came and knocked on my door and asked my to help them make another season, but what's the likely ness of that happening? Not good. Any way, onto the fic:

Chapter VI: Welcome,

R & R, A Time of Recovery

Hikaru hadn't been able to shake the peculiar feeling she'd experienced during her gym class earlier this after noon. Ever since she'd zoned out, she'd felt kind of weird and slightly disoriented. School was now over and the only thing she wanted to do was get home as soon as possible. However, she currently stood in the middle of the crowded local grocery store, looking for various items on the list Satoru had given her. So far she'd been lucky enough to get most of the items with out too much trouble. Usually she would get trapped in a crowd and wouldn't be able to get at the necessary items she needed until the people lessened in density. `Yet another disadvantage to being short.' She thought. `Well, even though I haven't been pushed, stepped on, or squished, I still wish I weren't here. I just want go home…' Normally she didn't mind going on after school errands, but today she had a barely controllable urge to just run home.

She hastily continued down the isle she was in. looking up and down to see if there was anything there she had to get. "Ah, ha!" Pickles, specially requested from Kakeru. `Did he like the sweet kind or the dill?' she wondered. She could never remember for the life of her which one he preferred, and he was never specific as to which one he liked; just assumed that everyone already knew. Hikaru stood there, a good three minutes with both jars in either hand before finally declaring "Dill. Yeah, I'm pretty sure it's dill he likes." She said to herself aloud. She tended to do that a lot it seemed, talk to herself. It was a habit she had picked up while in Cefiro and never really got around to breaking it.

Putting the small jar of sweat pickles back on its shelf, she continued on her way.

Check. She scratched off yet another item on the list, the Parmesan cheese. Leaving that isle, she forced her way through the crowds to end up in the dairy section. Two hands suddenly covered her eyes; she fought down the instinctive urge to flip over her attacker roughly onto the dirty tiled floor of the store as she realized whom the hands belonged to.

"Guess who?"

"Uhh, Masaru?"

"Yep! How's it going?"

"Actually, I just need one more thing…Uh, Masaru?"

"What is it?" he inquired.

"Can you take your hands off of my face?"

"Huh? Oh, sorry." He let her go and stepped back slightly.

Hikaru then spotted the last item on the list and reached up to get it. She stood on the tips of her toes and attempted to stretch her arm even further. Masaru simply walked over to the shelf, raised his arm slightly and claimed the product, then handed it to Hikaru. "Thanks…I feel short…" she frowned slightly then brightened again, "So Masaru, what are you doing here anyway?"

"Kakeru and I decided to meet you and help carry the groceries home." He cheerfully replied.

"Where's Kakeru?" she asked, turning her head from left to right in search for him.

"He's…"

"Right here!" Kakeru announced, suddenly appearing behind Hikaru.

"Where were you? I can't take you anywhere without you getting yourself lost!" Masaru huffed.

"I was off trying some free samples." He answered as he held up a toothpick.

"That's why you ran off ahead of me?"

"Hey Masaru? Kakeru?" Hikaru called over from the cashier. She'd just finished paying for their groceries and was trying to wave her brothers over to give her a hand, "I thought you said you came here to help me."

"How'd she… When did she do that?" Masaru questioned.

"I dunno…" Kakeru replied as they headed over to where Hikaru stood, bagging groceries. Each Shidou grabbed a bag and headed home.

"You guys didn't need to come and meet me, I could have managed by myself." Hikaru said.

"Yeah, well… neither of us wanted to stick around the house while Satoru was stitching up that guy's arm…" Masaru explained as the trio turned a corner and continued home.

"Meow? What guy? Was it one of Satoru's students?" the curious little red head inquired.

"No, it wasn't a student," Kakeru butted in. "It was some guy we found who was lying unconscious in front of our house while Masaru and I were running home to get out of the rain."

"He was hurt pretty bad and was bleeding all over the place," Masaru continued, "neither Kakeru or I were able to find any identification on him, but when he regained consciousness, he said his name was… Lantis, I think."

Hikaru stopped, frozen in her tracks. Had her brothers' taken notice of her reaction, they would have also heard her whisper, "Lantis…" everything around her fell away as she thought of him, she always associated wolves, the smell of fresh grass after a rain, calmness, when she thought of the Kailu whom had easily captured her heart. Thoughts and questions ran through her mind as she resumed her former pace, before her brothers had noticed that she'd even stopped.

`Lantis…' she repeated his name over in her head, `so the energy I felt earlier really was his' a smile curled up on her lips, which soon faded and her face quickly turned to worry, "Will he be okay?"

"Uh… Well, I think he'll be alright," Masaru called, over his shoulder. "He said that he had had worse injuries before and he just needed to rest for a while."

Pulling open the front door of the Shidou house the three pilled in as Kakeru yelled, "Hey Satoru, we're back!"

"Kakeru, be quiet." The older boy scolded, as they made their way to the kitchen. As the three put the groceries away, Masaru noticed the cooking pot on the stove. "Guess we're having soup for supper…"

Just then Sataru entered the room. He walked over to the stove and gave the soup a stir, "Do any of you think you could get our guest an extra blanket? He appears to be running a bit of a fever…"

"I'll do it!" Hikaru declared as she dropped the bag of bread currently in her hand and dashed off to fetch Lantis another blanket.

"Hikaru's such a wonderful person! So enthusiastic to help someone she doesn't even know, what a Samaritan!" Kakeru proudly stated.

A blur of long, red hair wiped down the hallway as Hikaru silently ran towards the small, blanket-infested closet. Pulling back its doors, she frantically searched for a warm comforter, afraid that if she wasted time, Lantis would disappear before she would get the chance to see him again. Finding the blanket she was looking for, she snatched it up into her hands and quickly ran over to the usually vacant guest room. It was only when she reached the room's entrance that she slowed into a stop. She only now realized that a sense of nervousness was slowly claiming her. It had been along time since she'd last seen him, last heard his deep sexy voice… The sixteen year old girl had missed him terribly during his somewhat lengthily absence, and wished to confirm his presence by seeing him herself with her own eyes. A shaky hand lightly touched the room's door; she merely stood there for a few moments before finally deciding to slide it back.

Quietly, Hikaru crept into the dim room. Step, by step, she gradually made it over towards the person who lay in bed. `Why am I so nervous?' she wondered as she stared down on his still form, her blanket slunk from her side to the floor. Kneeling down, she brushed aside the black strands of hair covering a good portion of his face, only to have them fall back into place when she removed her hand. His features hadn't changed since she'd last seen him, "It really is you isn't it Lantis?" He didn't answer her, but she knew indefinitely that it was Lantis. His aura had given him away, though it was faint, she could feel it reaching out to her own; attempting to wrap around her… Hikaru smiled lightly when she saw him mouth her name. In his current state, Lantis lacked the ability to awaken from his deep slumber; she knew that. The young red head noticed a nasty gash on his left arm that had recently been stitched up; his fore head was bandaged. `Thanks for taking care of him brothers…' Hikaru wondered what or who could have inflicted such deep wounds on the kailu as she spread the heavy blanket over him, "How is it that you're able to be here in the first place?" She questioned, but received no answer.

* * *

The annoying, loud ring of the dining room phone refused to cease until Umi roughly picked up its receiver, "Hello?" she said in a gruff tone.

The voice on the other end of the line was full of cheerfulness and excitement, "Hey Umi! How've ya been?"

"Oh, Hi Hikaru," she said flatly, "I'm okay, you?" she choose to pull up an empty chair and sat down. Their conversations tended to be rather extensive.

"I'm good. Uh, did I catch you at a bad time?" she inquired, responding to the lack of enthusiasm in her friend's voice.

"No, not really. I was just doing my English homework," the knight of water distastefully answered.

"What's wrong Umi? I thought you liked English."

"Yeah, I used too. It was my favorite subject actually. Well, that is until this year…" She explained.

"Did the work load get too hard?" Hikaru innocently questioned.

"No, I get the best marks in my class. It's just… I believe my English teacher's evil." She stated, "Stupid mean old man! If you're late for class, sometimes forget your work and don't have at least a ninety percent average, he'll harp on you till you go nuts! Unfortunately for me, those things happen to me pretty much on a daily basis. I can't always be right on time; because of fencing, but he doesn't think that's a valid reason to be late. He won't even let one minute slide! Plus he hates me for some reason; he doesn't pick on anyone else like how he picks on me. The man is evil." Umi huffed.

"He sounds mean," Hikaru said as she fiddled with her phone's cord. "I guess that's why you don't care much for the subject anymore…"

"He's so crappy! Because of him, I've lost my love of English class. I feel as though there is nothing that will ever rekindle my love of the subject."

Hikaru couldn't help but giggle at that. Umi was trying to sound dramatic and make her feel sympathetic towards her, but it wasn't working. To be honest it sounded really pathetic.

"Sure, laugh at my pain!"

"Umi, no offense but don't ever pursue an acting career."

"Whatever. Well, I doubt that you called just to listen to me go on about evil English man, so what's up?"

"Huh," Hikaru had nearly forgotten why she'd called Umi in the first place, "Oh yeah! Did you by any chance sense anything today, anything sort of weird at about quarter after one?"

"No, why?" she tentatively asked.

"Well, I sensed someone. Guess who it was." She excitedly ordered.

"Uh… the guy who did the voice of Yuki in Kaikan Phrase?"

"No. It was Lantis!!!" she screamed into the phone, barely able to contain her excitement.

"Ahh!" Umi temporarily pulled her ear away from the phone until Hikaru stopped yelling, "Can you tone it down a little? I don't want to go deaf!" Umi yelled into her phone, but not with the same excited and enthusiastic tone Hikaru had possessed.

"Gomen nesai Umi." She said in earnest.

"Hmm… Lantis you say huh?" Umi said, getting back on topic, "that mysterious tall man in black? Are you sure? I mean he sort of lives in another dimension…"

"I'm sure. He's sleeping in the guest room as speak!" she beamed.

"He's living in your house? Is your brothers' okay with that? You kind of like him right and he- well don't your brothers kinda go crazy even at just the thought of a guy being even remotely interested in you?" Umi inquired, imagining Hikaru's brothers yelling at Lantis about how no one is allowed to have any sort of relationship with her unless they beat the three Shidou brothers and even then only start out as being pen pals…

"They don't know, and they don't have to know that…" she trailed off. There was a brief pause before she continued, "That I kinda… really like him," she timidly finished. She always got so shy around these types of subjects…

"Oh! A secret love, forbidden romance!" Umi teased.

"Umi! It's not like that!" Hikaru defended. Had Umi seen her face, she wouldn't have been able to tell Hikaru's skin apart from her red hair; the blush was so deep… "He was hurt pretty badly, in a recent fight."

"Really?" Umi was serious now, "Is he going to be okay?"

"I think so." She quickly explained how Kakeru and Masaru found lying in the street and about his injuries.

"So he's just been sleeping since you came home?" Umi began after, listening to the short story, "and he didn't even wake up to say Hi? How rude!"

"That's not what concerns me. He obviously needs the rest." She sounded as though she was in deep contemplation. "I want to know how he got here… I thought only a Pillar could summon people."

"Well Hikaru, even though you gave the power of the pillar back to the people of Cephiro," Umi began. "You're still technically the Cephiro's Pillar right? Maybe you subconsciously called him here to earth so you could see him."

"It's a possibility, but I don't think so. If I had, I think a lot of my energy would have been drained."

"Your energy wasn't drained when we went to Cephiro the second time." Umi pointed out, as she drew swirls on a nearby scrap piece of paper.

"Yeah, but I think when we went that time, I sort of subconsciously drew some of yours' and Fuu's energy to help get us there. Also, I never anything to you guys at the time, bet when we did go back, I did feel a little weak for a while back then.

"Well why didn't you tell us Hikaru?" Umi questioned jumping off her chair, "We would have let you rest, regain your strength."

"I know, but I didn't want to slow you guys down…"

"Look, if anything, Fuu and I slowed you down Hikaru," her left arm made miscellaneous gestures in the air as she continued, "You adapted to Cephirian life way sooner than either of us did. Your magic and level in swordsmen ship was far beyond ours… It pains my ego slightly to admit that they probably still are."

"That's not true!" Hikaru protested.

"As a matter of fact, it is."

"Well… I wouldn't have been able to get as far as I had without you and Fuu to back me up and fight with me."

Looking down at her watch Umi let out a light sigh, "Unfortunately, I have to get off the phone; evil English homework and all. Want to come over after school tomorrow? You could E-mail Fuu about your news!"

"Sure, I'll talk to you tomorrow then. Bye Umi."

"Later."

Click

* * *

"Good evening General Drako. You wished to see me?" Umi inquired as she entered the small room.

At the moment, the General's back was to her, "Feeling better?" he asked dryly.

"Yes, I am. Is that all you wanted? If so, then I'll be on my way," she turned to leave when the elder man crabbed her arm.

"No! I'm not finished with you yet!" he yelled. He always was short tempered. He was trying to sound threatening; make her feel insecure. There was no doubt in Umi's mind that he was physically stronger then her. However, to someone whom has control over the elements, physical strength is nothing. He was nothing, nothing but an annoyance.

"Let me go." The young girl barely half his size warned. Her uncompassionate eyes were like ice, beautiful, yet deadly. Her voice, as usual held no emotion. Umi was serious.

He refused to let her go, "I demand you tell me where you were earlier!" he said as his grip on her tightened. Her narrowing eyes looked down on his unwelcome hand. The hairs on the back of the General's neck rose as he felt the room's temperature drop drastically. "I am your superior, answer me! You worthless foot soldier."

She ignored his demand and merely told him to yet again let go of her. The General felt his hand slowly going numb as he kept a firm grasp on her arm. It had gotten so incredibly cold all of a sudden… `Was it that witches doing?' Drako wondered. The arid room continued to drop in temperature when, it suddenly reverted back to normal. He turned to find Eagle standing in the doorway.

"General Drako, is there something the matter?" the new comer questioned.

"No, of course not Lord Eagle. Everything's fine," he replied. Finally deciding to release his hold on Umi, he straightened himself and asked, "To what do I owe this pleasure?"

"Umi was with me earlier," Eagle declared.

"I see," the elder man's eyes narrowed slightly, "may I inquire as to what you two were doing that was so important to pull my subordinate away from her usual duties?"

The blond haired man closed his eyes momentarily then brought them to gaze into Drako's, "I really don't think it's your place to be asking me what I was doing," he stated coolly. The General stood there disoriented and merely nodded, unable to shake the sudden hazy feeling. "It is none of your concern." Eagle was right. He was the higher ranked in authority and both men knew it.

"My apologies sir."

"You'll have to excuse Miss Ryuuzaku, General Drako. I require her assistance," he turned to leave.

"Very well sir."

"Oh, and General? I suggest that you do not disregard her advice the next time she asks that you yet go of her," with that said he left knowing Umi would quickly follow soon after. `That man's mind is so easily manipulated.'

"You are lucky that man favors you," Drako said, quietly to Umi.

"And you're lucky to still be alive," her icy cold words echoed as she left him standing there bewildered.

* * *

"Hey, Clef? You okay?" the green haired prince asked the old Master Mage. Clef's body looked as though it belonged to that of a young boy, but in Cephiro, as many know appearances can betray the eye, for he was roughly seven hundred and a half years old.

"I'm fine Ferio," the incredibly short man down stairs replied. He sighed, "Actually, I haven't been able to communicate with Lantis. I have reason to believe that he is no longer in Cephiro."

"What? What do you mean Clef?!" Ferio asked, his eyes staring down on the mage.

"The disturbances have suddenly ceased and I can no longer sense his presence…"

"I"- Ferio was cut off when the frantic Mokona came bursting into the throne room with Ascot and Caldina following closely behind.

"PUU!"

"Hey, what's going on?" Ferio questioned the group.

"Dunno," Caldina began. "Ascot and I were heading over to the dinning hall, when Mokona here came running past us."

"I was wondering what was going on with Mokona, so Caldina and I followed him here." Ascot continued as he tried to catch his breath.

"So, it's true… Lantis is no longer in this world Clef sadly stated. `What happened? I don't understand…' Clef thought. `Had Lantis been killed? Perhaps he got himself caught in the portal that opened. But, Lantis wouldn't be that careless…'

"Puu, puu! Puupuu Puupuu!" The lightly pink colored creature yelled.

"There was a fight?" Ascot said, repeating a bit of what Mokona had said, "Between Lantis and… a guy named Sakuya? And they both went into the portal that this Sakuya guy made?!"

Mokona let out a small "Puu" and nodded in confirmation.

"So then what are we going to do?" Ferio interjected, "I mean yeah, now we don't need to worry about Cephiro's well being but what about Lantis?"

"I'm afraid that there is nothing we can do for him." Clef flatly stated.

"What?" Ascot questioned, slightly surprised at Clef's declaration.

"But… Clef…" Ferio started. Both young men looked uneasy; they knew how much Clef cared about his disciples and wondered why he was able to just turn his back on Lantis so quickly.

"There is nothing any of us can do… The only one capable of summoning or rather sending people from one world to another is the Pillar."

"But Hikaru gave the residents of Cephiro the power of the Pillar!" The heir to Cephiro's throne protested.

"Not quite. Yes she abolished the Pillar system and gave us the power to control Cephiro's fate. But that is all she did, do you not remember her words? She did not give us the power of the Pillar; she gave us the power to will Cephiro's stability without the need OF a Pillar," Clef vainly tried to explain. He knew they wouldn't get it, he didn't fully understand it himself, "Still, Hikaru and Hikaru alone can summon people from one world to another, only she has the power to do this," he looked from one dumb founded face to another, "Oi. Look, I know that it is confusing and rather frustrating… But it's just the way it is."

"Then how was this Sakuya fella able to make a portal?" Caldina asked.

It was now Clef's turn to look dumb founded. "I… don't know…" Was all he said?

* * *

Hikaru happily sat on the Ryuuzaki's entertainment room. Actually, it was more like Umi's entertainment room. On a count of, she was pretty much the only one that ever went in this room of the house; save for the cleaning maid. The room was relatively small compared to the other rooms more frequently and commonly used by Umi's parents. There was a desk in one of the far corners, which harbored a computer slightly older than the one up in the family den, a chair, a T.V. that had a Playstation II, a Dreamcast and an old SNES hooked up to it.

Umi was currently pacing back and forth, "So Hikaru, Which do you want to play?"

"Huh? Uh, no that's okay. I'll just watch you play on the Playing Station," Hikaru answered while looking up to meet her friends azure eyes.

"It's not Playing Station. It's a Play Station II." Umi corrected, "Plus I all ways play. Common give it a shot. Nearly two years I've known you and never once have you played any video games."

"That's not true, I've played Ping Pong on Fuu's computer!" The red head protested.

"Ping Pong doesn't count. Any ways…" She quickly browsed through her collection of playable games for the PS2, "Aha! Here, try this one; it's Final Fantasy VIII." She ordered, taking the game off its shelf, which held many games for various consoles.

"Uh, okay…"

Umi passed Hikaru the Playstation's controller as she took the first disc from its case, "You just hold on to this for a minute okay?" She then went over to the PS2 and inserted the disc. She took a seat beside Hikaru as the game started up.

"What do I do now?" Hikaru innocently asked, slightly nervous.

"Just wait till the screen gives you the choice of choosing New Game and Continue." Both girls waited until the screen changed and showed the two options. "Okay, press the X button to confirm that you want to start a new game."

As the intro started up Hikaru's eyes became practically glued to the screen.

"The graphics are pretty good eh?" The introduction was now at the part where Squall and Seifer were dueling.

"I really like the swords," Was all Hikaru said as she continued to watch.

After about thirty minutes of game play and Umi guiding her where to go, she was finally able to get out of Balamb Garden. While she walked around on the world map, Hikaru found herself entering a battle, "Okay Umi what do I do?"

"Well if you want, you can Summon one of your GF's." She quickly showed the little magic knight of fire then waited for Quizicatal to be summoned. In the mean time, Hikaru attacked with Quistis and drew magic from one of the three monsters on the screen.

"Ah!" Hikaru yelled as she suddenly threw the controller away from her and half jumped, half flipped, half fell on the floor.

"What? What's wrong Hikaru?" Umi asked Hikaru who was now sprawled on the floor.

"Th- the controller was shaking!" the girl shakily replied.

"Hikaru, the controller is SUPPOSED TO SHAKE!"

"Oh…" She calmed down a little, as she watched Umi defeat the remaining monsters. She let out a sigh, "You can take on monsters, fight of illusionary things that have bee crappily drawn, fend off Chizeta's disgusting Djin and battle giant mashin-like machines… Sometimes Hikaru, I wonder about you…"

* * *

"Lantis, is it fair to have one person solely responsible for sustaining an entire country?" his elder brother questioned.

"Zagato…" Why are you acting this way?

"I'm tired of seeing her like this; a prisoner to her own country! Isolated from every one and every thing she so dearly loves!" Zagato's face mirrored anger, hate and immense sadness.

"What you're going to do is wrong Zagato, no matter how you try to justify your actions!" Lantis slowly said. Since when was he the voice of reason? Well at the moment, he really didn't have a choice; his brother was wrong. Surely he realized that, no one would benefit from what was to soon happen. If Zagato spirited the princess away, he would be declaring war against the entire country of Cephiro…

So, you would betray me Lantis? Me, your only brother?" Zagato inquired.

"I have no wish to fight with you brother…I don't want to become your enemy, don't make me."

"Then join me, fight with me, not against me," his one arm was extending towards his brother.

Lantis took a step back; his eyes gazed deeply into his brother's, the only person he'd ever felt comfortable about sharing his inner most thoughts with. "Zagato, brother. You know that I cannot do that. I do not believe that the Pillar System is correct, as I've told you many times, but I can not betray this country like that."

"Well aren't you patriotic all of a sudden," Zagato stated.

"It's not that. If I join you, I'll be taking part in the destruction of this land of beauty…" He began as he picked up a single flower and marveled at its simple ness. "With out the princess' prayers, this land will crumble away to nothing. Many innocent lives will be lost."

A light laugh escaped his older brothers lips, "and to think that most people consider you to have a heart of ice…"

"Zagato…"

"So then Lantis, what will you do?" The high priest inquired.

<Authors Notes: Well, that's chapter 4. Hope guys enjoyed it. I have something to explain though, most of you probably didn't notice. When Umi and Eagle were talking to General Drako, Umi's name was said as Ryuuzaku as opposed to Ryuuzaki. That's because in the dubbed OVA, that's what her last name is, Ryuuzaku. Now I suppose that I'll have to tell you that that Umi is supposed to be from the OVA universe. I know its probably confusing but as my fic progresses, you'll understand better. Also, I'll be explaining later on how she goes evil later on. But for that, I'm thinking of writing a One-shot side story that focuses solely on her and how she changes. It'll probably be title Fallen Angel Blue, Or Datenshi Blue, which means the same thing, it's just that Datenshi is the Japanese word for Fallen Angel. Which do you think I should call it?