http://clampfix.fanworks.net/re-fix/doh5.txt </head><body><pre>Part 5 Ferio's promise Note: This is sloppy! Ferio, Fuu and Cherry had been walking in the desert all day. They were starting to have illusions of seeing lakes in front of them. Fuu had told them about deserts so they didn't believe any of those illusions were real. They were dying to get a drink, Cherry did remember to bring a bottle of water, but it was all drank up by the morning, they didn't know where they could find water when suddenly they were greeted by a cool breeze. Then Cherry spotted something "What is that?" Fuu looked at the thing she was pointing at for a moment "A tree that would only grow in the winter!" Ferio asked "Is that another illusion you're having?" Cherry said "Am I the only one who saw it then?" Fuu shook her head "I saw it as well." Cherry said "It's real then because no one could see other people's illusions!" so she ran to it. Fuu watched after her "I think she's right!" she smiled at Ferio. Ferio he held her hand and together they ran after Cherry. They ran past the tree and they saw something before their eyes that they thought it would only appear in their dreams. A forest stood before them. Fuu said "There must be a stream or something like that in the forest." Ferio smiled to himself, everyone knew that there will be a stream and she still has to point this out. Ferio stopped "What's wrong?" Fuu asked. Ferio said "I heard the sound of water." Ferio closed his eyes again "In the west!" Cherry jumped up and gave him a high five then ran towards the west when Fuu gave him a soft smile. Ferio took her hand again as they ran after Cherry. They went past a few more trees and stopped in front of a waterfall. They stooped down and have a drink, washed their faces and hands when a troop of people came along. Ferio turned, the troop of people looked defensive all at once. "Freeze!" the man shouted at them. Ferio whispered back "They were normal people, don't throw a spell or attack them." Fuu and Cherry nodded. Seeing that these three people didn't do what they said they advanced with their blades out of their place. Fuu pulled Cherry to her when she used the "Mamori no kaze" Since Cherry and her stayed there, they didn't get any harm, but due to the heat, Fuu was weakened. Cherry took a little cross out of her pocket, placed it on the floor, used a strange spell, somehow the mamori no kaze was strengthened. Ferio thought of a plan, he ran towards the youngest boy in the troop. He looked about twelve and was very shocked when Ferio put his huge blade beside his neck. Ferio announced "If you don't stop attacking my wife and my sister now, I'll kill him." The attacks stopped immediately. As soon as the boy's blue eyes meet Cherry's purple eyes an ache shot up their heads immediately. Cherry knelt down on the floor immediately due to the pain and the boy moved his hands up to his head with a scream. A man ran out plead "please let my son go, he was defenseless." Ferio eyed Cherry then at a worried Fuu. Asked "What if you attacked my wife or my sister later?" the man announced "We won't touch you, we will show you to Clef, he could help your little sister over there." Ferio looked at Cherry, he knew that she might be ill from the heat. And Clef was the person whom they have to find, so he accepted the deal. The boy fainted from the pain in the head already when Cherry slowly recovered. But as she recovered, Fuu saw that there were something growing out of Cherry's back, wings, transparent wings. But as soon as Cherry recovered fully, the wings disappears. Well, it might be the last illusion from the heat, Fuu decided. They followed the father of the boy Apple to a Cathedral. They found a child in a strange huge white robe holding a staff and staring at the colored glass in front of him. "Madoshi Clef, we found three people in the forest." The man said as he bowed to the child. Ferio and Fuu seemed to be quite taken aback by the shell of Clef, they thought that he should be an old man like Cherry's Uncle, but instead he looks even younger than them. The old man looked at them especially Cherry. "The little girl with the pink hair, I thought I have seen you before..." Cherry asked "In a little village near the forest of silence?" Clef nodded "That was two years ago! In my way to here! You're that little girl I saw serving your uncle in that little cottage away from the whole village." Cherry smiled and nodded. Clef thought for a moment "Is your uncle gone? Is he in the shrine of the sacred place?" Cherry said uncertainly "Well, he said that he was going to a shrine when he left, he told me to come to you." Clef nodded muttered to himself "Its about time then..." Cherry asked "What?" just when another man ran in, shouting "We lose this time." Clef asked calmly "What happened?" the man panted. A little girl took a chair out for him to sit on. He sat on it and said "The witch hunters killed all their prisoners before we got there and a lot of our man were injured." Fuu was shaken by the news of the death of the prisoners. She paled instantly "How much prisoners were there?" she asked politely yet urgently. The man looked at her suspiciously. Clef assured him "She's a guest here, just tell her what she wants to know." The man said "Well, not really that much, there were only two, they were one family. The last name was something to do with a phoenix." Fuu's eyes widened in fear, she held on to Ferio's arm as he put his other arm around her. "Hououji?" she asked weakly. Her legs were giving way. The man thought for a moment "You got it! Yes, the Hououji family, luckily the youngest got to escape before its too late." Fuu collapsed. Ferio just caught her before she hits the floor. Her eyes were dull when he stare into them, they were just like two pieces of green glass that refused to show any emotions. "They're dead?" she asked no one in particular. Ferio shook her gently "Fuu! Wake up, are you all right?" Fuu held on to his sleeve, her grip was not strong. She felt that the whole world was spinning around her. She blacked out. Ferio held her body as he stood up. "Is she something to do with the Hououji family?" Clef asked. Ferio nodded "Fuu Hououji, the youngest daughter who escaped from the witch hunters." The man lowered his head "I shouldn't have told her then..." Cherry said "No, you should have, its a good thing you did it. It's better to let her have the pain now once and for all than to let her wait until too late." Clef touched Fuu's forehead "she got a fever, probably from the heat in the desert. Grape, take them to three spare rooms." The little girl who brought the man the chair came and took the three people to three spare rooms. Ferio left Fuu lying in the room between Cherry's and his, it would be more convenient for the two of them to visit her. Grape the little girl had changed Fuu's clothes into a night dress before she left. Cherry offered to watch over her when Ferio said "I can do it." "But you have lost a night's sleep!" Cherry pointed out. Ferio shook his head "I can't sleep, you're tired and you just got a head ache get some sleep yourself, I'm strong, but you're small, it's all right." He flashed her an anxious smile. Cherry knew what he meant, he was worried. "There are water in the well outside, you can put wet towels on her forehead, that would make her feel better. I'll get it before I sleep." Cherry said as she ran out. Ferio felt that he became the father of this little girl. He looked back at Fuu, she was weak from the long journey already, he just didn't know will she get more ill. Fuu was gentle, he thought, and strong, she knew who she loves and used her life to protect them, but what can the people she loved now do for her? Cherry was obviously trying her best to help all she could. But what could he do aside from sitting beside her now? He didn't know, so might as well just sit here and look after her until her fever was gone. Cherry put the little tub of water beside him and went out quietly back to her own room. Clef asked in dinner time "Cherry, it's about time to call your brother and sister in law for dinner." Cherry said "They're asleep when I got in last time." Clef said "Well, it's late now, they should have woke up long ago." Cherry looked at him pointed out "But Fuu didn't fell asleep, she fainted over the news of the death of her family." Clef looked thoughtful for a minute "I know. She still needs food to carry on living though. Don't wake her up if she was still sleeping. But if she woke up, you can bring some food to her and persuade her to eat a little." "All right." Cherry said as she went to Fuu's room. Ferio felt that someone was shaking him. He realized that he fell asleep when he was suppose to be looking after Fuu. "What?" he asked irritably, he hates it when someone woke him from sleep. "Wake up! Will you?" Cherry asked impatiently shaking him harder. He looked up at her. "Fuu disappeared in a nightdress!" Cherry looked at the sky outside, there was a rainstorm. Ferio asked "She's not in the cathedral?" Cherry shook her head. Something slipped from Ferio's shoulders, he took a glance at it, it was the blanket Fuu was under, she had put the blanket on him before she ran off. Her clothes were on the chair beside the window. Her boots were still in place near the bed. Cherry ran off "Look for her near the waterfall, Apple and I will go back to the opening of the desert. It should be these two places since she didn't know the way to the other places." She then disappeared completely. He soon ran out of the door of the cathedral, he knew she can't be far away in a nightdress and in this sort of weather. He followed the path they had came from in the morning from the waterfall to get back there. He had a feeling that Fuu won't be in the desert so he was pretty sure that he could see her there. He skidded a few times on the muddy pathway, but at last he was near the waterfall again. He saw a white figure standing in the water. He ran near it, it was Fuu standing there unmoving. Ferio jumped into the water and ran to her. She stared at him blankly when he got in front of her. He touched her hands that were in the water, so they remained cold. Then he touched her forehead, she was burning hot. He asked in concern "Are you all right? Answer me." She didn't give him any response. He realized that she would just stand there for the rest of the night if he didn't do something, she might be too tired to move or too ill to move. So once again he scooped her up in his arms. She leaned on him, he asked gently "Want to go back to Clef's?" Fuu shook her head gently as she buried her face in his shoulder. He kissed her wet hair, whispered gently "All right then." He walked to the nearest tree where there was a rock with a flat top under it. He sat on it while Fuu sat on his lap. He held her hand, it was beginning to get heated up. He stroked her hair as he tries to comfort her. "I was an orphan, I told you the first day we met. I understand the feeling of loosing your whole family, though not in one night." He felt that her body was tensed. "But it's just like it, I mean the feelings, you felt as if you lose everything you have, you felt that there were no one you can love." She lean closer to him, listening. "You're scared and lonely now, right?" he asked, he didn't expect any answers from her. And she didn't give him any, she just cried softly in his chest. "Even though your father dies, he still loves you, he wanted you to live. So you have not lose everything yet, you still had someone to love." he said tilting her head up. She stared at him, her eyes welled up with tears, the tears trickled down her cheeks non-stop. "You loved Cherry as a friend, I could see that. Everyone could, the way you looked at her when she collapsed from her head ache today and the way you locked her up in the hotel room in order just to protect her from any harm. And she loved you as a friend as well, she wants to help you, so she ran into the desert no matter how much danger there were waiting for her. She did that just for you." He lowered his head to hers "I love you too, as a friend, as a lover." He whispered, kissed her on her lips, cooling her down with his cold skin. She lowered her head immediately. "I'm not trying to take advantage of you." He said sincerely "I really love you, I mean it, the day I confessed to you in the desert." He kissed her eye then, tasting the salty taste of her tears. She pulled back a little, muttered faintly "Ferio..." as she ran her fingers up his cheek, tracing the scar on his cheek. Looked like that she felt better, she moved her lips close to his mouth, as she kissed him, her arms around his neck as his arms around her waist, he returned her kiss. She pushed off after five seconds. He stood up, carrying her, "Go back to Clef's place okay? We're both wet, don't cry, you're exhausted already, I'll cry with you tomorrow." She smiled weakly at him. At least she smiled. He carried her back to Clef's cathedral, she fell asleep during the way. Clef was at the door when they came home. "Found her? It's good then." Clef said quietly cautious not to wake Fuu up. Ferio nodded "She's by the waterfall." Clef nodded "Cherry and Apple were back, they were drenched from head to toe, poor children. Get changed quickly and get to sleep now." Ferio nodded as he carried Fuu to her room. Fuu woke up when they reached her room. "Thank-you Ferio, for carrying me all the way back." Ferio smiled as he said "Get changed now, I'll come back later." Fuu nodded as he went off. He changed, there were already clothes there and a towel in his room. He changed quickly the he went back to Fuu. He knocked, not that he had the habit to knock before he enters, but he was scared that that it would be really an embarrassment if Fuu was in the middle of getting changed. "Come in." a young voice called. It was Cherry. "Cherry, I thought you should be sleeping." Ferio said as he went into the room, Fuu was letting Cherry dry her hair. Ferio patted Cherry's head "Go back, or you'll catch a cold." Cherry said a little indignantly "I won't get in the way between you two." But still she went back to her own room. Fuu smiled at him "Thank-you..." Ferio stooped over her and kissed her on her forehead. "Stop thanking me." He said softly. He sat down by the bed beside her "I'll give you this." He said, fumbled in his pocket, he remembered to bring the gift he wanted to give to Fuu even when he got changed. He shoved a red egg shaped thing into her hand. "Since we're now together and we're both now orphans, I will look after you forever. I hope you would do the same, but do it or not, it's entirely your choice." She looked at him gratefully "I don't know if I can, but I will try..." She smiled up at him, gently. He yawned went to the door. "Well, got to sleep now, Good night, don't try to run away, I can track you down." He warned her then smiled charmingly "G'night!" he called as he heard her called after him "Thank-you, and good night to you." She said with a little smile across her lips. </pre><p><a href="./">Back</a></p><p><a href=http://www.dreamhost.com/donate.cgi?id=216><img border=0 alt="Donate towards our web hosting bill!" src=https://secure.newdream.net/donate1.gif></a></p></body></html>