~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Above the Forest

"What the hell is that?" Ascot wondered, looking at the huge structure that loomed miles over the surface of Cephiro.

"It's Camaro's spaceship," Miata replied. "What, haven't you seen a spaceship before?"

"I haven't," Ascot replied, "but that still is no explanation for why you brought me here. Would you please remedy this situation?"

"The girl that they took is your lady, is she not?" asked Miata. Ascot gasped.

"Umi's there? On that ship? Alive?!"

Miata nodded. "But this is as far as I go. Once you're in that ship, you're on your own, but if you can get her to the north side of the forest, safely, you will have proved yourself as worthy as any test I could give."

"But--but--that place is huge!" protested Ascot. "How will I even find her? And how can I do that alone?"

"That's for you to figure out. That is your challenge," Miata replied.

"I want you to know, Miata, that I'm not doing this for you, or your little test," Ascot said firmly, "I'm doing it for Umi, and if this is another of your pranks you are going to be in deep trouble."

"Oh, Umi is on that ship, upon my full honesty," Miata replied. "It is your feelings for her, and not my test, that will give you strength. I couldn't care less 'bout what you think of me--I don't give a damn about any of you, except--" She bit her lip. "I just want this over with. If you all succeed in a worthy trial, I can go home and lead a normal life." Even through her biting tone, Ascot could hear a tang of bitter sadness in her voice. "Oh well, we've both got work to do. See that shadow there? You can get in through that vent. Be careful. Ta-ta." Miata plunged downward, leaving Ascot floating.

Walking on air took some getting used to, somewhere between swimming and walking. It took Ascot some time to get to the vent Miata had spoken of, and even more to figure out how to remove the screen over it. When he finally figured it out, the spaceship had moved to hover over area he'd never seen before--he should have listened when Caldina told him to take Cephiran geography!

Not that it mattered, once he got inside the ship. He crawled inside, glad for the familiar feeling of having something beneath him other than air--though how the spaceship stayed afloat was a mystery he tried not to give too much thought. The vents were a veritable maze, and he panicked--how would he find his way to where they kept Umi?

"Astra, I summon you," he murmured, afraid to raise his voice over a whisper. The "monster" he summoned was actually an air-elemental, invisible to anyone that she didn't want to see her. Ascot did not fall into this category, as she materialized in front of him as quietly as he could wish, and hovered, waiting for more instructions.

"I want you to find out for me where these tunnels lead," he whispered. "Anything you hear, let me hear, and let me know where. Understood?"

Astra whooshed away silently, dividing among the many passages, and Ascot waited.

"Princess? We aren't missing any princess! What kind of stupid ransom notice is this anyway?"

"...They haven't responded to the ransom notice yet. I wonder why? We stole their princess!" Ascot recognized the voice as the meeker-looking man of the two that had stolen away Umi, and caught his breath. He hadn't been sure Miata was telling the truth before--now he knew she was. It was a relief, but it also set his nerves on edge--the stakes were much higher now.

"You fool! It means they intend to rescue her!" This was the aggressive one, he was sure of it.

"But I thought the Stratus was an impenetrable flying fortress!" This way, Astra murmured, and a faint line of red stretched away from him down one of the tunnels. He began crawling, and muttered a curse as his hat fell off. He tried to catch it, but it fell through the wide grating to land on the floor of a hallway about ten feet below.

Great, just great, Ascot, he thought. Why don't you just leave them a card, saying, "Hello, I've penetrated your fortress. I intend to rescue the girl you've stolen, and I would prefer that you not get in my way. Very sweetly yours, Ascot." The argument continued.

"Then why do heroes get in and take your girls all the time?"

"Oh, shut up, Camaro."

"Don't you dare talk back to me!"

"Huh?" Umi saw something lying on the floor in the adjacent hallway. Camry had assigned her to cleaning up the Stratus (which had been Usagi's job before she was rescued by some guy wearing a top hat and a cape), but there was very little to do, really. But there was something over there.

She was not allowed in that particular hallway, but it was not so far that she could not reach it with more than a couple steps--which she did, and gasped at what she found.

"Ascot..." she murmured. Could he actually be alive? But no one could have survived...no! He must be alive, and he was on the Stratus. She took his hat with her, smiling--but also feeling tears trickle from her eyes.

"Whatcha got there, Umi?" Aerith asked slyly.

"Oh, it’s nothing," Umi replied, her voice airy and light.

"You’ve got that look in your eyes, Umi, I can tell. You’re love stricken. What’s up?"

"He’s on the ship," Umi replied. "I don’t know how, but I found this." She showed Aerith the hat.

"Who’s here?" Aerith asked, then shook her head. "Don’t tell me. Your boyfriend. I should have known. If only my boyfriend would show up sometime soon…"

Right on cue, a man with spiky blond hair carrying a sword that seemed far too large for him dashed in, swept Aerith off her feet, and ran down the hall with her.

"See you around, Umi!" Aerith cried cheerfully. Umi shrugged, it didn’t matter much to her. Ascot was alive, and he was here, and he was going to rescue her!

When he heard her voice, he had stopped in his tracks. He couldn’t move. Miata had told the truth—Umi really was here! He could have shouted in joy, though he realized at the last moment that might not be a good idea. Instead, he followed the tunnels to where he’d heard her voice, and looked down through the grate to see her, holding his hat and smiling. He watched in silence for a long time, so happy to see her alive and well—so happy to see her again at all. So happy to see her holding his hat like it was the most prized thing in the world. He’d never loved anyone so much, and never would.

"Umi…" he whispered.

"Ascot!" Her voice came out a burst of joy, and she looked around for him. "Um, Ascot?"

"I’m up here," he replied. "Above you."

She looked up through the ceiling grate of the vent to see his face, framed by the same hair that was always falling in his eyes. "Ascot…"

"I’m going to get you out of here," he said softly.

"I was so sure you were dead," she replied, tears again glistening in her eyes. "I can’t believe I’m seeing you—alive—"

"Your friend Fuu healed me, just in time," Ascot replied. "They’re all so worried about you, Umi. They all miss you."

"What about you, Ascot?" Umi replied softly. "Did you…miss me?"

"I felt like I had lost part of my soul," Ascot replied, his voice shaking. "I was so worried about you, I couldn’t ever stop thinking about you…I knew I had to save you, because I couldn’t go on living without you."

"Ascot…Ascot, I…I feel that way, too."

Ascot reached down through the grating towards her, only able to reach far enough to touch the fingers of the hand she stretched out to him. They looked at each other for a long time.

"You wait for me," Ascot said. "I’m going to get you out of here, and then—well, we’ve got to get to the Crystalline Cathedral, with everyone else, but after that…"

"Yes?"

"Well, er—we’ll figure something out."

"Yes, Ascot…something." She smiled at him, and Ascot felt his face grow hot. "Is there some way I can help you get us out of this thing?"

"Well—actually, I think there just might be…"

Camry entered the room his "harem" had once occupied and sighed. "Gone, all of them, gone!" He looked to Umi, sitting alone and reading. "All except for you, my beautiful princess."

"Eh, I’m not half as pretty as my sisters," Umi replied absently. "I was always the plain one."

"S-s-sisters?" Camry gasped.

"You didn’t know? I have two sisters, and they were always outshining me…but that’s not important. The other two princesses are back in the castle, and I’m here, and there doesn’t seem to be too much I can do about it." She pretended to read her book, but watched Camry’s reaction over the top of the pages. A grin was spreading across his face, but it was then replaced by a frown.

"But—you were the only princess at the Palace—"

"That’s because my sisters were at the Cathedral to the north. North of the Forest of Songs." She sighed. "Of course, it doesn’t matter. You probably have more important things to do than—"

Camry was already running away, half-skipping in glee. "Camaro!" he cried. "Camaro, Camaro! We have to land the ship! There are more princesses!"

"All right," Umi murmured. "Ascot, it worked!"

The ship landed on the edge of a huge lake in the center of a field covered in snow. Umi and Ascot climbed out cautiously, looking around. "Looks clear," Ascot said. "Umi?"

Umi was walking forward as if in a dream, ignoring the cold and blowing snow.

"Magic Knight," a voice breathed. "Come to me, Magic Knight…"

"Where are you going? Do you hear me? Umi!"

"Return…to the Cathedral…"