Green Winds: A Magic Knight Rayearth Fan-fiction
**************************************************
by Alina
alinasan@yahoo.com

Disclaimer: I don't own Magic Knight Rayearth's characters. This
is a work of fan-fiction not for profit to infringe on someone else's
works. They are copyrighted to a bunch of people who I am not even
sure who they are.

**********************************************************************
This is about Fu, and about Ferrio. I felt watching it that the story
merely skims the surface about what these two characters think, particularly
about each other. So here's my interpretation and imagination of that
hidden story. This follows the first season, so there are spoilers.

Chapter Two: Confusion
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They continued on to the fountains of Eterna, finding in the legendary but
oddly flat fountain the Escudo. They returned to Pursea who created their
weapons in a graceful dance. Despite all these achievements, Fu felt sad
holding her new sword, almost wishing for her arrows and bow back. The cost,
she thought, had been too high.

"We won't be defeated now." Hikaru said as they left the rocks on the hill
where they left Pursea. "We will not waste these weapons that Pursea
made for us, and we will save Cefiro." Fu nodded bravely, vowing the same
silently.

Into the woods they walked, following the hopping Mokona on their new journey
to awaken the Mashin. Yet the sadness lingered in Fu's mind. Why did this
sad feeling make her want to see Ferrio? She pulled out the gem he'd given
her, turning it in the dim light of the forrest. She hoped, fervently that
he was ok.

As they broke for lunch, she wondered if he had enough to eat or if he
were starving again. Again she pulled out the gem, staring at it as if
searching its surface for answers. She could remember his face as he'd given
it to her, smiling. He had to be ok. She uttered his name without realizing
it.

The words caught Umi's attention and Umi looked up from her lunch. She stared
at the object Fu held and asked "Fu, isn't that the gem Ferrio gave you?
Didn't he say it would make your wish come true!?" She asked excitedly.

"Yes." Fu laughed.

"So, did it?" Umi asked nosily.

Fu smiled at her friend, and shook her head. "No, I haven't tried it."

"WHAT!" Umi exclaimed, completely shocked. "You must try it!"
Fu demurred, and Umi eagerly began pleading to try it herself. Fu
gave in, feeling thoroughly pummelled by the waves of Umi's cries
of "let me try it"

She smiled as Umi happily wished to return to Tokyo and win her fencing
competition. Though she couldn't help but point out how long they'd
been in Cefiro. Umi's reply made her think though, that if time in
Cefiro and the real world were different, then at least she needn't
worry how her family was. They might not even know she was gone yet.
That made her feel a little bit better.

Fu's relief blew away as Hikaru shouted her desire to see her dog again.
Then again, Fu thought, she had no guarantee that they could complete their
task to become Magic Knights and return to Tokyo. Even if her family had
not yet missed her, she still missed them terribly.

She paused to look at the gem, as the others sprinted off to resume
their journey for the Mashins. She had too much to do in Cefiro to
wish to return to Tokyo, especially if Umi were right that their time
in Cefiro wouldn't be noticed in the real world. She could be sure that
her family was fine. So what did she wish right now? She thought of
Hikaru's shouted desire to see her dog again. Fu wanted to see
Ferrio again. More than that though, she wanted him to be safe. She
held the gem to her lips and whispered.

**********
Perched in a tree, Ferrio heard the chiming of the jewel alert him to the
fact that messages had been recorded. Curiously he pushed the gem, so the
words replayed. Could these silly girls really be the legendary Magic Knights?

He didn't feel confident that they could defeat Zagato and save Cefiro, but
he thought, he hadn't been counting on them anyway. No, the only one he
could count on was himself.

The gem beeped again, and he wondered what silly things these fool girls
would wish for next. He almost didn't want to hear it, but he pressed
the play button anyway. Fu's soft voice trembled as she wished for his
safety.

It startled him so much, he almost dropped the gem. Why would she wish
something like that? "What a stupid wish!" He muttered annoyed with her
for some reason he couldn't explain. Had she taken his words seriously?
His words flashed back to him. "Why? Because I love her." Why had he
said that of all things? If he'd had more time, he would have thought of
a different excuse for offering the "gift" to Fu. Yet when Umi had questioned his motive's he'd pulled out that particular explanation to destroy any
suspicions of his motives they might have had. Girls always liked romance,
didn't they? They'd believe him, because they would want to believe it.
Even Fu, the ever untrusting Fu,had been too flustered to question him.
Not that he'd given them the time to question him since he'd run off. Yet saying he loved her had been a stroke of genius. He'd struck right at Fu's
weakness--her odd polite shyness. None of them guessed that he'd wanted to
leave the gem with them so he could track them by their words, as a sort of
bugging device. He'd been embarrassed to say the words, and he knew his
tone hadn't been as convincing as it could, but they'd believed him. Even
Fu, apparently, had believed him. He replayed her words "I wish...I wish
for Ferrio to be safe." Stupid girl, he thought, you were right not to
trust me.

A sudden strange noise caught his attention and he ran to the dessert,
to see a small boy talking to himself as he summoned a huge sand monster.

"He's out to destroy the Magic Knights...he's a follower of Zagato!" Ferrio
ran towards him. "This could be my chance to get someone to take me to
Zagato if I could pretend to be on his side...he's a young kid, and I
should be able to fool him." Putting the gem and thoughts of Fu's strange wish
aside, he strode out to the small boy. He had nothing against the
girls, but if he could use them to get to Zagato, then he couldn't help it.
Princess Emeraude's face flashed before him. He couldn't let her
down. He didn't know why he felt so drawn to her, but he had to save her.
Even if that meant putting the three girls in danger.
***************************************

Fu smiled at the peaceful village and the laughing children. This was how
Cefiro should be, she thought.

Suddenly a familiar voice called out "Hey, so we meet again!" Fu turned,
her hands clasped together as she spied Ferrio leaning against a cottage
wall.

Her eyes widened as Hikaru happily shouted his name. He laughed and
offered to treat them. Without hesitation, Hikaru accepted. Fu
hung back unsure of how to approach him. Umi noticed this, and elbowed
her and pushed her forward saying "Don't be shy, don't be shy."

They entered a small tavern, sitting around a table. Ferrio grinned
at Fu as he pulled out the stool for her to sit on, and then sat down
as close as he could to her. Yes, pretending to be in love with her, awkward
as it made him feel, was still his best strategy. She looked so uncomfortable
sitting there, that he knew she would be analyzing how *she* was acting
rather than how he was. Girls, he thought, even one as sharp as Fu, could
be undone by thoughts of love.

He smiled widely, pushing the cakes at them, and motioning for the
proprietress to come over as he'd arranged. Having the proprietress of
the restaurant tell them of the monster made it seem more believable.
This way, he knew Hikaru's protective instinct would kick in and she'd
insist on saving the village. Everything went exactly as he planned it--
without even eating the cakes, Hikaru jumped up, sword ready.

He grinned as he watched them walk off into the dessert. Quickly he
ran over to where the strange boy waited. "Hey, its done as I said.
Piece of Cake!"

He couldn't see the little boy's eyes, but he could hear the surprise
in his voice "You did it!"

Ferrio nodded and winked.

"You're a strange guy." the boy added after a moment.

"Thanks for the compliment!" Ferrio said in return. "I'm honored."

"Well, I'm Ascot...maybe I really will take you as my student! You're
funny."

Ferrio grinned. He'd played this kid with much more ease than he'd
fooled the Knights. He looked up at them crossing the dessert, completely
unaware of the trap into which he'd pushed them. "Sorry," he thought
"I've nothing against you, but you are my ticket to Zagato. Don't worry,
I'll save Princess Emeraude."

They continued crossing when suddenly the huge monster attacked rising
out of the dessert sands. It surprised them completely and sent
the three girls sprawling helplessly onto the ground.

He lowered his head, unable to watch them being slaughtered like this.
He'd thought they would have a chance to defend themselves against
the monster, but this beast that attacked from underneath the desert--
how could they attack something they couldn't see? It wasn't fair.
"I can't help them" he thought reminding himself of his cover. But
it wasn't fair.

Suddenly the attack stopped, and Ferrio looked up in surprise as he
turned to the small boy. "Hey, the sandstorm stopped!" Was it
over? Had they survived?

"That's Pagero's way..." Ascot explained haughtily. "Now I'm going to
see their end." He rose into the air on his floating magic rock, and began
moving towards the middle of the dessert where the girls lay.

Ferrio ran after him. "Hey...hey...take me with you...." He shouted as
he jumped onto the rock. Maybe using this little boy wasn't the best
way to get to Zagato, he thought. "Wait Ascot-sama".

The boy looked at him being dragged behind him, and said "I don't care if you
fall off."

"Cheeky kid!" Ferrio thought as he made a decision. He'd get to Zagato
another way. He couldn't do this to those girls, and besides, this
little boy probably wouldn't take him back to Zagato anyway.
As the boy stopped short and flung Ferrio into the sand, Ferrio added
"it serve the little sneak right anyway!"

Fu lay in the dessert, feeling the heat of the sand against her face.
They were ok, for now, but what if that creature attacked again? What
could they do? Suddenly the huge fin appeared as it began to come
towards them.

They were trapped! Out of nowhere, she heard Ferrio's voice warn them
to stay still, as the creature attacked by sound. From a short
distance away, Umi's voice shouted that she wanted to return to Tokyo.
Yet Umi hadn't opened her mouth!The girls swivelled, seeing Ferrio holding
something glowing up.

He began running away, luring the creature into following him.

When the creature had passed them, Umi said 'Let's get out of here
and into the forrest!" They all nodded and sprinted into the
safety of the trees, while the creature took after Ferrio.

In the distance, they could see a small boy on a floating rock hovering
above Ferrio, as Ferrio seemed to be wildly gesticulating and talking.

"Ferrio..."Umi muttered as anger and worry mixed in her voice. She
just didn't understand. "Why did he do that to us! Why didn't he escape
with us?! Look-he's talking to that weird boy out there...."

Hikaru shook her head. "Ferrio fought with us in the Woods of Silence.
He must have had some reason...its not possible that he would betray us"

"How can you say that, he led us into a trap!" Umi argued.

Looking for support, and not wanting to believe Umi's assessment of the
situation, Hikaru turned to Fu. "Fu-chan...you don't think he betrayed us, do you?"

Fu looked away. Her heart didn't want to believe it, but logically...
Logically...she closed her eyes as she felt something crumble inside her.

"Fu-chan?" Hikaru prompted.

"Ferrio's behavior is very unnatural." Fu replied, her voice a little
too neutral and calm.

Before she could continue, a strange flying bug flew over, and announced
"I have Ferrio. If you do not come to rescue him by tomorrow, I will
kill him. I'll be waiting in the dessert." In its eyes they could
see the reflected image of Ferrio's body clenched in the tail of the
sand monster.

"Let's go save him!" Hikaru shouted automatically.

"We can't its probably a trap!" Umi said as she grabbed Hikaru to stop
her from sprinting off.

"I don't care..." Hikaru protested "Because it was Ferrio's voice that saved
us a little while ago!"

"Hikaru-san may be right, but I don't think we should do anything
right now."

"Fu-chan!" Hikaru exclaimed unbelievingly.

"We do not know how to defeat this monster. If we try now, it will be
like marching into death." Fu said evenly.

"But!" Hikaru interjected.

Fu cut her off gently "Let's take some time and think about it, and then do
our best. If we die now, then how can we save Cefiro and the people
we care about?"

Hikaru nodded, and Umi shrugged... "Well, I want dinner anyway...
He promised us cakes, and then didn't let us eat them. So he can
wait until after we eat to be saved!" She muttered, obviously
still angry at the possibility that he'd betrayed them. "If you
don't want to save him Fu, then I don't want to either." She said
fiercely.

"I just said we need to think this through, Umi-san" Fu said
gently as Mokona generated their tent and dinner.

Despite all the analyzing the three did though, by the time night had
fallen they were no closer to an answer.

"Perhaps we should get some sleep, and our minds will be fresher in the
morning." Fu said changing into the conveniently provided pajamas.

"I don't know how you can think of sleeping!" Hikaru protested. "Ferrio's
life is in danger!"

"I know." Fu said emotionlessly.

Umi looked at her. "You sure are taking this really coolly! If I were
you, I'd be very upset...Fu, you're amazing."

Hikaru frowned. "What do you mean Umi? Aren't you upset that Ferrio's
in danger??" She climbed into the bed next to Fu.

Umi shook her head. "I am...but I just thought Fu would be *more* upset
because its Ferrio."

Sleepily, Hikaru yawned "I know, that's what I don't understand."

Umi sighed as the lights magically dimmed the room to darkness.
"Anyway, before I was too busy running to think of it,
but why did we hear our voices when we were running away? What
do you think, Hikaru? Hikaru! Jeesh, she's asleep already...so
much for being too worried to sleep!" She rolled over and went to
sleep herself.

Yet Fu couldn't sleep. "Ferrio...." She thought... "Why Ferrio?
Why did you lead us to that trap? But then, why did you risk your
life to save us from it? And why do I want to forgive you? Too many
questions made her tremble and chased off the solace of sleep.

When the steady rhythm of her companions breathing told her they
were asleep, Fu slid out of the bed very quietly. She dressed
and slipped out the door. If this were a trap, then she didn't
want to risk the others being hurt. But she had to get more
information. She had to get some answers.

******************************
Ferrio stared at the small boy in front of him. He'd made a mistake
trying to use someone who's eyes he couldn't see. The worst part
was, he swore, that his mistake would be paid for not just with his
own blood, but that of those three girls. Fu's eyes flashed before
him, large and soft, trembling with the hurt his behavior must
have caused. It wasn't right.

"Come on...holding me ransom to lure them is too much. They won't come..."
He protested, as he struggled against the monster tail that held
him trapped in the air. "We're nothing to each other."

"Then why did you help them!?" The boy laughed.

"It was a momentary impulse...I just wanted to test Pagero's power."
Ferrio lied, "Please, forgive me!"

Ascot turned, the smallest seed of doubt forming when something
caught his eyes far away in the distance. Ascot
shouted gleefully. "Ferrio, look! They *are* coming! Ok, Pagero
you can take it from here."

"Hey! Wait, come on please!" Ferrio shouted.

He looked up, and he felt his heart stop. "Oh no..." Instead of
all three, he saw only one figure, dressed in green with short tawny
hair which danced on breezes even in the still winds of the dessert.

"Fu!" He yelled. "Don't come here! Run!" He warned, the sound
of his loud voice made the monster squeeze its tail even
tighter, cutting of Ferrio's breath rather painfully.

"Green ...." She began, as the monster changed directions, the
sand whipping into her and tumbling her to the sands. She grabbed
for her sword, but the pressure overcame her balance again. She slid
backwards on the ground. The monster's tail slid underground, to follow its
body and Ferrio flew into the air, landing but a few feet away from Fu's
still form.

Desperately he ran over to her, shouting her name. He gently raised
her off the ground, calling her name again and again until finally
her eyes opened. He sighed in relief, but then growled immediately
"Why did you come even though I deceived you!?"

"I don't know. When I realized you had deceived us, I felt very upset.
I was sure I would never forgive you, but I came anyway." She smiled weakly. "I really don't know why"

"Idiot...You're stupid. Really stupid." He replied angry and relieved at
the same time. He helped raise her to a sitting position, still staring
into her eyes and holding her arm.

She laughed. "This is the first time someone has called me stupid!" She smiled
up at him, almost as if he'd complimented her.

Before he could reply, the sudden chirping noise of the monster whipped
through the air, reminding them that they actually were still in the
middle of a battle.

"Tch..." Ferrio swore with a smirk as he looked at the monster "And the
mood was just getting romantic..." He said over his shoulder as he assessed
the situation. He turned to Fu, and asked "Do you still have that
orb I gave you?"

She smiled and held it out on her hand. His hand closed over hers
and the gem, activating the recorded words. Umi's voice blasted out
"I wish to return to Tokyo"

"Ferrio, that's---" Fu started.

Ferrio hushed her, and pressed a finger to her lips and started
to stand. "Be quiet. Don't say anything, and I'll take care of the monster.
While I fight, you'll run?" He started running towards the monster,
but Fu couldn't stand staying quiet, seeing him run of into danger. "Ferrio!"

He turned around and irritably snapped "Shut up, you!"

Startled into silence, she dropped back to her knees.

Umi's voice finished shouting her wish, and then she heard Hikaru's
voice shouting "I want to see Hikari!!!". These words...Fu thought
suddenly...these were the wishes they had made with that gem!? Had
the gem recorded their voices? Was that its true purpose?

Suddenly she realized what would play next--her wish....her wish
that Ferrio would be safe. He'd heard her wish that...and...suddenly
the tears started floating down Fu's cheeks as she thought over the
entire situation and everything she'd felt in the last day.

The blurred images in front of her started to merge together into memories
of Ferrio's smile, his laugh, and the look in his eyes when he'd
held her a few seconds ago. She didn't care what had happened between
them in this last day....she still wished it with all her heart.

She wanted him to be safe! "FERRIO!" She called, her voice echoing
across the dessert.

Reacting to the emotion in her voice and heart, her sword began to glow,
its light piercing through the many layers of sand that covered it. The
sand rolled off it as it emerged, the sand falling to its sides like
a golden waterfall.

Fu stared in amazement. "My sword...my sword has grown!" She whispered.

She gripped it determinedly, "With this weapon...." She thought, not
able to express the rest in words... "I am over here!" She shouted.

Ferrio stumbled, realizing the creature had changed directions towards
Fu. "HEY!! I'm your target!" He shouted trying to distract it.

She didn't flinch as it came towards her, charging full speed, its mouth
ready to swallow her. Ferrio watched in horror as her figure disappeared
from view. He couldn't breathe for a second--and then a miracle happened.
The monster split into two to reveal Fu, her sword aglow and held
straight up into the air, her head bowed in concentration. She rose,
turning over her shoulder to make sure she'd finished the battle, and
only then lowered her sword in relief.

"Even if you're safe cause your weapon grew....you're crazy, you
know that?" Ferrio said shaking his head in wonder as he walked over
to her.

She laughed and smiled "You are the one that is crazy! First
you trick us, but then you help us!"

Hikaru's voice interrupted then, calling Fu's name, and Ferrio swallowed
the words he'd been about to say. "Guess you're friends are here..
But anyway, you must have figured it out" He placed the gem back in her hand.

"That it's not a magical gem to make wishes come true?" She said.

He nodded. "It is magic, but to send words." He laughed, and without
hesitation added "If you need me, call me anytime."

She blushed, but then said teasingly "If I feel like it."

He made an exaggerated shocked face as he said "Yikes, that was cold!"

He looked up, noticing the others were almost to them. "Hikaru's
ok, but Umi's hard to deal with....So... see you" He waived and then
took off running, only to slip on the sand and ruin his dashing exit.

Fu giggled as Umi grabbed her and started lecturing her on how reckless
she'd been. The words fell off her ears as easily as the sand had slid
from her sword. She may have been rash, but she didn't regret it. Her eyes
traced the distance where a small figure hovered and waived.
No, she didn't regret a thing.

Next Chapter-------->