Hello again, Peach Goddess here, and I’m back in action after my . . . one, two, three and a half-hour break! Man, I like writing this stuff way too much, which is good I suppose, considering I’m planning on making this story nice and long. It’s just the middle of the first season after all, and I might have this go on until after the second season if I don’t get an incurable case of writer’s block ( I so hope that doesn’t happen ) I might write a pre-quel for you all. I’m planning on making the story more in depth this chapter so the general warning is going to be a bit stronger than before ( Thanks to my dear friend Mara who insisted on me that I write more "action". She specifically insisted upon the non-fighting kind, so I’m slapping in some more "mature" romance, to appease her. )

"The Only Battle Worth Fighting: part 2"

Rated: PG-13

Author: Peach Goddess

E-mail:confused@KG.HSAnet.net

Enjoy, and send me some feedback, I have received so many e-mail messages on the story, (Thank you so much Mara, Elisa, Mel-Mel, Bonsai630, Featherstorm, Fanatic Fanfic Reader, person who’s last/first name might be Richard, and Jo!)

I don’t own Rayearth and am not a member of CLAMP (Gosh Dern-it!) and have no personal relationship with Fuu or Ferio (never mind that in this story I control their every move and every word they speak . . . Muh-ha-ha-ha!! >:0 D ) the only things I own in the story are the vase Umi broke in the last chapter, the sandwiches the girls will be eating in this chapter, and the blanket Ferio slept on, also in the last chapter (Peach Goddess can be seen in her blanket-toga eating the remains of bread crust Hikaru left from her PB&J with the vase ( glued back together ) on her head with Mokona bouncing around by her feet, with war paint on it’s cheeks, performing some kind of ritualistic, sacrificial, ancient, rain dance.)

Enjoy!

(I hope . . .)

~*~*~

The Only Battle Worth Fighting: part 2

Ferio looked over to Fuu, the dyeing firelight illuminating her hair making it shine like the breaking of dawn, the dawn that would be breaking in a matter of an hour as a matter of fact. Mokona rolled over ‘Puu’-ing happily Ferio felt a flash of sympathy for the little creature, he would be happy to get away from Umi if he was the ‘Rabbit’, as Fuu had called it, after spending all that time with Umi it was a miracle Mokona hadn’t killed itself already.

‘But then again, if I got to spend that much time with Fuu it might make the time I would have to spend with Umi bearable.’ He sighed and once again rested his head on the pillow, still looking on in her direction, and still smiling as a matter of fact. Ferio knew he should go to sleep, but he didn’t want too, he wanted to watch her to memorize her. Her every move and word, every face she made and every smile she gave him. He wanted to kiss her and hug her so hard she would absorb into him, so she would never leave him. But, Ferio knew he couldn’t do that, she was a Magic Knight, she had a mission to finish and a family waiting back in her world. Fuu had told him all about her sister and parents and her life back on ‘Earth’. She looked so sad when she spoke of them, he could tell she missed them, not because of her expression or the tone of her words, she had trained herself not to show such things on the outside, but her eyes opposed the emotion on her face. He was most likely the only one to see it, the pain and longing hidden in the emerald depths.

She had looked over to him that day, and asked him about his family, he remembered the look she gave him when he told her ‘I don’t know’. She had run over to him and gave him a hug and a peck on his cheek and told him she was sorry for bringing up such a touchy subject, and that was the day he knew he loved her. Ferio was pulled out of his daydream by Fuu sitting up in her bed and heaving a slight yawn while she stretched. She blinked and rubbed her eyes, attempting to get all of the sleep out before putting on her glasses on and looking in his direction. Her eyes widened a bit before she closed them slightly and smiled.

"If I recall correctly," Fuu said as she stood up and worked at massaging out a crick in her neck. "You aren’t a morning person,"Ferio nodded in agreement and stood up as well.

"I couldn’t sleep so I stayed up all night." Fuu looked towards Ferio with disapproval etched across her face.

"That’s not a very healthy thing to do you know"

"Yeah, but I’ve slept enough over the years I have plenty of sleep depravation time saved up"

She smiled and shook her head "I suppose so but still . . ." Ferio walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her forehead.

"Enough Fuu, I’m fine, don’t worry about me," Ferio released her waist and grabbed her hand, tugging gently "Come on we better head back to camp now the others are still asleep. We can wake them up and demand breakfast," She smiled up at him and pulled her hand from his grasp walking over to her bed, which was now in disarray from sleeping and Mokona’s bouncing upon it. She shooed the creature off of her blanket and proceeded to fold her pillow into it. Ferio followed her example and folded up his sleeping area and placing the roll of sheets into his traveling bag and slung it over his shoulder, as well the strap on the hilt of his sword. Striding over to the remaining hot ambers of the fire, Ferio threw some cold ash on them and stomped, putting out the glowing bits, so he wouldn’t start a larger fire in the forest, Cephiro had enough trouble as it was, he didn’t need to set the entire Country ablaze.

He walked over to where Fuu was waiting for him to catch up to her, Ferio pulled away a branch for her and she politely smiled he followed her, ducking under the branch and walking a small distance behind her to the camp.

~*~*~

Fuu suddenly stopped, Ferio not realizing she had bumped into her causing him to stumble back a couple steps and grab onto a branch to keep from falling the rest of the way.

"Fuu what did you . . . ," Fuu turned back to him with a finger placed over her lips indicating him to be silent.

"Listen closely," she whispered. Ferio turned his head to the side, hearing a faint sound coming from the direction they were heading.

"I wonder what it is"

"Well, only one way to find out," Fuu said taking extreme care not to make to much noise as the walked on. The duo came to the campsite and Fuu held her head in her hand in embarrassment, there in the small grassy area in front of the campsite was Umi and Hikaru, calling out for her. Hikaru’s clothes were covered in a tea, well, Fuu thought it was tea. Mostly because she had a teacup on her head and teabag in her ear, not to mention that her hair was caked in sugar and was dripping cream onto the ground. Umi on the other hand was sporting the French Spa attire, clad in only a towel with soapsuds in her hair and covering her arms and legs. They were both walking around calling her name, well, Umi was. Hikaru was screaming something like, "Monster that ate Fuu-chan, where are you? Please come back and spit her out!"

Ferio shook his head and gave her a pat on the back and a kiss on the cheek.

"Well, I’ll leave now Fuu, Hikaru I can deal with, but you’re on your own with Umi."

"Nice to know you like my friends."

Ferio smiled towards her again and headed back into the woods, Fuu watched him as he left, feeling a bit lonely now that he was gone. She sighed and silently shook her head and walked out of the thicket to her friends. Umi was the first to see her; she began to smile but covered it up with her usual sour and disapproving look.

"Where have you been? Hikaru and I have been worried sick! I was begging to think you were dead, I had the greatest saying for your tombstone too! ‘Here lies Hououji Fuu Daughter, Friend, and futu -’ ," Umi fell silent as she looked upon Fuu’s face to see a small vein popping out above her brow.

"Okay Umi, I get the picture, you can stop at anytime." Hikaru turned and saw Fuu standing in front of Umi and looked around, puzzled. She then walked over to her friends and pulled on Fuu's sleeve.

"Fuu-chan, where’s the monster," Hikaru asked. Umi threw a look at Hikaru and tried to explain, yet again, that there was no monster, that Fuu hadn’t been eaten, and that the whole thing was just a figure of speech. Unfortunately this was Hikaru, who still had no idea where babies came from, well, she thought she did, and insisted to sprinkle birdseed on the lawns of family’s who were expecting. When they asked what she was doing she would smile and say she was leaving a snack for the helpful stork that was bringing their baby.

Fuu grabbed Hikaru’s arm and lead her to the dining table inside while Umi went off to curse at Hikaru’s innocence and finish her bath. Hikaru ate the sandwiches Mokona provides her with and Fuu had an apple, or what looked like an apple. She took a bite and found the taste quite appeasing and began to study the fruit more closely, while looking like an apple, aside from the leaves sprouting out from the top like a peach, it had a peculiar flavor, like an orange and papaya mix. Fuu wasn’t complaining though, she rather enjoyed the odd food that she ate here in Cephiro. Umi wouldn’t touch anything she wouldn’t normally eat; afraid that Mokona would poison her for all of the injuries she gave him. Hikaru would only eat sandwiches and tea, for reasons unknown. Fuu had brought it up once yesterday, that was when she ate the roll that caused her to almost choke to death.

"So tell me Hikaru, how did you fair last night with Umi on the rampage," Fuu asked. Hikaru leaned ear first in her direction before giving her a loud "What?"

"Umi didn’t hurt you to terribly did she," she repeated a bit louder. Hikaru put a hand to her ear and leaned closed to Fuu, so close in fact, she wasn’t an inch from her face. "What?" Hikaru asked again.

"Oh for God’s sake," she mumbled angrily grabbing the string of the teabag and pulling it out of her ear. She leaned in even closed and yelled, at the top of her lungs, "NEVER MIND!" Hikaru was blown away by the sudden loud assault on her ears. Umi walked in, now clean of soapsuds with her hair pulled into a bow on the top of her head, but still in the towel.

"Never mind what Fuu," Umi questioned.

"Just never mind Umi, never mind." Fuu stood up and grabbed the green towel from the table near the door and stomped out of the cabin, slamming the door behind her. Umi looked befuddled.

"I wonder what her problem is"

Hikaru stood up off the couch she was sitting on, rubbing her ear she walked over to Umi and put a hand behind it and asked in a raised voice.

"What?"

~*~*~

Towel in hand she walked off to the pond found the latter day by Mokona, who as a matter of fact was following her this very instant. She dropped herself on a rock on the shore side and closed her eyes and opened them a moment later, taking in the peaceful scenery. Cephiro was truly a beautiful place, why would Zagato want to destroy such a magnificent world? She often compared Cephiro to Earth, there were so many things she loved here in Cephiro, things she couldn’t have back in her world. This was a place were people helped each other, no matter what a person thinks or looks like, and the land, it was so unspoiled by technology, and untainted with blood from wars. Not to mention here in Cephiro people actually like her! She was always ridiculed in school for her brains, and shyness. She really didn’t fit in anywhere in Tokyo. Except at home, at home with her family. Fuu though often of her parents, but more often of hr sister, for the longest time Kuu was her only friend.

They were as close as sisters could be, they told each other everything well, Kuu told her everything, Fuu wasn’t truly interested in getting gossip from anyone but her sister, that way she knew it was reliable. There wasn’t a doubt in Fuu’s mind that she would go home at tell Kuu about every thing that happened in Cephiro, even if she didn’t believe her, she would be compassionate and caring. And when she returned, She wouldn’t be able to see Ferio again. She hadn’t even thought of that! Here she was, Hououji Fuu, the shy, boyfriend-less, girl, in love with a person she would only be with for a short time. Wait, did she say in . . . love?

~*~*~

He had followed her from camp, not realizing what she was on her way to do. His eyes followed her face as she threw off her left boot. But hey, who was he to complain? He once again steered his eyes to her as she took off her jacket. Reluctantly her turned his head, he wanted nothing more than to see what he was about too, but he could have much more fun with this situation if her was just patient . . .

~*~*~

Fuu threw her towel behind a shrub next to the rock she was sitting on. She took off the last of her garments and stepped into the lake. She grabbed her arms as a chill ran down her spin, the water was a bit to cold for her taste, maybe she should have brought Hikaru to cast a fire spell to warm the water up for her. Shrugging her shoulders she walked into the lake and began swimming a bit hoping to warm herself up by using physical activity. Too bad she didn’t see the figure who was sneaking along the shore of the lake, walking away with her clothes. Fuu dunked her head under water a couple times, scrubbing violently as she did, making sure to get out all the dirt and sweat that she could. After scrubbing her arms and legs with her hands quickly she smiled with satisfaction. Fuu dived under water and came back up again, closer to the shore, and was puzzled by what she saw, she could have sworn that she had . . .

"Looking for these," A familiar voice inquired. Fuu’s head darted up to a ledge about thirty feet above the water, arms covering her chest she scowled up at the figure holding up her jacket.

"Ferio give those back!," She yelled. He shook his head in response.

"Sorry love, I’m afraid I can’t do that, you’ll just have to come up here to get them"

"That’s horrible! How can you do such a thing? No, wait, let me rephrase that. How can you do such a thing to ME"

"Easily, now come and get em’ Fuu," Ferio taunted waving a boot in the air. Fuu looked back over to the rock she had sat on before. Her eyes widened as a sly grin appeared upon her face. She turned back to Ferio with a sweet look.

"Okay, I’ll come up, but you have to turn around when I get out of the water, Alright?," Fuu asked. Ferio’s grin grew at the idea of seeing his lady love clad in nothing but a shy smile.

"Fine, tell me when to look"

Fuu’s look became serious as she looked up at him again, her tone of voice firm, leaving no room for argument on the matter on which she was about to discuss.

"Ferio, one more thing, NO PEEKING, all right?," Fuu asked Ferio nodded a yes and covered his eyes not daring to peek, fearing the consequences of an angry woman. Fuu jumped out of the water and grabbed the towel and stopped and yelled up to Ferio.

"Okay, count to ten slowly and open your eyes," Fuu instructed. Ferio nodded his his agreement again, and he started to count to ten. Fuu dashed like the wind up to where Ferio was, careful not to make a sound. She stopped in front of him as he opened his eyes, obviously confused about her wearing a towel when he had been sure she would be wearing nothing. She walked up to him and placed her hands on his shoulders and leaned her face up to his. Ferio leaned into it, and right as he was about to kiss her, she pushed him backwards, sending him plummeting off of the bluff. Fuu watched with a smile as he fell into the water and came up gasping for air.

"Ferio, a bit of advice for the future. Don’t EVER do that to me again," Fuu placed her palm to her mouth and blew him a kiss.

"See you later dear!," She called as she walked away, arms full of clothes. Ferio smiled up at where she only a moment ago stood. Fuu was a scheming little devil when she wanted to be, just his kind of woman.

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Who-ho! Done with chapter two! I’ll try to have a new chapter up every two weeks, but because it’s the holiday season I can’t promise anything. Please people, give me feedback! My e-mail is confused@KG.HSAnet.net , even if you have already written me about chapter one, write me again about chapter two! Well, I’ll start work on the next chapter tomorrow, considering it’s like four in the morning here in the northern neck of Virginia, so C’est La Vie!-Peach Goddess