What You Wish For (Chapter One)
Title: What You Wish For
Author: alliterationhor
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers: mentions of Yama. nothing major.
Rating: PG/this chapter.
Status: so not complete.
Fanfic archive here.
Comments/concrit appreciated.
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
What You Wish For
Would you do it all over right from the start?
-Guster, What You Wish For
Chapter One
The sword with the bat emblem clattered to the floor as Kurogane sliced his blade into the belly of man who had killed his mother. Souhi lit up with a brilliant, blinding blue flame, and the bastard was no more.
Kurogane grinned, sharp-toothed and satisfied, and blinked dazzled eyes.
Over to his right, Syaoran was returning a feather to Sakura. A bit further to his right, Fai was holding off the Bat Bastard’s guards.
Underneath their feet, the floor was shaking. Overhead, the ceiling was crumbling and chunks of stone were crashing to the floor. The walls were beginning to crack and there was a roar in their ears that sounded like the end of the world.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Kurogane shouted, running toward the others and dodging a rock that fell into his path.
“Mokona!” Syaoran yelled over the growing rumble of the structure collapsing around them.
Sakura screamed as Syaoran yanked her out of the way of a boulder that would have crushed her. Fai sprang out of the way, barely in time, before a section of wall caved in on him.
They had to get out of here, before-
A second later, the five travelers were standing in a familiar garden.
A familiar Witch greeted them.
“I see you are all well.”
All of them were bruised and scratched and breathing hard and looking like they had just fought a war. But they were all still breathing and their limbs were intact, so that must qualify as “well.”
“No thanks to you,” Kurogane grumbled, brushing some of the debris from the rocks out of his hair.
“One part of your journey is over.”
Fai looked stricken. Actually, Fai didn’t look at all different, but Kurogane could tell.
“All of Sakura-hime’s feathers have been retrieved.”
Syaoran and Sakura stared at the Witch for a long, silent moment. Then they turned and stared at each other. Then, they started to laugh and hugged each other so tightly it seemed like they might never let go. The two were blushing fiercely when they finally did, but even so they would not let go of each other’s hands.
Fai was looking at them and smiling a wistful smile.
“And now it is time for you to say your farewells.”
All of them stopped at that, unbelieving. Of course they had all known this day would come, sometimes feared it would never come. But now that the time was actually here, none of them knew what to do.
How could they say goodbye?
“Mokona doesn’t want to say goodbye! Mokona loves the family!”
“But they cannot stay, Mokona,” the Witch said kindly to the white creature in her arms. “To stay here would be to stand still. They must each follow the path of hitsuzen.”
Fai was the first to break the silence.
“Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan.” He laid a hand on each of their shoulders. “I thank you for your friendship. You are two of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to know. I wish you all the happiness of a lifetime.”
Sakura was crying, Syaoran looked like he was in danger of tearing up, Mokona was sobbing, and Kurogane was rolling his eyes.
“Fai-san, you have been-more than a good friend to me. I thank you for all the help you have given me and Sakura. We won’t forget you.”
“No thanks are needed, Syaoran-kun. You have given me far more than I have given you.”
“Fai-san!” Sakura cried, throwing her arms around the mage. “I’ll miss you so much, Fai-san.”
“We’ll always have Paris.”
Sakura laughed against his shoulder; it seemed to be a private joke between them.
“And double double chocolate mint fudge chip.”
Fai laughed, a genuine, choked sound of emotion. “I’ll miss you too, Sakura-chan.”
Sakura turned to Kurogane, who was maintaining his ‘indifferent’ facade quite well.
Fai knew better than that, though.
Sakura hugged Kurogane once, lightly, and the ninja was glad she was brave enough to do it-because he was not. As she let go, she squeezed his hand. “I will miss you too, Kurogane-san. I know we couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Kurogane-san. Thank you-” Syaoran was struggling to say more-much more-so much that he could not find where to begin.
“You’re a good kid. Syaoran.”
Syaoran looked up, startled by the use of his name, and Kurogane smiled.
“Make her happy,” Kurogane ordered.
Syaoran smiled, looked over at Sakura, and smiled more. “Yes.”
“Big softie,” Fai murmured.
“Shut up.” Kurogane muttered.
“Mokona will miss Syaoran and Sakura too!”
“Oh, Moko-chan.” Sakura hugged the small creature as best as she could, and gave Mokona a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll miss you too. Thank you for always being so happy. It made the journey so much brighter.”
“Yes.” Syaoran agreed. He reached out a finger to Mokona, which the white creature took between its paws, and they shook hands that way. “Thank you, Mokona, for your friendship and all your help.”
“Mokona is happy to have helped!”
“Have you said all you wish to say?” the Witch asked.
“Yes.” Syaoran answered.
“Good fortune, Syaoran-san, Sakura-hime.”
“Goodbye!” Syaoran and Sakura called, waving to them as the sky and the earth began to warp around them.
“Be happy!” Fai returned, waving once.
It was a strange feeling, shared by both Fai and Kurogane, to watch Syaoran and Sakura disappear when they would not be going to the next world with them.
And then the two were gone.
Mokona bounced into Fai’s arms. “Mokona will miss Fai most of all,” the creature whispered.
Fai smiled, tickling Mokona’s chin. “Mokona is a treasure. I wish I could take you with me, wherever I’m going.”
“Mokona will always be Fai’s friend. No matter where Fai is, no matter where Mokona is. Mokona loves Fai.”
Fai’s throat was tight as he said, “I love you too, Mokona.” He gave Mokona a kiss on the cheek.
Kurogane was silent, listening, but not looking at either of them.
Mokona jumped from Fai’s arms and landed on Kurogane’s head. “Mokona will miss Big Puppy too!”
“I am not a Big Puppy and get off my head, manjuu!”
“Mokona knows Big Puppy-Daddy will miss Mokona too!” Mokona sang cheerfully.
“Never!”
Kurogane and Fai’s eyes met for the first time since they had arrived at the Witch’s garden, and they both looked away quickly. It was down to the two of them now.
“Hey. Kuro-chan. You don’t get to pretend I don’t exist just yet.”
Kurogane looked up, eyes narrowed.
The mage smiled the saddest smile Kurogane had ever seen.
“You have to say something to me.”
“What’s there to say?” Kurogane answered, his voice short.
Fai looked away as if the words had struck him physically.
Ask me to go with you, Fai thought.
“Goodbye, if nothing else,” Fai said.
Kurogane remained silent.
Fai sighed wearily. “Alright. Then I will say it for you.” He stepped up to Kurogane and wrapped his arms around the taller man tightly, tucking his face into Kurogane’s neck, breathing slowly.
After a moment, one of Kurogane’s arms came up and around Fai’s back, bringing them closer. Kurogane’s eyes closed. Come with me, you idiot.
Fai placed a soft kiss on Kurogane’s cheek and whispered, “Goodbye, Kurogane,” before he pulled away. “I will see you in another life.”
“Are you ready?” the Witch asked Fai.
Fai turned to face the Dimension Witch. “Yes.”
“Your wish remains the same?”
“To never return to my home world. Yes.”
“After I send you to this last world, our transaction will be complete.” She paused. “Unless you wish to continue, but that would require further payment.”
“I have nothing left to give.” Fai answered, voice hollow.
The Witch looked at the mage with a shrewd smile. “You have one thing I would take in exchange.”
Fai’s back stiffened, and the way he did not look at Kurogane was obvious. “No.”
“Is there any dimension you would like to return to?”
“No. I would like to go ...”
Kurogane’s eyes focused sharply on Fai; waiting, hoping.
“... to a world I have never been to before.”
“You could specify a world that speaks something similar to your language,” she suggested, generously.
Fai shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”
“As you wish.” The Witch held up her hand and the warp began to swirl around Fai. “Good fortune, Fai-san.”
“Goodbye, Fai!” Mokona called, just before the warp curled around Fai’s face.
And with that, Fai was gone.
And Kurogane was the last one left.
The Witch turned to him. “Does your wish remain the same?”
“I ...”
Kurogane was staring at the place where Fai had stood only seconds ago. How could that be the last time he ever saw the annoying mage? Why had Fai not said something-anything?
“Where did you send the wizard?” he heard himself ask.
“To a world he has never been to before.”
“I ... didn’t say goodbye.”
The Witch gave him a look that meant she knew he had not said much more than that to Fai. “If you had something you wanted to say to Fai-san, you should have said it to him while the time was still yours.”
Kurogane crossed his arms and glared at the Witch.
The Dimension Witch smiled, amusement in her eyes. “If you wish for me to send you to where Fai-san is, there will be a price.”
“I have one last dimension, right?” Kurogane argued. “You can just send me there instead of home.”
“Sorry. No refunds or exchanges.”
Kurogane had the distinct impression that she had always wanted to say that.
“Why the hell-!?”
“You have already paid for one wish.” she explained. “This is a different wish, and requires a different payment.”
Kurogane exhaled a disgusted breath. “I suppose you’d take my sword?”
“The fact that you are willing to offer it makes it of little value to me.” She considered, looking at the sword thoughtfully. “I would take it in exchange for your Ginryuu only.”
Kurogane never thought he would look at Souhi and think she was useless.
He had also never thought he would come to prefer another weapon over his father’s sword-even an imitation of his father’s sword. And he had certainly never thought he would be standing here and bargaining with a Witch in order to see an annoying mage again.
“The price is this-your memory of him.”
“What?” Kurogane looked up, red eyes blazing. “What the hell kind of a price is that?”
“The exchange must be balanced. Something important to you is exchanged for something else of equal importance.”
“You can’t think up any new tricks? This is a bit redundant,” he pointed out.
The Witch’s lips tightened for a second. “That is the price.”
Kurogane was silent for a long moment. How had things changed, from a time when he would have gladly given up his memory of the irritating man, to now, when that memory was the most important thing he had?
Damn mage.
Finally Kurogane said, “So I won’t remember him. The way the princess forgot the brat.”
“Yes.”
“Then what would be the point?”
The Witch gave him another enigmatic smile. “That is what you must decide. To remember him, and lose him; or forget him, and find him again. An ending, or a beginning. A chance, or no chance at all-”
“Enough, enough! I get it.”
“Have you made your choice?”
“I really hate you.”
The Witch only smiled, quite as if that was a compliment.
“My wish ... is to go where the magician went. The same time, same place, same world. Not a hundred years later or a hundred years earlier. And not a hundred miles apart, either.”
“Good fortune, Kurogane-san.”
* * *
Fai looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings.
“A big empty room.” He gave a smile that was mostly a grimace. “How appropriate.”
There was a door at the far end of the room, and he figured he should find a way out of wherever he was before someone discovered him and he could not explain how he got there.
When he was halfway across the room, his skin prickled and he turned around.
Fai stared in silent disbelief as a tall figure in black with red eyes burst out of the air. “Kurogane?”
The man looked at him with eyes that had never seen him before. “Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded, his hand going to the hilt of the sword at his side.
“You do not remember me?”
“What?”
Fai realized he had spoken in his own language, and tried again. “You-remember...” He paused, pulling the words of a half-learned language from a long time ago out of his memory. “... me not?”
“Remember you? I’ve never seen you before.”
Fai’s eyes widened in horror. “Kuro-rin ... What did you do?”
Kurogane drew his sword and held the sharp steel tip of it just under the other man’s jaw. “What did you call me?”
A voice called from the doorway, “Kurogane.”
Kurogane looked up at his princess, for the first time in what felt like forever. “Tomoyo-hime.”
The edge of Kurogane’s sword never slipped from its place under Fai’s chin.
Tomoyo smiled as she walked gracefully toward them. “I welcome you home, Kurogane-sama.” Her eyes flicked to Fai, to the sword raised between the two men, and back to Kurogane. “Back on the job so soon?”
“This intruder was already here when I arrived.” Kurogane reported in a cold voice.
“He does not look like an assassin to me. Please put your weapon away, Kurogane,” she requested in a gentle voice.
Kurogane reluctantly re-sheathed Souhi, but kept an eye on the suspicious blond man.
Tomoyo asked, “What is your name?”
The man blinked, pausing, as if he was trying to remember how to speak. “Fai. Fai D. Flowright.”
“I am Tomoyo.” Her violet eyes focused on him curiously. “You know of me.”
“Yes.”
She held up one small, graceful hand level with the strange man’s forehead, not yet touching him. “May I?”
The man in white closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. “Yes.”
Tomoyo touched her fingertips to his forehead and also closed her eyes, and Kurogane noticed a faint glow rising from where their skin touched. He wondered what the hell was going on.
“Oh. I see.” Tomoyo dropped her hand, looking at Fai with sadness. “Unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate,” Fai echoed.
Kurogane had no doubt that the strange man understood that word.
“You wish to stay here?” Tomoyo questioned.
“I-Yes.” He paused again, before speaking slowly. “If it be not-trouble.”
Tomoyo gave him a smile that he would have no difficulty understanding. “None at all.”
Kurogane could not stay silent any longer. “Tomoyo-hime, you don’t know this person. He could be-!”
“He is our honoured guest.” she answered blithely.
“But-”
“Do you not trust my wisdom?” Tomoyo asked, a hint of steel in the sweetness of her voice.
“You I trust.” Red eyes slid over to Fai, communicating clearly that it was Fai he did not trust.
“Very well. You have the remainder of the day to rest, if you wish-”
Kurogane interrupted, “I don’t need to rest.”
Tomoyo continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “And tomorrow, Kurogane, you will return to your position as High Ninja.”
Kurogane allowed himself a small, sharp grin.
“Please show Fai-san to the room next to yours.”
“What?”
“I expect he would like to rest after his journey as well.”
Fai gave the princess a small smile, and bowed respectfully to her. “Thank you very much, Tomoyo-hime,” he said, this time pronouncing all the words perfectly.
“I thank you as well, Fai-san.”
“For what?” Kurogane demanded. Had everyone gone crazy while he was away?
Tomoyo ignored this completely, instead turning to the ninja with a wide, happy grin on her face. She hugged him tightly and Kurogane was glad neither of them could see the blush on his cheeks. “I am happy you are home, Kurogane. I missed you.” She drew back enough to look into his eyes, still smiling. “You have learned the lesson I wished for you. You have learned the true meaning of strength.” She kissed his forehead. “Your seal is gone.”
Suddenly, Kurogane realized that he was home, and that after all his worry his princess was okay, and that he had missed her terribly. “Tomoyo ...”
Tomoyo just smiled, as if she had known all along that everything would be fine. “Now go.”
* * *
Kurogane walked past Souma without looking at her.
“Welcome back.”
“Don’t be smug.” he said over his shoulder.
Souma rolled her eyes at his back.
“Tomoyo-hime?” she asked, closing the door to the receiving hall behind her. “He’s returned?”
“Yes.” Tomoyo smiled a brilliant smile. “Kurogane has returned to us, safe and strong. I did worry about him.”
“And just as rude as ever.”
“And he has learned what strength truly is.” Tomoyo sighed, her smile fading. “I suppose I cannot fault him for not completely remembering the lesson.” she said quietly.
“What do you mean, Tomoyo-hime?”
“Do not be so formal, Souma. It is only the two of us here.”
Souma smiled, relaxing. “Sorry. Who was that strange man with him?”
“Someone who was a part of his journey." Tomoyo smiled a sad smile. "Someone he does not remember anymore.”
“Why doesn’t Kurogane remember him?”
“I suspect, because he loves him.”
* * *
Fai followed Kurogane silently down a long, dim hallway, their footsteps echoing against polished the wood of the floor.
Kurogane stopped and pointed to a door. “That one is your room. I guess.”
Fai nodded and moved to open the door. “Thank you.”
Kurogane laid a hand on the blond man’s arm, letting him feel the strength of it but not actually hurting him. He whispered in a low, intimate voice, “I will say this only once. Understand me. If you harm Tomoyo-hime in any way-I will kill you.”
Fai’s voice was sad, quiet, and unafraid, “I believe you.”
* * * * *
end note: If Yuuko has already used that line, "Sorry, no refunds or exchanges." I offer my deepest apologies. I've only read volume one of xxxHolic (so far). If she has, gimme a holler and I'll reword it. :)
Author: alliterationhor
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Spoilers: mentions of Yama. nothing major.
Rating: PG/this chapter.
Status: so not complete.
Fanfic archive here.
Comments/concrit appreciated.
Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12
What You Wish For
Would you do it all over right from the start?
-Guster, What You Wish For
Chapter One
The sword with the bat emblem clattered to the floor as Kurogane sliced his blade into the belly of man who had killed his mother. Souhi lit up with a brilliant, blinding blue flame, and the bastard was no more.
Kurogane grinned, sharp-toothed and satisfied, and blinked dazzled eyes.
Over to his right, Syaoran was returning a feather to Sakura. A bit further to his right, Fai was holding off the Bat Bastard’s guards.
Underneath their feet, the floor was shaking. Overhead, the ceiling was crumbling and chunks of stone were crashing to the floor. The walls were beginning to crack and there was a roar in their ears that sounded like the end of the world.
“We’ve got to get out of here!” Kurogane shouted, running toward the others and dodging a rock that fell into his path.
“Mokona!” Syaoran yelled over the growing rumble of the structure collapsing around them.
Sakura screamed as Syaoran yanked her out of the way of a boulder that would have crushed her. Fai sprang out of the way, barely in time, before a section of wall caved in on him.
They had to get out of here, before-
A second later, the five travelers were standing in a familiar garden.
A familiar Witch greeted them.
“I see you are all well.”
All of them were bruised and scratched and breathing hard and looking like they had just fought a war. But they were all still breathing and their limbs were intact, so that must qualify as “well.”
“No thanks to you,” Kurogane grumbled, brushing some of the debris from the rocks out of his hair.
“One part of your journey is over.”
Fai looked stricken. Actually, Fai didn’t look at all different, but Kurogane could tell.
“All of Sakura-hime’s feathers have been retrieved.”
Syaoran and Sakura stared at the Witch for a long, silent moment. Then they turned and stared at each other. Then, they started to laugh and hugged each other so tightly it seemed like they might never let go. The two were blushing fiercely when they finally did, but even so they would not let go of each other’s hands.
Fai was looking at them and smiling a wistful smile.
“And now it is time for you to say your farewells.”
All of them stopped at that, unbelieving. Of course they had all known this day would come, sometimes feared it would never come. But now that the time was actually here, none of them knew what to do.
How could they say goodbye?
“Mokona doesn’t want to say goodbye! Mokona loves the family!”
“But they cannot stay, Mokona,” the Witch said kindly to the white creature in her arms. “To stay here would be to stand still. They must each follow the path of hitsuzen.”
Fai was the first to break the silence.
“Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan.” He laid a hand on each of their shoulders. “I thank you for your friendship. You are two of the best people I have ever had the pleasure to know. I wish you all the happiness of a lifetime.”
Sakura was crying, Syaoran looked like he was in danger of tearing up, Mokona was sobbing, and Kurogane was rolling his eyes.
“Fai-san, you have been-more than a good friend to me. I thank you for all the help you have given me and Sakura. We won’t forget you.”
“No thanks are needed, Syaoran-kun. You have given me far more than I have given you.”
“Fai-san!” Sakura cried, throwing her arms around the mage. “I’ll miss you so much, Fai-san.”
“We’ll always have Paris.”
Sakura laughed against his shoulder; it seemed to be a private joke between them.
“And double double chocolate mint fudge chip.”
Fai laughed, a genuine, choked sound of emotion. “I’ll miss you too, Sakura-chan.”
Sakura turned to Kurogane, who was maintaining his ‘indifferent’ facade quite well.
Fai knew better than that, though.
Sakura hugged Kurogane once, lightly, and the ninja was glad she was brave enough to do it-because he was not. As she let go, she squeezed his hand. “I will miss you too, Kurogane-san. I know we couldn’t have done this without you.”
“Kurogane-san. Thank you-” Syaoran was struggling to say more-much more-so much that he could not find where to begin.
“You’re a good kid. Syaoran.”
Syaoran looked up, startled by the use of his name, and Kurogane smiled.
“Make her happy,” Kurogane ordered.
Syaoran smiled, looked over at Sakura, and smiled more. “Yes.”
“Big softie,” Fai murmured.
“Shut up.” Kurogane muttered.
“Mokona will miss Syaoran and Sakura too!”
“Oh, Moko-chan.” Sakura hugged the small creature as best as she could, and gave Mokona a kiss on the cheek. “We’ll miss you too. Thank you for always being so happy. It made the journey so much brighter.”
“Yes.” Syaoran agreed. He reached out a finger to Mokona, which the white creature took between its paws, and they shook hands that way. “Thank you, Mokona, for your friendship and all your help.”
“Mokona is happy to have helped!”
“Have you said all you wish to say?” the Witch asked.
“Yes.” Syaoran answered.
“Good fortune, Syaoran-san, Sakura-hime.”
“Goodbye!” Syaoran and Sakura called, waving to them as the sky and the earth began to warp around them.
“Be happy!” Fai returned, waving once.
It was a strange feeling, shared by both Fai and Kurogane, to watch Syaoran and Sakura disappear when they would not be going to the next world with them.
And then the two were gone.
Mokona bounced into Fai’s arms. “Mokona will miss Fai most of all,” the creature whispered.
Fai smiled, tickling Mokona’s chin. “Mokona is a treasure. I wish I could take you with me, wherever I’m going.”
“Mokona will always be Fai’s friend. No matter where Fai is, no matter where Mokona is. Mokona loves Fai.”
Fai’s throat was tight as he said, “I love you too, Mokona.” He gave Mokona a kiss on the cheek.
Kurogane was silent, listening, but not looking at either of them.
Mokona jumped from Fai’s arms and landed on Kurogane’s head. “Mokona will miss Big Puppy too!”
“I am not a Big Puppy and get off my head, manjuu!”
“Mokona knows Big Puppy-Daddy will miss Mokona too!” Mokona sang cheerfully.
“Never!”
Kurogane and Fai’s eyes met for the first time since they had arrived at the Witch’s garden, and they both looked away quickly. It was down to the two of them now.
“Hey. Kuro-chan. You don’t get to pretend I don’t exist just yet.”
Kurogane looked up, eyes narrowed.
The mage smiled the saddest smile Kurogane had ever seen.
“You have to say something to me.”
“What’s there to say?” Kurogane answered, his voice short.
Fai looked away as if the words had struck him physically.
Ask me to go with you, Fai thought.
“Goodbye, if nothing else,” Fai said.
Kurogane remained silent.
Fai sighed wearily. “Alright. Then I will say it for you.” He stepped up to Kurogane and wrapped his arms around the taller man tightly, tucking his face into Kurogane’s neck, breathing slowly.
After a moment, one of Kurogane’s arms came up and around Fai’s back, bringing them closer. Kurogane’s eyes closed. Come with me, you idiot.
Fai placed a soft kiss on Kurogane’s cheek and whispered, “Goodbye, Kurogane,” before he pulled away. “I will see you in another life.”
“Are you ready?” the Witch asked Fai.
Fai turned to face the Dimension Witch. “Yes.”
“Your wish remains the same?”
“To never return to my home world. Yes.”
“After I send you to this last world, our transaction will be complete.” She paused. “Unless you wish to continue, but that would require further payment.”
“I have nothing left to give.” Fai answered, voice hollow.
The Witch looked at the mage with a shrewd smile. “You have one thing I would take in exchange.”
Fai’s back stiffened, and the way he did not look at Kurogane was obvious. “No.”
“Is there any dimension you would like to return to?”
“No. I would like to go ...”
Kurogane’s eyes focused sharply on Fai; waiting, hoping.
“... to a world I have never been to before.”
“You could specify a world that speaks something similar to your language,” she suggested, generously.
Fai shook his head. “That’s not necessary.”
“As you wish.” The Witch held up her hand and the warp began to swirl around Fai. “Good fortune, Fai-san.”
“Goodbye, Fai!” Mokona called, just before the warp curled around Fai’s face.
And with that, Fai was gone.
And Kurogane was the last one left.
The Witch turned to him. “Does your wish remain the same?”
“I ...”
Kurogane was staring at the place where Fai had stood only seconds ago. How could that be the last time he ever saw the annoying mage? Why had Fai not said something-anything?
“Where did you send the wizard?” he heard himself ask.
“To a world he has never been to before.”
“I ... didn’t say goodbye.”
The Witch gave him a look that meant she knew he had not said much more than that to Fai. “If you had something you wanted to say to Fai-san, you should have said it to him while the time was still yours.”
Kurogane crossed his arms and glared at the Witch.
The Dimension Witch smiled, amusement in her eyes. “If you wish for me to send you to where Fai-san is, there will be a price.”
“I have one last dimension, right?” Kurogane argued. “You can just send me there instead of home.”
“Sorry. No refunds or exchanges.”
Kurogane had the distinct impression that she had always wanted to say that.
“Why the hell-!?”
“You have already paid for one wish.” she explained. “This is a different wish, and requires a different payment.”
Kurogane exhaled a disgusted breath. “I suppose you’d take my sword?”
“The fact that you are willing to offer it makes it of little value to me.” She considered, looking at the sword thoughtfully. “I would take it in exchange for your Ginryuu only.”
Kurogane never thought he would look at Souhi and think she was useless.
He had also never thought he would come to prefer another weapon over his father’s sword-even an imitation of his father’s sword. And he had certainly never thought he would be standing here and bargaining with a Witch in order to see an annoying mage again.
“The price is this-your memory of him.”
“What?” Kurogane looked up, red eyes blazing. “What the hell kind of a price is that?”
“The exchange must be balanced. Something important to you is exchanged for something else of equal importance.”
“You can’t think up any new tricks? This is a bit redundant,” he pointed out.
The Witch’s lips tightened for a second. “That is the price.”
Kurogane was silent for a long moment. How had things changed, from a time when he would have gladly given up his memory of the irritating man, to now, when that memory was the most important thing he had?
Damn mage.
Finally Kurogane said, “So I won’t remember him. The way the princess forgot the brat.”
“Yes.”
“Then what would be the point?”
The Witch gave him another enigmatic smile. “That is what you must decide. To remember him, and lose him; or forget him, and find him again. An ending, or a beginning. A chance, or no chance at all-”
“Enough, enough! I get it.”
“Have you made your choice?”
“I really hate you.”
The Witch only smiled, quite as if that was a compliment.
“My wish ... is to go where the magician went. The same time, same place, same world. Not a hundred years later or a hundred years earlier. And not a hundred miles apart, either.”
“Good fortune, Kurogane-san.”
* * *
Fai looked around at his unfamiliar surroundings.
“A big empty room.” He gave a smile that was mostly a grimace. “How appropriate.”
There was a door at the far end of the room, and he figured he should find a way out of wherever he was before someone discovered him and he could not explain how he got there.
When he was halfway across the room, his skin prickled and he turned around.
Fai stared in silent disbelief as a tall figure in black with red eyes burst out of the air. “Kurogane?”
The man looked at him with eyes that had never seen him before. “Who the hell are you? How do you know my name?” he demanded, his hand going to the hilt of the sword at his side.
“You do not remember me?”
“What?”
Fai realized he had spoken in his own language, and tried again. “You-remember...” He paused, pulling the words of a half-learned language from a long time ago out of his memory. “... me not?”
“Remember you? I’ve never seen you before.”
Fai’s eyes widened in horror. “Kuro-rin ... What did you do?”
Kurogane drew his sword and held the sharp steel tip of it just under the other man’s jaw. “What did you call me?”
A voice called from the doorway, “Kurogane.”
Kurogane looked up at his princess, for the first time in what felt like forever. “Tomoyo-hime.”
The edge of Kurogane’s sword never slipped from its place under Fai’s chin.
Tomoyo smiled as she walked gracefully toward them. “I welcome you home, Kurogane-sama.” Her eyes flicked to Fai, to the sword raised between the two men, and back to Kurogane. “Back on the job so soon?”
“This intruder was already here when I arrived.” Kurogane reported in a cold voice.
“He does not look like an assassin to me. Please put your weapon away, Kurogane,” she requested in a gentle voice.
Kurogane reluctantly re-sheathed Souhi, but kept an eye on the suspicious blond man.
Tomoyo asked, “What is your name?”
The man blinked, pausing, as if he was trying to remember how to speak. “Fai. Fai D. Flowright.”
“I am Tomoyo.” Her violet eyes focused on him curiously. “You know of me.”
“Yes.”
She held up one small, graceful hand level with the strange man’s forehead, not yet touching him. “May I?”
The man in white closed his eyes and bowed his head slightly. “Yes.”
Tomoyo touched her fingertips to his forehead and also closed her eyes, and Kurogane noticed a faint glow rising from where their skin touched. He wondered what the hell was going on.
“Oh. I see.” Tomoyo dropped her hand, looking at Fai with sadness. “Unfortunate.”
“Unfortunate,” Fai echoed.
Kurogane had no doubt that the strange man understood that word.
“You wish to stay here?” Tomoyo questioned.
“I-Yes.” He paused again, before speaking slowly. “If it be not-trouble.”
Tomoyo gave him a smile that he would have no difficulty understanding. “None at all.”
Kurogane could not stay silent any longer. “Tomoyo-hime, you don’t know this person. He could be-!”
“He is our honoured guest.” she answered blithely.
“But-”
“Do you not trust my wisdom?” Tomoyo asked, a hint of steel in the sweetness of her voice.
“You I trust.” Red eyes slid over to Fai, communicating clearly that it was Fai he did not trust.
“Very well. You have the remainder of the day to rest, if you wish-”
Kurogane interrupted, “I don’t need to rest.”
Tomoyo continued as if she hadn’t heard him. “And tomorrow, Kurogane, you will return to your position as High Ninja.”
Kurogane allowed himself a small, sharp grin.
“Please show Fai-san to the room next to yours.”
“What?”
“I expect he would like to rest after his journey as well.”
Fai gave the princess a small smile, and bowed respectfully to her. “Thank you very much, Tomoyo-hime,” he said, this time pronouncing all the words perfectly.
“I thank you as well, Fai-san.”
“For what?” Kurogane demanded. Had everyone gone crazy while he was away?
Tomoyo ignored this completely, instead turning to the ninja with a wide, happy grin on her face. She hugged him tightly and Kurogane was glad neither of them could see the blush on his cheeks. “I am happy you are home, Kurogane. I missed you.” She drew back enough to look into his eyes, still smiling. “You have learned the lesson I wished for you. You have learned the true meaning of strength.” She kissed his forehead. “Your seal is gone.”
Suddenly, Kurogane realized that he was home, and that after all his worry his princess was okay, and that he had missed her terribly. “Tomoyo ...”
Tomoyo just smiled, as if she had known all along that everything would be fine. “Now go.”
* * *
Kurogane walked past Souma without looking at her.
“Welcome back.”
“Don’t be smug.” he said over his shoulder.
Souma rolled her eyes at his back.
“Tomoyo-hime?” she asked, closing the door to the receiving hall behind her. “He’s returned?”
“Yes.” Tomoyo smiled a brilliant smile. “Kurogane has returned to us, safe and strong. I did worry about him.”
“And just as rude as ever.”
“And he has learned what strength truly is.” Tomoyo sighed, her smile fading. “I suppose I cannot fault him for not completely remembering the lesson.” she said quietly.
“What do you mean, Tomoyo-hime?”
“Do not be so formal, Souma. It is only the two of us here.”
Souma smiled, relaxing. “Sorry. Who was that strange man with him?”
“Someone who was a part of his journey." Tomoyo smiled a sad smile. "Someone he does not remember anymore.”
“Why doesn’t Kurogane remember him?”
“I suspect, because he loves him.”
* * *
Fai followed Kurogane silently down a long, dim hallway, their footsteps echoing against polished the wood of the floor.
Kurogane stopped and pointed to a door. “That one is your room. I guess.”
Fai nodded and moved to open the door. “Thank you.”
Kurogane laid a hand on the blond man’s arm, letting him feel the strength of it but not actually hurting him. He whispered in a low, intimate voice, “I will say this only once. Understand me. If you harm Tomoyo-hime in any way-I will kill you.”
Fai’s voice was sad, quiet, and unafraid, “I believe you.”
* * * * *
end note: If Yuuko has already used that line, "Sorry, no refunds or exchanges." I offer my deepest apologies. I've only read volume one of xxxHolic (so far). If she has, gimme a holler and I'll reword it. :)