Disclaimer: I own nothing. If I did I wouldn't share and Kurogane would have kissed Fai by now and that's that. ;)

[This chapter has been corrected. If you still find misspellings or other errors please don't hesitate to tell me. For those of you who are reading this for the first time- the story does get much better both in plot and writing style as I go along. Chapters also get longer. :) Enjoy.]

Kurogane's POV

The desert sands were deep, stretching out across the land for miles on end as the sun beat down mercilessly on the backs of our favorite feather seekers as they continue their journey.

They hadn't seen another town for almost two weeks now though they had passed small settlements here and there. If they were lucky these small places, shining like lost gems after so many days on the rough terrain, would have food, water, and shelter. If they were even luckier the inhabitants would share said necessities without threats or too many questions.

Alas, luck was rarely on their side.

Two weeks without fresh supplies. Two weeks of freezing cold nights and blistering hot days. Two weeks of trudging over one sand dune after another in what seemed like hopeless pursuit. Two weeks of that Kami be damned mage's smile, so plastic and fake when he was clearly growing weaker and suffering day by day.

Kurogane, like always, had been the first to notice the silence. His silence.

"Oi, mage, you alive back there?" He called out with the smallest of glances back so that it could hardly be called worry.

No answer.

He turned his head a little and, like expected, found the dumb blonde had fallen behind for the sixth time today. He stopped, waiting for the other to catch up.

Fai had become increasingly quiet over the past few days. His smile held in place with a greater effort and leaning on his staff as if pinning his lips in place really was an added weight. At this point it wouldn't have surprised him. The blonde just wasn't made for warm climates. His long willowy limbs and hair all hung wilted like a big plant gone too long without water and his skin had turned a pale gray color, not that it wasn't one before, it was just worse now.

"Mage?"

Another moment passed.

"Hey, mage?!" He shouted and finally broke though the daze.

"Huh?" Fai looked up, light and recognition coming back into his face as he mentally returned to this time and space. "I'm sorry Kuro-hot. Were you saying something?" He asked, his voice breathless and lack luster.

Kurogane watched him for a couple of seconds before growling in annoyance. "You okay?" It still came out sounding like he cared and the mage caught this.

"Aww, Kuro-sand is worried about me?" He smirked trying to skip the last few feet between them. This was not the best idea though because as the mage raised one foot off the ground it seemed the other was bound damned determined not to follow and remained caught beneath the sands. "How swee-oof!" He hit the ground just barely avoiding a mouth full of sand and grime.

Sakura and Syaoran stopped ahead of them, noticing for the first time that their two 'parental figures' had stopped walking. "Oh, poor Fai-Chan. Are you alright?" The princess' eyes were big with worry at not having seen what happened.

Fai giggled back and waved off her worry. "Of course I'm fine, princess. You don't think a little fall like that would get me down do you?" His smile blazed and he tried to push himself up.

The key word here is 'tried.'

No, Kurogane hadn't caught him when he fell. Yes, he could have but that would have only encouraged the mage's antics and besides it wasn't that bad of a fall. The sand was soft and he had fallen up the dune, what harm could there have been? But as the ninja watched silently, waiting for the stupid mage to pick himself up off the ground he noticed something.

It was as if his staff couldn't find enough purchase, he was leaning so heavily on it and his arms shook with the effort before giving out all together with another little 'oof' from the blond. With a determined grunt he tried again, and again, and again. Little beads of sweat forming on his brow, pants and gasps barely echoing from between chapped lips.

"Fai-san..." Syaoran went to take a step but the ninja put his hand up signaling for him to wait.

"Mage? You alright?" He didn't want to sound too interested or the least bit worried but he couldn't help taking a step or two towards the fallen idiot, his brows furrowed. 'Meh, we've been through worse. He's just tripped is all. It wasn't even that bad.'

'Wasn't it?'

He waited another moment while the mage tried again before he let his worries take over. No, he wasn't worried about the mage, not really. Just the way he was behaving and even that couldn't count as real worry.

Well, maybe a little.

"Hey you..." He took another step forward intent on catching the idiot as he fell again but as soon as his hand met the oddly cool flesh of his arm the blonde shouted and pulled back with a new found strength, as if the simple touch had burned.

Fai's POV

"Kuro...ow... I-" Fai gently cradled the offended arm trying to gain some semblance of composure but failing miserably with a pout. He'd been caught in pain and now they were all looking at him, Sakura and Syaoran with apprehension and the ninja with what appeared to be barely contained anger. "I'm fine. Really, it's nothing. I just fell." He laughed quietly and put his smile back on, weak though it was.

"Like hell you are." Kurogane grumble and grabbed his sleeve, rolling it up as gently as an angry ninja was capable of.

"What happened, Fai-chan?" Sakura asked when he winced and tried to pull back- unsuccessfully as he was held in place, feeling slightly trapped.

"It's nothing." He voice held the tone of an exasperated man about to give in but his face still held that damned mask, abet faltering slightly between words and falling into a grimace of sorts. "Really, people from my world just tend to bu-urn.." another wince "...really, really easily."

One of Kurogane's eyebrows rose of it's own accord as he looked at the milky white skin before him. "That doesn't make any sense. Sure it's hot but aren't sun burns supposed to be red?"

Fai sighed and rolled his eyes, a strange tired motion on his part, and pulled his sleeve back harshly. "That's because I don't turn red until later." He said. "Watch."

The mage held his other arm out in front for them to see and pressed his fingers gingerly against the skin. He hissed lightly and then pulled them away revealing for a split second the red finger marks that quickly faded back into white. He did the same to his face and neck forcing back a wince each time. "Celes doesn't get this hot- ever but it can get really sunny and when it does my people get, well, burnt. It's normal." He shrugged and looked away from everyone, silent as they were at the moment it made him want to squirm. He didn't deserve this kind of worry or ruckus and they were all losing precious time because of him.

"Idiot. Why didn't you say something sooner? We could have done something."

"Because it doesn't hurt." Fai replied matter-of-factly with a bright grin before quickly adding "Unless you touch me. Then it hurts a lot!" when Kurogane prepared to poke him again and prove his words a lie. Fai smiled, willing him with his teeth to please drop it as he tried to stand once more though the strain was clearly too much.

Kurogane's POV

Kurogane sighed before trying to work his words into a growl. "Come on you, let's go." They were making the mage feel awkward and while he took some small joy in that fact it didn't make him happy to know that the mage had been suffering and didn't have the nerve or the will to say something about it.

"The sooner we get moving the sooner we can get out of this heat." He pulled the mage up by the collar of his shirt, cursing faintly about how he was too stupid to speak up when something was wrong and how it serves him right for all those stupid nick names.

Fai's POV

"Aww, Kuro-Chii's so helpful!" Fai cheered hanging off his arm with another small burst of energy, a nearly true smile forming at the corners of his mouth. What a shame they were all watching him now, worried that he wasn't telling them the whole truth. 'Then again it was also a shame that I'm not telling the truth.' He shook his head at his own foolishness when no one was looking and tried to keep up.

Little did the mage know just how carefully he was being watched and not just by the secretively over protective ninja nor by any other member in their group.

Dark eyes were also watching in the distance. Seeking, seething, and bidding their time until next chapter.

Author's Note: My first Tsubasa fic. Feel free to flame and point out any errors. I like fire after all. ;) Reviews are nice, they prompt me to update sooner.