Call Out the Wind.

Clow Country.

Fujikata-san has been nothing but kind since he found him, but Fay can't help but feel guilty each time the kind archaeologist asks him if he's alright, if he's hungry or too thirsty, if the heat is getting to him.

'I'm fine,' he answers each time, hoping it's enough, and each time Fujikata-san sighs, pats his head gently and tells him not to try so hard. Fay thinks he should tell him he's not: yes, he's not used to this weather and yes, sometimes it's too much, but this is nothing.

There is food everyday, three times a day. He sleeps in a bed. There are books he can read, clean clothes he can wear.

He can't tell him that this is more than he has had in years. And as kind as the man is, he can't tell him the truth at all.

This is for Fay, he tells himself. The man said that if he did what he asked, and he befriended the desert princess, travel with her and protect her of everything and anything until the man appears before him again, and after that then one day for sure Fay would be alive again. Then even betraying kind, gentle Fujikata-san will be worthy.

"Welcome again, old friend," the king, Clow, says. He is smiling, and Fay tries not to think about his uncle, tries not to compare them. "And you as well, young Fay. Professor, I hope you remember my daughter?"

"Of course," Fujikata smiles. "It's nice to see you again, princess Sakura."

There's a soft giggle, and Fay dares look up for the first time, realizing that this must be the girl he's supposed to meet.

The girl is beaming at him, a wide smile that makes her whole face shine with delight. And she's directing the full force of that smile at him.

"You have such beautiful eyes!" the girl says with an admiring smile. Fay blinks, surprised. "They're colored like the sky!"

"A-ah... thank you, princess...?"

She giggles again. "My name is Sakura. I hope we can be good friends!"

Even if it wasn't what he has to do, Fay thinks it would be hard for anyone to resist such a candid, warm smile. Guilt is heavy in his chest, but he nods, looking down again. He has to think of Fay and nothing else.

"... yes. I hope so too."

Celes Country

She wakes up screaming, terrified. The last thing she could remember had been Syaoran-kun... the f-... the one that had traveled with them until Tokyo attacking the other Syaoran, and how she had gotten in between them. She remembered the sharp fire of Syaoran's sword inside her.

But gentle hands curl around her shoulders, and once she's able to see she finds herself looking at soft, incredibly sad blue eyes. The man is smiling a little, but it seems more like an afterthought than anything.

"Who...?"

"You can call me Fay," he says, moving the blankets away so that he can press his hand, gently, on her belly. Sakura has to suck in a deep breath, blinking tears away when that careful touch sends spikes of pain through her whole body, and she curls her hands tightly on the blankets. Fay doesn't say a thing about that, but he moves his hands away after a moment, pulling the blankets up. "You arrived here a week ago, seriously injured. I had my physicians treat you, but you've had fever the whole time. We weren't sure you would make it."

"I..." and then she remembers: As her Syaoran-kun had removed the sword, Freya's spell that would allow her to travel through dimensions alone, even once, had activated. She had felt the feather that had given a body to Freya pull her, and she had heard a Syaoran scream. And then, nothing.

She closes her eyes, praying she's not going to break down and cry then and there. This had been her choice, and now she has to work for it. She fells a soft touch on her forehead, and she opens her eyes to find Fay-san brushing her hair away so that he can lay a wet cloth on her forehead. There must be another feather here, she thinks. If this is the place that Yuuko-san sent her to, then, surely there is a feather here, so she just has to find it and wait for Syaoran-kun to appear.

"Sometimes, you called for people. A Kurogane, a Mokona and... a Syaoran," he says, and there is something in those blue eyes that makes Sakura realize that although Fay probably doesn't know the whole story, he has realized that Syaoran is someone important for her. "Are they your friends? I can have my people search for them."

"They... they're not here," she says, taking a slow, deep breath. Her stomach hurts. She swallows slowly, feeling her throat dry. "Thank you for your help, Fay-san."

"You don't have to thank me," he says with the same small, heartbreaking sad smile. "Though if you could tell me your name, I'd like that."

It's not her name, but it's the only one she has. She looks away from Fay's kind face. "... it's Sakura."

"Sakura-chan, then." Fay nods, and then he's tucking her in. "You're still weak, so you go back to sleep. I'll send my physician again, to check on you. You're welcome to stay here as long as you want, of course."

She's nodding off already, but she tries to focus again.

"Here...?"

She can just see the smile Fay gives her over his shoulder. "In the castle, of course. Welcome to Celes country, Sakura-chan."

Hashin Country.

"And then!" Sakura keeps on ranting, a flush to her face brought from her anger, much for Tomoyo's amusement. "Then, oniichan said 'oh, I don't know if I should lend you any money at all! You make enough noise monsters as it is, what if you get fat?' Can you believe him?!"

"That was mean," Yuzuriha says. Inuki, Yuzuriha's, kudan, whines in agreement.

"What did Yukito-san said?" Tomoyo prompts.

Sakura sighs. "Of course he told oniichan not to be mean, and he said that he would lend me the money if I wanted to, but I couldn't just accept that!" She sighs again, twice as long and more heartfelt. "And I can't just ask daddy..."

Tomoyo knows that if she was to offer, Sakura wouldn't accept it either. So it's a good thing she has a second plan ready.

"You could get a part time job, Sakura-chan?" She prompts. "Since summer is done, there are a lot of places who lost their summer workers so they're hiring."

"That's a great idea, Tomoyo-chan!" Sakura beams. "Yeah! I'll find a job!"

"What about the new flower place?" Yuzuriha adds, thoughtful. "It just opened, so I don't think it has any helpers yet."

Sakura blinks. "New flower place?"

"Mmm! What was it called... oh, I know, wait here, I'll be right back!" Yuzuriha runs to the ice cream, Inuki by her heels. Tomoyo smiles, shaking her head, before she turns towards Sakura.

"Since Yuzuriha-chan went inside already, do you want some ice cream, Sakura-chan?"

"Tomoyo-chan, I couldn't--"

"It's to celebrate that Sakura-chan will get a job!" And then, before Sakura can say no, she adds: "Once you have a job, you can treat us."

Sakura sighs, but then she nods. "Thank you, Tomoyo-chan."

As Sakura waits outside for Yuzuriha and Inuki to come back from wherever it was they went, Tomoyo asks for their ice cream (kiwi and orange for Yuzuriha-chan, strawberry for Sakura-chan, blueberry for herself), but as she waits she sees a blond man approach Sakura, speak to her for a few moments and then go away again. And then, to her surprise, Sakura walks inside the store with a confused expression.

"Sakura-chan? Did something happen?"

"I'm not sure," Sakura says, thoughtful. "He approached me, asked me if my name was Sakura, and when I said it was he just smiled and asked me if I could come inside for a moment. It was weird."

Weird enough for Tomoyo to get confused as well, even as she hands Sakura her ice cream. Sakura-chan has, of course, lots of admirers (not that she's quite aware of that, of course) but somehow this wasn't the usual approach. Usually there'd be a lot of blushing and stammering, asking for a date, and if this somehow happened far away from Touya-san's little-sister-radar, then Sakura would beam and agree to the date, giving a beautiful smile as she added that she loved going out with her friends, and with that subtle - and completely clueless - emphasis in the word 'friends', Sakura had rejected just about whoever had managed to escape Touya's huge brother complex.

"There's Yuzuriha-chan!" Sakura says, forgetting all about the incident as she notices that their friend is looking around for them. "Come on, Tomoyo-chan!"

"Found it!" Yuzuriha beams, presenting them with a flyer that informs them that the flower shop 'Cat's Eye' is having huge discounts for its first month. "It's not far from here, wanna go and see?"

"Well, I can ask at least, right?" Sakura nods. "Let's go!"

Since it's already autumn, the flowers outside the shop are mostly in tones of red and orange, with a few white daisies and carnations around for it not to look so vibrant. And there's a blond man watering them, humming as Primera's latest single starts on the radio.

Sakura stares openly at the man, and then exclaims:

"It's you!"

"Ehh? Sakura-chan, do you know him?" Yuzuriha asks.

"Me?" The man blinks. "I'm sorry... have we met before?"

Tomoyo didn't quite manage to properly see the man from where she was, but she has to admit that if it's not him, he must have a twin out there.

"E-eeeh? But you just asked me if my name was Sakura, and you seemed to know me..." Sakura blinks, cocking her head to the side, utterly confused.

The man scratches his head. "I've been here the whole day, though. I was so busy I couldn't even go out for lunch. Besides, I'd remember meeting a cute girl like you. You said your name was Sakura?"

Sakura flushes a bit, but she nods. The man gives her a closed eyed smile.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Sakura-chan. You can call me Fay. May I ask your names as well, girls?"

After they introduce each other, Yuzuriha and Sakur take most of the conversation, Tomoyo thankful for the fact that her friends are so extroverted that she can manage a few moments to think. Fay isn't lying, she's sure about it. He had been dressed in a different way before, and though it wouldn't be hard to change into something else, she has the gut feeling that it wasn't that.

"Fay-san, sorry, but... if I may?" she starts. Fay looks surprised for a moment before he nods. "Do you have a brother?"

And he keeps on looking surprised. "Yes, a twin brother. But he doesn't live in Hashin: I just moved in. How did you know, Tomoyo-chan?"

"When Sakura-chan thought you had spoken to her before, you looked a little melancholic," she says.

"You're quite observant. Well... yes. We're identical, so when we were younger most people used to confuse us."

Tomoyo nods, and as the topic falls back unto the store and Sakura asking Fay-san if he needs help, Tomoyo keeps on thinking.

Then, who was the man who looked so much like Fay-san?

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Notes:
On the AU's.

Clow Country: Or what if Fay had taken Cloney's place. Brought to you because once a friend and I realized that chibi Fay shares a lot of traits with chibi Cloney.

Celes Country: This is a little trickier. What would have happened if Fay had actually agreed to kill Ashura? Well, FWR - or was it Ashura-ou? - said that his curse would have been broken. So in this AU, Fay actually did kill him and thus he didn't join the party until they reached Infinity.

Hashin Country: This is not-quite the AU because I imagine that if there's a Touya and a Yukito, there's surely a Sakura as well. But the Hashin!Sakura does meet Celes!Fay at first, and the one reason Fay tells her to get inside the store is so that Cloney won't see her.

And I think that's it.