POKE!

Kurogane rolled over to his side when he felt a sharp poke on the his shoulder. He was trying to sleep and didn't want to deal with whoever wanted to bug him at this hour. He figured it was the thoughtless mage and pretended to sleep.

Poke!

His eyebrow twitched. He knew that damn mage wouldn't stop until he got his way, but Kurogane was determined to ignore him. He stayed still, not willing to let the damn blonde win.

"K-kurogane-san?" quietly called a shy female voice. Kurogane peeked over his shoulder to see Sakura standing at the side of his bed. Her light brown hair was messed up and her pretty jade green eyes were full of fear. Her tiny hands gripping the material of the oversized white t-shirt she was wearing.

He turned over to face her. It was almost two o'clock in the morning and it was pitch black outside. The princess usually went to sleep rather early so the ninja found it odd that she was still up at this hour.

"What's wrong?" he asked rubbing his crimson eyes with the palm of his hand. Sakura turned red and looked down towards the wooden floor.

"There was a scary noise at my w-window and... I was w-wondering if..." the princess stuttered, unable to find the words to finish her sentence.

"What were you wondering?"Kurogane asked. He did not like where this conversation could lead to.

"C-c-could I sleep in here?" she asked, looking up at the black haired ninja with the most adorable green eyes he had ever seen. Her cheeks still burned bright red.

"Why can't you sleep in the kid's room or with the damn annoying mage?" he asked tiredly. He absolutely did not like company and it was too late to deal with anything like this.

"Syaoran's door was locked and I didn't want to wake him. He doesn't nearly get enough sleep as it is. And Fai has to get up early to go to work. I didn't want to stay without asking," Sakura peeped out quietly, now very embarrassed.

"Can't you sleep by yourself? You're 15 for god's sake! It was just a noise right?" the man growled. Honestly, what kind of teenager was afraid of a noise? He was getting irritated.

"Y-you're probably right." Sakura's face burned with embarrassment. She swiftly bowed her head, her short hair bouncing a little. "I'm sorry to disturb y-"

Mid-sentence, there was a rather loud scratchy bang at the window. Sakura flinched noticeably at the sound; it was the same sound she had heard in her room. Even through the darkness of the room, he could see that she was shaking like a leaf.

"G-goodnight!" The girl walked rather quickly to the door. Again came the sound and he saw Sakura flinch. She was shaking rather badly as she reached for the doorknob. Kurogane let out a long heavy sigh.

"Fine. Get over here," he mumbled, standing up to find a spare blanket and pillow. She turned to face him with much relief. She smiled, her eyes a slight red from the tears that had left her at the last sound.

"Thank you very much, Kurogane-san," Sakura whispered as she sat down on the corner of the man's plain bed. She watched her sort of "father figure" pick up a quilt that was on one of the closet's shelf.

He threw the heavy blanket on top of her, swallowing her up. She struggled to escape it. Her now even messier head popped out up threw an opening in the cloth. She giggled softly, a small smile on her youthful face.

"Alright. Onto the floor with you," pointing to the ground. Sakura nodded as she opened up the quilt so she could lay it across the wood floor. However, another loud bang from the window caused her to drop the quilt and shudder. Kurogane heard her as she let out a small cry of fear.

The princess of Clow felt like such a baby for getting so scared over probably nothing. She began to bend over to pick up the blanket when she felt a warm, strong arm around her tiny waist. Kurogane lifted her little frame back to the bed. To her surprise, he pulled her into an one armed hug. An involuntary sigh of relief crept onto her face when she felt her face pressed into his muscular chest. Even through the black material of the t-shirt, she could still feel his warmth on her.

She looked up curious with her wide jade eyes at Kurogane, but he had turned his head to avoid her gaze. He ruffled her hair, then proceeded to gently stroke it.

"Just don't open your mouth or else I think you might drown," the ninja commented softly He wiped away her newest tear with his moved herself back a bit so that her face wasn't so close to his body, however his arm remained around her shoulders. She lifted her hand to her face and felt how wet it actually was. She hadn't noticed that she was crying still.

Kurogane moved away some of the light strand of hair that had become plastered to her face. He gave her a rare sympathetic smile, and removed his arm. Sakura looked up at the tall man and returned the smile.

"Thank you…Kurogane. I'm okay now," Sakura said softly, a little in shock by the usually mean man's display of kindness. As she was about to stand up, he grabbed her small, delicate hand. She turned to him.

"You sure you're okay?" he asked, concern in his voice. Sakura open her mouth to speak when the sound returned. It was louder than the previous times and Sakura couldn't help but let out a cry of panic as she dove for the protection of Kurogane. She wrapped her arms around his waist, her eyes tightly shut and hands holding onto it for dear life.

"Just try to calm down. It most likely was only a tree branch. Remember that it was windy when we got to this world. It's probably the wind and the tree branch making the sound." He saw that she didn't move, even with his decent explanation. He let out a small sigh. With one arm, he grabbed her by the waist. With his foot, he pushed himself back further onto the bed, so that his back was up against the wall. He carefully moved Sakura with him. Moving her head, she looked up at him when he covered her trembling body with a blanket. She removed her grip on his waist and moved up next to Kurogane. He placed his arm around her so she would feel safe.

Another loud noise came but this time Sakura didn't wince or jump because she felt safe and secure laying there. Feeling comfortable she pulled her legs in closer to her body. Kurogane looked up towards the tiny clock that hung up on the opposite wall by the door. It was too dark too see; all he knew was that it was getting later and she shouldn't be up.

"I think it's time for you to go to sleep," he said, patting her shoulder. "But I'm not tired yet can I please stay like this for a little longer?" She sleepily asked him, yawning at the end. She rubbed her eyes with her hands. He looked at the sleepy girl with his deep red eyes. Normally, he would never be this nice to anyone. But for some reason, he had been to Sakura.

"You can stay like this as long as you get some sleep," he promised, earning him a grin from the half asleep princess. The petite girl pulled the blanket so that it would cover both of them. It was 5 minutes before he noticed that she was trying hard to stay awake. He gave an annoyed sigh.

"I said go to sleep," he grumbled as she peeked up at the man. She rolled onto her side and snuggled down into the bed. Her drowsiness started carry her off into slumber. "Thank you...Kuro-daddy..." Sakura said as she gave into sleep. She closed her eyes while he patted her head. He looked down at the girl who was constantly refered to as his and Fai's daughter. He made sure she was properly covered and put his head back so that it was touching the wall.. He sighed contently as he closed his eyes and join Sakura in sleep.

The early morning light attacked Fai's crystal blue eyes. He did his best to block out the sun with his hand, but in the end he gave up. With a great deal clumsiness, the blonde mage got out of bed and pulled on a dark blue turtleneck and black jeans. He grabbed his apron and feather duster. He woke up too late for a shower or breakfast. He quickly skipped down the hall, stopping for a moment. He wanted first before going to work to check and make sure that his children were okay, just like a good 'mother' should do. He checked Syaoran's door and found that it was locked. Knowing Syaoran did this fairly often, he was not too worried about it. Directly across from Syaoran's room was Sakura's.

"Sakura-chan? Are you alive in there?" Fai called softly as he entered the room. He scanned the space for a sign of the princess. He was surprised to find it empty. Alarmed, he hurried down to Kurogane's bedroom. He was sure the grumpy ninja would help look for the princess. He quickly turned the doorknob and peeked inside to make sure that the ninja wasn't sharpening his katana and willing to run him through with it. What he did see made him all warm and fuzzy inside.

Both Kurogane and Sakura were still asleep, Fai let out a low squeal at how cute his friends looked. Sakura was laying next the older man. The dark haired man was slightly hunched over, titled to the side.

"Aw! Kuro-rin makes such a good Daddy!" Fai fawned, his hands pressed together. With an enormous grin on his pale face, the mage closed the door quietly, letting the two sleep a little longer.

FIN