Disclaimer. It ain't mine, much as I might wish it were.

Note: This is AU. No one is a Vampire, everyone has all of their appropriate limbs attached, but Syaoran is the real Syaoran, the clone is gone. I hope the characters are not too OOC, but if they are, please forgive me, I am having trouble getting hold of the manga on this rock upon which I live. If anyone thinks Kuro-puppy is too OOC, just bear in mind I have never seen him be horrible to one of the kids. Fai yes, Mokona yes, the kids, no. Grouchy yes, horrible, no.

/x/

Fai sat huddled on the window sill in his hotel room, staring down into the bustling street below, people shopping late into the night under strings of little colored lanterns. Their mission was over, they had retrieved the last of Sakura's feathers today, and he knew that downstairs, the others were celebrating in the hotel's restaurant, but he didn't feel like joining them. Tomorrow, Mokona would deliver them back to Yuuko, for the final legs of their journey, Kuro-chan would be going back to Nihon, back to his princess, and his position as her guard, Sakura and Syaoran would be going to Clow, Sakura was buoyant at the thought of seeing her brother again, and Syaoran was looking forward to seeing the land that he had previously only seen through the eyes of his clone and Mokona was even more hyper than usual at the prospect of getting home and being with Yuuko and the black Mokona again.

Fai was happy for them, genuinely happy that everything had fallen right for the rest of the party, but he felt lonelier right now than he had at any point since leaving Valeria and meeting Ashura in Celes. Fai had nowhere and no-one to return to, both of his home worlds were gone, and the only 'family' he had left would be leaving him tomorrow, leaving him all alone with the stark choice of trying to start over yet again on another new world, or traveling on and on through many worlds. He felt tears slip down his cheeks and brushed them away impatiently, breathing deeply to try to get himself back under control. Sooner or later, one of the others would come up to find out why he hadn't come down, and he refused to ruin their hard won good moods with his self pity.

Getting a little stiffly off the sill, he changed for bed and climbed between the covers, so that he could at least pretend that he had been tired and gone to bed if anyone came up. The tiny little voice that lived in the back of his head, the one that sounded suspiciously like his father sometimes, and Ashura at others, pointed out that it had been an hour so far and no one had come up, they had probably not even noticed that he wasn't there, and why should they, he hadn't been much help on their journey and at times he had been a real liability, he had caused so much pain to Kurogane. Fai rolled over onto his stomach and buried his face in the pillow, his fists curling loosely in the fabric as he tried to make himself sleep, but this time he couldn't stop the tears flowing, he broke and sobbed into the pillow, he didn't want to be alone again.

/x/

Kurogane and Syaoran paused outside Fai's door after they had poured the somewhat drunk princess into bed.

"Why do you think he didn't come down?" Syaoran asked.

"Who knows," Kurogane grunted.

He didn't bother knocking, if the mage was asleep, he didn't intend waking him up, he just gripped the door handle and cracked the door open slightly, the shaft of light from the door falling across the bed. Fai lay sprawled face down as usual, and Kurogane's sharp eyes picked up faint traces of tears on the cheek that was partially turned into the light, but he seemed to be sleeping calmly enough now, and Kurogane decided it must have just been one of his nightmares.

"He's out kid, leave him to sleep. We have an early start in the morning, so we should get to sleep too," Kurogane said, closing the door again.

"Right, good night, Kurogane-san."

Kurogane watched as Syaoran went into his own room, Mokona asleep or passed out in his pocket, and looked back at the door he had just shut. It disturbed him on some level that he was unwilling to acknowledge, that the mage had been up here crying alone while they were down there in the restaurant enjoying themselves. With a sigh, he opened the door again, and slipped inside, closing the door and kicking his boots off, he lay fully clothed on top of the covers and eased the sleeping mage into his arms, very careful not to wake him.

Fai snuggled unconsciously into the unexpected warmth and comfort, not waking from the exhausted sleep he had cried himself into.

/x/

Fai woke up alone, but he knew the feeling of someone holding him through the night hadn't been his imagination, he was lying on his side, and he only lay that way when someone else was in the bed, and the other pillow was rumpled. Leaning over he scented the pillow, picking up the faintest hint of pear with an underlying light musk. Why had Kurogane shared his bed last night when he had been so pleased they had been able to get their own rooms here? He contemplated for one moment teasing Kurogane about sleeping with him last night and sneaking out before he woke, but dismissed it quickly, he was grateful for the peaceful night, and this would be the last day he would see Kurogane, he didn't want the ninja to go back to his own world hating him.

After washing and dressing, Fai went to the door, leaning against the wood for a long moment, making sure that everything was pushed down, making sure he could smile for the others without it cracking. Plastering the smile on, he opened the door and stepped out, as Syaoran and Mokona stepped out of the room across the hall.

"Good morning, Syaoran-kun, did you sleep well?" Fai asked, his voice cheerful.

"Yes, thank you, Fai-san. Did you?"

"Oh yes, I slept fine, thank you,"

"You didn't come down last night, I hope nothing was wrong,"

"No, I was just very tired, all I needed was a good nights sleep to be my usual self," he said.

Mokona bounced off Syaoran's shoulder and settled on Fai's snuggling into his neck, and Fai knew that the little creature knew he wasn't as happy as he pretended to be, but would say nothing while there was anyone else there.

"And you, Mokona, did you sleep well?" he asked.

"Yes, I had good dreams. Did you have good dreams, Fai?"

"I don't remember, but I'm sure I did. Nothing woke me anyway," he shrugged one shoulder, so as not to dislodge Mokona.

"Shall we go down to breakfast then?" Mokona asked hopefully.

"You two go ahead, I'm going to make sure the princess is awake and ready to go when we've eaten," Syaoran said.

"Fai is sad," Mokona said quietly from its perch on Fai's shoulder as the mage walked down the stairs.

"A little, Mokona, but it will be all right," he shook his head.

Mokona sighed in his ear, but let it go as they reached the bottom of the stairs and saw Kurogane already waiting for them at the table they usually occupied.

Fai nodded silently to the ninja and slipped into the seat across the table from him, looking down at the white cloth covering the wood.

"Kuro-daddy, did you sleep well?" Mokona asked, bouncing over to rest on top of Kurogane's head and leaning over to look upside down into the red eyes.

"Damn it manjuu, don't call me that, and get off my head," he snarled, making a grab for Mokona's ears as Sakura and Syaoran came down the stairs together.

The table soon filled with noisy chatter between Mokona and the kids, and Kurogane watched the mage curiously. The smaller man was quiet, not that he wasn't talking to the others, but he wasn't saying anything unless they spoke directly to him, and he so far hadn't tormented Kurogane himself once, nor had he called him by one of his foolish nicknames, hadn't directly addressed him at all, actually.

Fai could feel the red eyes on him, and determinedly kept his own eyes fixed on the table or one of the others, not wanting to meet that perceptive gaze. He knew the other saw through him far too easily, and he didn't want him to see things he had managed to keep hidden up until now. It was the thought of being without Kurogane that was the hardest to bear, he would miss the kids and Mokona hugely of course, but Kurogane was something special. He had fallen hard for the grouchy ninja, and he didn't want the ninja burdened with his unwelcome feelings, which he would never return.

"Right, is everyone ready to go?" Kurogane asked as soon as they all seemed to have finished eating.

"I need to get something from my room," Fai said, making a break for it and fleeing up the stairs.

He leaned against the door; thinking for a moment about running for it now, transporting himself to another world while they were downstairs, but he couldn't do it, could imagine the look in the princess's eyes, if he left without saying goodbye. Sinking down on the bed, he buried his face in his hands, trying to figure out what he was going to do, he didn't want to run away again, didn't want to hurt them, but he wasn't sure how much longer he could keep the mask up. It hurt, it really hurt, seeing their happy faces, and knowing that there were people waiting for them, and that he would never have anyone waiting for him. The spell was written before he was even aware he was doing it, and he was almost startled as the purple glow of his own magic wrapped around him.

"Oh," he whispered, feeling the spell take hold. He wasn't even sure what he had done to himself.

/x/

Kurogane looked impatiently toward the stairs, growling softly. Where the hell had the mage got to? He had gone up to his room nearly twenty minutes ago, and he still wasn't back, they were waiting on him to leave now.

"I'll go and see where he is," Sakura said, darting for the stairs before Kurogane could decide to go after him, it would be awful if after their wonderful journey, it ended now with another fight between the two men, they had managed to avoid their usual bickering for the last couple of days and she wanted to keep it that way.

Kurogane snorted, watching her go, he knew what she had been thinking, but really, he would love a fight with the mage, some hint that the idiot was himself, he didn't like the way he had been acting this last couple of days, especially this morning. His contemplation was shattered by the sound of Sakura screaming from upstairs, and he and Syaoran were running before thought could catch up with action. Sakura was standing in the doorway of Fai's room, her hand over her mouth, her green eyes wide.

"What is it?" Syaoran asked.

"Fai-san, he…" she whispered from behind her hand, her other hand waving vaguely to the room.

Crowding into the doorway, the others looked at where she had indicated. Fai's familiar fluffy coat was lying on the floor, along with the rest of his clothes, all lying over a small, quivering lump.

"I think I scared him when I screamed," she said unhappily.

Kurogane said nothing, simply stepping past her and moving over to the clothing, crouching down to pull it back from whatever was underneath. He felt his mind crash offline for a long moment, he was tiny, looked to be five or six years old, wide blue eyes terrified and lost, the child was naked because Fai's clothes had been far too big for the tiny frame, and all that covered him was the ridiculously long blond hair. There was no denying the identity of this child, he was exactly as he had looked in the visions they had seen.

"Fai," Mokona blurted, bouncing over. The child whimpered wordlessly, scrabbling away in fear, and Mokona froze, not sure what to do.

"Yuui," Kurogane said in a low voice, holding out one hand.

The boy moved cautiously closer, allowing Kurogane to pull him to stand in front of him.

"None of us is going to hurt you, do you understand?" he asked very quietly, he knew what crap Fai had been through as a kid, and he had no idea what had happened to him, or how much of his adult life he remembered. He was unwilling to frighten him needlessly. A hesitant nod indicated that the boy had understood him, but he made no effort at all to speak in return.

"Do you know who we are, Yuui?"

A hesitant shake this time, but still no words.

"All right, I am Kurogane; this is Sakura-hime, and Syaoran-kun. The white manjuu there is Mokona," he sighed. They were screwed; the bloody mage didn't even remember who they were.

"Kid, grab the mini mage, we'd better get him to the witch, see if we can figure out what the hell is going on here. Princess, would you mind grabbing his clothes, except for the outer coat, we'll have to wrap him in that," he sighed, rising.

There was a small shriek, and a tiny body backing into his legs as Syaoran went to pick the little boy up. Kurogane looked down with a raised eyebrow as the kid hid behind his legs, clinging tightly as he all but vanished inside the folds of the cloak, he wasn't used to anyone seeing him as the safe option.

Bending, he tugged the kid to the front again, intending to hold him in place for Syaoran to get hold of him, but feeling him shaking, he decided it just wasn't worth freaking him out more right now.

"Fine," he growled, taking the coat the princess held out and wrapping it around the frail body and picking him up. The smaller body rested trustingly against his as the blond head came to rest on his shoulder.

"Manjuu, don't leap around, don't yell, just get in with Yuui and keep him company," he said. He needed the kid to have some trust in Mokona before the manjuu tried to transport them, he didn't know what would happen if Yuui's magic fought against Mokona's but he had a feeling he didn't want to find out.

Sensing Yuui's fear, and Kurogane's concern about what would happen if the little boy tried to stop the transport, Mokona obeyed, wriggling carefully into the white fluffy mass of the coat and waiting until the thin arms reached out to close around it, before slowly pulling it back against the bony chest. Mokona projected all the calm it could muster as it snuggled with the frightened boy.

"What happened to him?" Sakura asked.

"Hopefully the witch can tell us that, without it costing us our souls," he snorted.

"Let's get out of here," Kurogane said as soon as Sakura had gathered up Fai's belongings.

They left the hotel and walked to a big park a few streets away, Kurogane sat on the grass, crossing his legs under him, and set down the bundled up Yuui, who was still clutching Mokona quite tightly.

"Yuui, you need to listen to me now," he said.

Blue eyes peered from behind the mass of blond hair, looking wary.

"We're going to be leaving here soon, Yuui, Mokona is going to be transporting us all to another place, and you have to let it happen. You mustn't get scared and try to stop it. Do you understand?" he asked.

That got him a hesitant headshake, to indicate that he didn't understand.

"Dimensional transport spell," Mokona piped up, and Kurogane was about to tell him to pipe down when Yuui nodded to indicate he understood what Mokona had said.

"So, you understand what the manjuu is going to do?" Kurogane pressed.

Yuui nodded this time, and Kurogane sighed, he never thought he would miss the mage's incessant babbling.

"And you understand you can't try to stop it?"

Another nod and Yuui let go of Mokona, allowing Kurogane to pull him close again.

"All right manjuu, get us out of here," Kurogane said, still sitting on the ground holding the kid close to him.

/x/

Yuuko stepped outside as she sensed Mokona's dimensional shift, watching silently as the travelers appeared back in the spot they had left from so long ago. She raised an eyebrow when they appeared, wondering what was going on, Sakura and Syaoran stood together, pretty much as expected, but Kurogane was sitting on the grass, holding a tiny child tightly.

"Where's Fai?" she asked, suspecting the answer, but needing to hear it confirmed.

"He's here," Kurogane said, standing up easily without letting go of the child.

"What on Earth happened?" she asked.

"We were hoping you would be able to give us a clue on that, or even better fix it," he growled.

"He was fine this morning, he went up to his room before we left and didn't come down again. When Sakura-hime went to look for him, she found…" Syaoran trailed off, gesturing helplessly to the boy in Kurogane's arms.

Kurogane snorted quietly at the idea that the mage had been fine, but kept any comment to himself, if they had missed how unhappy he was that was probably what Fai had been aiming for.

"Hmm, bring him inside," Yuuko said.

"We want to know the price first," Kurogane said sharply.

"Does the price matter?"

"Yes, I don't want any of us forgetting anything, or giving up anything we would miss too much. If your price is too high, I will take him to Tomoyo-hime, and see what she can do for him," he said.

"You are learning, ninja," she laughed.

"Very well, the price for trying to find out what happened to him is that when Sakura and Syaoran decide to marry, I will be invited," she said.

Both of the younger ones blushed scarlet and Syaoran started to stammer something completely incoherent, Sakura glanced at him out of the corner of her eye and pulled herself together first.

"That is a price I will gladly meet. When we marry, you will be invited," she said, her voice steady, even if she was still bright red.

"Good, then come along," she said, waving them inside.

Leading them to her parlor, she reached out for the little one.

"Come on Fai, let's see what's going on with you," she said.

The child whimpered and clung tightly to Kurogane, turning his face away.

"Don't call him that, he doesn't seem to like it," Kurogane said.

He stroked the boy's tense back lightly and kept his voice level when he spoke.

"Yuui, she isn't going to hurt you. I'm right here, and I won't let anyone hurt you," he reassured him. He whined wordlessly again, but loosened his grip to allow Kurogane to hand him to Yuuko.

"Watanuki, bring me my crystals," she called out, setting Yuui down on the chaise lounge.

The others found seats and settled down to watch in silence as Yuuko tried to figure out what had happened to their mage.

It was the best part of an hour before the witch stepped away from where Yuui was lying on the chaise, sleeping now.

"There's nothing I can do," she said bluntly.