Authore notes:

I'm really bad at keeping up with Fanfics. I always kind of loose interest. I promise I'll keep this one up though. I hope it's acceptable; I've found that I am a plot writer, ever since my teacher had us read a passage about the author of The Outsiders (Disclaimer: IF IT WAS MINE WOULD I BE WRITING THIS?). If I don't know where the story is going, I feel lost. So I'm starting this as a clean page without a exact course, trying to slowly get myself into a place where I feel comfortable just writing. Also, I find that I know how something looks in my head, but don't take the time to describe it. As a result, I am going to try very hard on my confidence levels and my descriptions. If you reveiw (Reveiws make me happy!!) I would really like for you to comment on these things. I think that confidence is something a writer can portray greatly in their wrighting. Hope you like it!

Sorry if the begginning is confusing. I wanted to try to just throw you into the story. :/

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Tsubasa it wouldn't be so fucking (I can swear because this is rated M for later chapters, haha!) confusing, now would it? I don't have that kind of brain power. So I guess I don't own, now do I?

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Chapter 1: New Understandings

Yawning, a tall, lithe figure climbed the dark stairwell, the floorboards moaning under his weight, announcing his arrival. He took out his keys and did not fumble opening the door at all even though the narrow hall in which the stairs were located was lacking light. He pushed the door open with a small creak and he stepped onto the ugly tile of the kitchen, it's decor mostly a yellow, weather it be intentional or because of it's age. It was also dark, though moonlight poured trought the window on the right, tamed into a square upon the sink and the floor. However, in the household there was no exess of money, so curtains for the small window had not been bought yet, taking away from the serenity of the seen.

Setting the keys down onto the counter, the man crossed over to the door on the left and into the living room, which was very bare, with only a used, cheap but very comfortable overstuffed armchair all the way to the right and a wooden stand against the far wall that held nothing, sitting in wait for a television. From there, he took a right into the bedroom, which was even worse, with only a used, uncomfortable full sized matress and boxspring on a cheap metal fame, the window bare exept for the blinds that had com standard on them. It was not that they were poor, it was that both of them had had nothing upon moving into the home and were still in the process of making money to buy said furnishings.

On the floor next to the bed was a man under some blankets bought at a Family Dollar, one strewn over his midsection, the other over his legs and feet. Like anyone with training wracked into him, he shuddered when someone walked into the room, his eyelids fluttering open to watch the lithe figure that found him and looked down.

"Why aren't you in the bed?" he asked.

"It's your turn," came the gruff reply, his crimson

The first man shook his head a bit and sighed. "I told you that since I work the graveyard shift you can sleep on the bed until I get home."

"Just go to sleep, idiot." The male on the floor turned over onto his side.

"Whatever," came the murmur as the figure started to take off the heavy dark blue shirt that was standard at Cumberland Farms, a local convience store. He threw it into the only other thing in the room, a very flimsy white hamper they had gotten at a yard sale for a buck, the same yard sale at which they had purchased the only tableware in the house: one cup, two plates, a bowl, a couple spoons and forks.

Without bothering to take off his black pants, he crawled into bed and whispered, "Thanks."

"You're really one idiot of a mage."

"Yep."

A small smile crept over his face before sleep pounced, dragging him into unconciousness like a snow leapard attacking it's prey on the mountainside.

It was a reacurring dream that was enjoyed every night recently, though he hardly remembered it. It was a needed break from the nightmares and the twisted tales his mind spun, distorting reality.

All at once, the world wretched apart and came crashing together all at the same time as it recovered from it's injuries, and before he could figure out what had happend he was being dragged back, blackness in his wake. He clawed and struggled, but the universe was winning, and then he heard a voice, deep and dear and familiar.

"FAI!"

His brain suddenly kicked into a fast gear, the fear clogging his engine being tugged out sharply. He threw his arm out, his fingers just brushing the calloused fingertips of the other, unable to grasp. In the ninja's shadow lay the finest image of Nihon, ready to welcome the hero home. Then, in a quick motion, the tall, well-built man lunged forward and swung him arm back, taking ahold of Fai's strong but still frail wrisp, and he looked at the blonde with one of his wicked smiles of vicotory, saying something lost in the silence din of the world's revival.

"Quit smiling like a love-sick idiot," came a mutter. Kurogane was getting ready for the lunch shift at Taco Bell, so it was mabe nine in the morning, because the resturant was about a half-hour's walk at least at a good pace. He heard keys jingle and a door close, and knew it was around ten instead, since Kurogane was leaving. Fai had been sleeping for about five hours, and he could probably get in another five. Usually he pushed himself up so he could hang out with Kurogane for a few hours before he left, since he worked evenings and all nights while Kurogane worked lunch shift and then went to a local garage, where he was going to be able to work on cars as soon as he was finished with his training. If it had been a serialized chain, he'd have to have a degree in mechanics, but since it was just a little shop on the corner around the block, it was okay.

It had been a month since they had gotten their jobs. They had been arrested for possessing a weapon, before Fai had even been able to remember a translating spell, and then when they had no records the police had gotten suspicous. However, they seemed to know a place named Japan, and called a translator. They told the woman that they only remember walking down the street, and being grabbed, and that was it. The lie became intricately weaving, including drugs, prostetution, a country without a goverment, and a stolen reletive, but in the end, after taking a test, they had become citizens of the United States, though they had to keep in close tabs with the immigration offices for a while.

They had found an apartment with low rent and a land lady who allowed them to stay free for the first month so they could get jobs. Fai, with his good attitude, had been able to find a place fairly easy, and had moved from bartender at the resturant Bill's to grabbing extra shifts as a waiter and was now experimenting the in the kitchen. Kurogane, to his own anger, hadn't been able to get a career so easily, but had found a job in the end. Still, it pained the man that Fai supplied more than a single source of income while he was at the bottom ranks of Taco Bell just scraping some cash up; he was already banned from both the drive through and the register because of his sirous appearance and the rarity of his smiles.

Still, even though he hated to even admit it to himself, it was better than a life in Nihon, wondering what the fuck had happened to his favorite mage. Every time he thought about how close he was to the magician something made his throat tight and he had to shove the idea away violently, probably because being gay was a sin in Nihon, though Tomoyo and everyone else didn't like to talk about it. He had been brought up thinking loving men was wrong, so he was unwilling to say he loved Fai like that. Fai was a brother, he had decided. Just a brother, like Tomoyo was a sister to him. Every day became harder and harder, because every time he saw the blonde he seemed more and more amazing, working his ass off to keep their apartment, getting up earlier than needed just to spend time with Kurogane and do some laundry, though the ninja at least tried to do that much.

One day they had been on a bus on the way home from the supermarket and the man behind them had a weird device playing music so loudly they could hear it in the next row. Fai, though he hid it well, seemed to take an interest in it, and Kurogane had thought back to all the times he had seen the magician take a passion to music, and it seemed it had happened many times. So, in secret, Kurogane was saving up to buy Fai an iPod, hoping to give it to the blonde at Christmas, a holiday they celebrated like some kind of religion, or so he had heard from the mage himself.

"Kelsy told me-" Kuro cringed inside at the mention of that dirty-blonde, perky, cute co-worker of Fai's. Not only had she taken a liking to him, but it was like her life's purpose to show him around West Warwick, Rhode Island, and tell him about all the things that happened. "About Christmas. It's on December 25th and parents buy and wrap presents and put them under a tree they decorate. Usually the tree is put in the living room after Thanks Giving, which is in November. Anyway, they say it's from some fat jolly man named Santa Clause, nick named Saint Nick, who has a sleigh and flying reindeer, whatever those are, and he slides down your chimney supposedly with his magical bag of toys. Adults only play along with that for the kids, but they still give presents. There's no school from Christmas to the New Year, it's such a big holiday, and stores start putting out Christmas items even before Thanks Giving. It's like some religion or something, the way they celebrate it. Kelsy said that, for the kids, one of the fire trucks from the nearby station brings a man dressed like Santa down the hill and he gives the children edible things called Candy Canes. They have music, some drink called hot chocolate, and the tree down in the square is all lit up. It seems really nice, Kuro; I think we should try out Christmas this year. And all those other holidays they have, like Holloween and Thanks Giving. It sounds fun!"

At the site of the mage's face all lit up, how could Kurogane say no? Fai seemed to bask in the glow of America, though the ninja thought of it as a nosey country that counldn't keep it's nose out of the ussies of other countries, one that was too material-addicted and greedy. Still, the blonde seemed to love the almost-carefree life, since that was what it was compared to what they had endoured. Both men knew the kids were safely in their home countries, so there was no use talking about them and a word hadn't been uttered about the two at all. Both of them had discussed trying to find their way to Nihon, but Fai didn't know what would happen, since he had no control over where they would land and how he would hold up. In the end, they had decided to stay for the time being....Or so Kuro liked to think.

"You have your tatoo and your eyes back. That means you should be able to jump worlds fine, right?"

Fai sighed. "Do you want to truth?"

"Of course," said the ninja snappishly.

"Celes scared the shit out of me." The blonde adverted his eyes to the door across the room, since he was sitting on the countertop. "I don't know if I'll die, Kurogane, even though it seems the evidence of our journey has been earased. I don't want to die, and I blame that on you." Then the man leaned forward to place his feet on the ground, slowly standing, and then striding out without giving Kurogane a glance. "I'm sorry," was all he whispered

Kurogane watched him go, not shaken by the use of his full name; it seemed Fai used it whenever he was dead sirous, and even though it placed an empty feeling in Kuro's stomach, he knew it was the mage's way of getting through to him, like when he himself had yelled Fai's name instead of one of his insults. Somewhere deep inside he hurt a bit at the fact that he might never see Tomoyo, expecially since he had promised to come back...Yet somehow, he didn't want to go home. This was where he lived now, with the person closest to him, all alone with a fresh start and a new life. Should he keep it? Being with Fai for the rest of their lives was something that appealed to him, even though he didn't want it to. Would Tomoyo ever forgive him for his sins?

He couldn't leave Fai after so long, because the mage had so much of him. The night Kuro had taken his oath, the moment Tomoyo finished speaking, he had heard a faint creaking outside the door and then almost inaudable footsteps at could only come from that sneaky mage, only caught by the ears of a trained ninja. So the blonde even knew Kurogane's secret name. But then again, when he reflected upon it, he had so much of the man called Fai D. Flourite. Kurogane knew the man's full past, had been his prey, had pried away the mask and forced a small trust between them even though there were scars there. Even so, it seemed the Celes wizard did not fully and completely trust Kurogane, which made the man fustrated. More than anything, he wanted for Fai to trust him unconditionally, because mabe then he wouldn't hurt so much and mabe then all of those scars would start to get smaller.

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By the way, West Warwick is a real place. I have a penpal from there. For this story I asked them to send pictures and descriptions of all over Phenix Villiage and the surrounding area, including local events. And just because it's a villiage, don't go all "Omfg so there's cottages and everyone knows each other?" on me. It's just an area of West Warwick, just like any other town. Though I am told that sometimes it seems like everyone's a reletive of everyone, like some kind of fishbowl effect (Not my words). West Warwick is an old mill town, keep that in mind. Oh, Bill's Place is a real resturant. However, the house is purely from the depths of my mind, but I have an idea of where it is. The Land Lady lives on the first floor, just so you know, while Kuro-Pon and Fai live upstairs. Descriptions of West Warwick will come later. Remember what I said about reveiws!