A/N: Well, I guess I'm doing it again. . I've found another idea (not that I'm short on them or anything. Believe me, I'm at the point where I'm writing them down in a journal for later), even though I'm still like six months behind on any and all of my other ones. Sigh. If it helps, Emrys is over 2500k on my latest chapter and has quite a few answers to some things that have been hanging around. I still have to work on the others, too. T.T

Anywho, this is probably my first fic of this type...I think. I've done a TRC crossover before on another account but took it down. I've never even thought of trying it with Merlin, as its almost always a HP thing. Apparently, this particular type of crossover is unheard of. Who knew? Oh, and the basic disclaimer applies. I always forget. For the first part, its from TRC: Spring Thunder. So, I guess that there are some serious spoilers for at least the beginning

Summary: Fai arrives in Camelot and immediately collapses, requesting sanctuary from King Arthur and his newly appointed Court Sorcerer, Merlin.

Chapter One: Arrivals and Departures

"Hey, what's going on here?" Kurogane asked, looking confused at the sudden surge of magic after King Ashura's death.

Fai, who wouldn't take his eye off the ground, answered in a solemn tone.

"This world...this world is being closed up, all because of my magic."

Looking around, Kurogane could find no exit or way to escape the closing world of Celes. Things didn't look good, that was one thing he was certain of. If he couldn't find a way out, they were most likely all going to die here.

"We're leaving this place. Come on, Fai." he said, not entirely certain how they'd escape. Fai wasn't fighting against him, but it didn't look like he was going to be cooperative either.

"No, we can't all go. However-" Fai said, looking up for the first time in a while, seeming determined. Kurogane looked over at him questionably, unsure of what the mage had in mind. "Syaoran! Don't let go of Sakura or Mokona!"

After Syaoran nodded, looking as serious and resolved as ever, Kurogane finally pulled on the mage's coat and demanded an explanation.

"What do you have up your sleeve?"

"You need to leave. Now." Fai said, concentrating his magic towards Syaoran, Mokona and Sakura. As the purple runes floated and surrounded them, they were transported outside of the dangerous surges of magic. Fai then turned to a shocked Kurogane, who was still holding on to him and sent his spell over the both of them. It was taking longer than it should, Fai knew, especially when he started coughing up blood. An image of the Clone Syaoran taking his left eye briefly popped up in his mind, and he realized the ugly truth. "I can't...my magic."

Syaoran reached his hand out, feeling the world of Celes close up and knowing there was nothing he could do. Mokona looked at him, feeling sympathetic.

"Hey, Syaoran."

"What Mokona?"

"The ring that's always on Mokona's ear...take it." Syaoran gave him a questioning look, unsure of what she meant. "I learned about it in a dream. It was from the other Mokona. Please, do it!"

Syaoran reached out towards Mokona's ear slowly and carefully took it off, almost as if he was afraid of what might happen. He wasn't sure, but he hoped it would help somehow. As soon as he took it off, it cast a bright beam straight down to where Fai and Kurogane were standing. Kurogane saw the escape they were hoping for and started pulling Fai with him, but Fai merely glared at him.

"Go." he whispered, giving a demanding glare. Kurogane didn't know about him being the core of the spell, and no amount of pulling would let him leave his dying world. If he stayed, he'd just end up dying as well.

Fai gasped and looked around at his surroundings, which were eerily familiar. He hadn't landed as well he had planned, given that it was a last ditch effort to save his friends. He knew that Kurogane would never let go on his own and he remembered using what little was left of his magic to more or less push the entire group into the next dimension. The last thing he could remember was wishing that he could have said goodbye and talked all of them one final time. He would have told them so many things, but he knew he was probably going to die from using what was left of his magic or being slowly crushed. Crying would do him no good, but he knew that no one was here to see, now that he had lost everyone. After that, he couldn't remember anything except for waking up on what he could only guess was Yuuko's front yard. After trying to get upright and at least make an attempt to make himself look presentable, he realized it was pointless. After the battle and then using all of that magic, it was a wonder he was still alive at all. He should be dead after all, but maybe it was his will to see them one last time or something. He supposed asking the witch would just cost him more than he could possibly afford at this point, so he'd have to stick with the one wish...when he could move.

After what had seemed like some mere minutes, he could hear sounds coming from what he guessed was quite a distance away; Fai wasn't sure he could find it in himself to care. He felt so tired and all he wanted to do was just rest on the soft grass until his power had returned to the point that he could at least attempt to sit up, let alone stand. He vaguely registered someone picking him up and moving him and could barely manage to open his eye. The man seemed to lift him just as easily as Kurogane did, which made his heart break at the thought of possibly never seeing him again.

"Kuro." Fai mumbled, letting a tear slip as he slipped back into unconsciousness.

Watanuki hadn't been the owner of the shop for a very long time, but he could tell different things by now. He knew that someone was out on the lawn and that they needed help, but he couldn't necessarily figure out why. He had Doumeki go and fetch the person, who seemed to be gripping Doumeki's shirt in their sleep. Admittedly, Watanuki hadn't been paying that much attention to the details, thinking the person might have fallen asleep against the fencepost or something. On closer inspection, he noted it was not just any customer. It was Fai, one of those travelers that were constantly crossing dimensions. He hadn't heard anything from them in a while, probably not since before Celes. Something must have happened for him to not only end up here alone, but also unconscious. Whatever it was could be solved later, when he could talk to him.

"Put him in the room across the hall. When he wakes up, he can have a bath and some dinner. He must have come straight from Celes, I suppose. I just wonder why he isn't with everyone else. Last I had heard from them, they were on their way there from Infinity, I think." Watanuki mused, looking at Doumeki thoughtfully.

"Maybe they left him there." Doumeki thought, giving a backwards glance towards Fai's current room. Watanuki hated to admit it, but it had crossed his mind at one point.

Why would they leave him behind, unless-

"Maybe it wasn't their choice, and he just came here by mistake. Of course, we both know by now what Yuuko thought about those."

"Hitsuzen?" Doumeki asked, already having a bad feeling about this. This wasn't going to end well somehow.

"Yes. I have a feeling that he wished himself here at the last possible moment, using almost all of his power. He might have just wanted to say one final goodbye, not truly caring about his outcome in the end." Watanuki said, sounding sad at the thought.

It was three more days until Fai woke up enough to move around for a few hours at a time. He was looking very pale and was breathing hard after only a few hours of standing. It was obvious what the problem was, but no one would say anything. The fact was that Kurogane was in Nihon and the last time Fai had fed was probably Infinity, right before leaving for Celes. Fai knew that Watanuki was just being nice, letting him stay here for what could be his last days. He didn't know if he could afford to pay any sort of price to stay here, nevermind say his final goodbyes to everyone who probably thought he was dead and gone forever. The one thing that puzzled him was the absence of Yuuko. She was noticeably missing and obviously not on some sort of vacation as far as he could tell, but asking Watanuki always seemed to cause the man pain. Every time he tried, Watanuki either redirected or lied; telling himself more than himself that she'd be back any day. The painful truth was that he was the owner and he was going to have to learn not run from it anymore.

Fai had started to enjoy sitting outside on the veranda; watching the sunrise with Maru and Moro, sometimes joined by Watanuki and Larg. Doumeki was still going to school, but seemed to spend almost all of his free time at the had gone back in to make breakfast when the day went from bad to worse. Larg talking to the twins, not paying much attention to the fact that their long-term guest hadn't been paying attention to the conversation for a good part of the last hour. He was tired, but he knew the feeling came from his lack of eating. He ate whatever was made for him these days, but sometimes it was like he couldn't taste it at all. He knew that Watanuki was trying new soup recipes, along with anything else relatively easy on the stomach. He wasn't sure how or why, but the shop owner had become somewhat of a close friend lately. Doumeki had been coming pretty late and looking tired, going between the shop and his shrine's book collection. Apparently, he had been convinced into looking for a cure to vampirism, or at least a way to help in some way. Fai needed to help somehow. Everyone was working on a cure or at least trying to find something for him to eat. He could do some cleaning or try and help with the cooking somehow, at the very least.

He smiled as he heard the nonsensical humming coming from the kitchen. Obviously, Watanuki was in a fairly cheerful mood today. He would be a lot more morose if he found out that Fai was coughing again, so Fai had no choice as far as helping in how to help today. The cough wasn't too terrible and could even be ignored most of the time. Fai could feel the urge to cough building in his chest and practically ran back to what was currently his room. By the time he got there, he was wheezing and leaning on one of the bed posts. He tried to subtly cover his mouth and smother the impending coughs, but he had no control as he was slowly lose his grip on his ability to stand. He knew that this round of coughs had been so forceful and loud, and Watanuki would soon start running over here as soon as he could make sure that nothing would burn the shop down. He soon heard the tell-tale steps that were bordering on stomping, which he knew without a doubt was Watanuki. The next round of coughing caused him to bring his hand to his chest as he wheezed and sank to the floor, barely noticing Watanuki run up to him and sit on the floor.

"Fai?!" Watanuki yelled in panic, seeing him wheezing on the floor. Doumeki had called him with what he said was the closest thing to a cure that he could find. It was hardly a cure at all, really. All he could do was wait around and watch someone who had become one of his closest friends suffer, hoping that the dimensional travelers would win their battle against Fei Wong Reed and reclaim his eye. "Fai? Come on, at least let me get you into your bed with some water or something."

It was no use, though; as Fai was on the edge of a pain-induced slumber, giving him the biggest smile he could manage. Watanuki internally winced, knowing that despite his efforts, it looked more like a grimace than a smile.

"It's okay, Fai. I'll get you into bed somehow. You can just rest and let me help you, okay?" Watanuki whispered, struggling with himself and putting on the bravest face he could manage for his friend.

"You're very brave, my Kimihiro. Don't worry." Fai whispered, stroking his cheek like he would with Sakura. "You'll be fin-" he told him, only to start coughing again. Watanuki sat him up and let him lean against him for support.

He really hated hearing his friend cough and wheeze like that, and it looked like he was starting a low grade fever as well. He'd have to send Doumeki out for some home remedies and teas. He couldn't solve the problem, but he could at least help counter it a little bit. Haruka had told him once that transferring little bits of magic can help with healing sometimes, and there was no time like the present to give it a try. He sensed more than heard Doumeki come into the room, which broke his concentration. Fai leaned toward him, which he took as a good sign as Doumeki helped him up into bed. Leaning towards Fai again, he touched his forehead and concentrated while talking to Doumeki.

"I'll cook us something in a while, but right now I need some things from you."

Doumeki looked at him with a barely lifted eyebrow, even though he knew that his friend couldn't see him.

"Hn."

TBC…

Well, I suppose that's quite a bit for I guess the prologue? I figured with him going to Camelot (which is a little distance/time from Nihon, obviously), he'd need to have the vampire blood problem fixed. I think that this was how things ended up, but I haven't read it for a long time. T.T I'm pretty sure that Merlin will appear in the next chapter.