Set after the completion of the manga when Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona travel dimensions as Syaoran's price to continue existing. Landing on a war torn world and separated from the others, Fai's life is saved by a fierce young woman with a dark past and a secret. When she offers the group her aid he is moved to try and help her. Can the two finally learn to be loved?
Okay, this is my first ever fanfic, it's not something I've ever considered writing before, but something I've always done in my head. However in an aim to try and improve my writing I decided to take the plunge. Reviews and constructive criticism are welcome as the whole point of this is to try and improve, but please be nice or you'll scare me off! :P
My writing style and imagination are quite novel-ish, so this will likely be quite long, and possibly a bit slow burning compared to some of the other stuff on here so please be patient, although I hope I manage to grab your interest from the start anyway! The majority of the plot is already sorted in my head and Chapter 2 is almost done, so hopefully I shall be able to update regularly.
It will be written in varying points of view, but mostly Fai and Kezia's (my OC). Romance will eventually form between them, but seeing as both are deeply emotionally scarred it will take some time to grow. This is mostly a journey of healing the wounds of a traumatic past (with what CLAMP did to their characters, Kezia's past had to be pretty bad to even hope to rival theirs!) and slowly learning to be loved.
As ever, Tsubasa characters and any references to the manga/anime belong to their rightful owners (CLAMP and any others who worked on the anime), I only claim ownership to my original characters and this particular plot.
Rated for references to sex, abuse, violence and torture, some seriously messed up ethics and probable use of bad language. Starting off fairly tame so it's rated T for now, but will probably have M rated chapters later on.
I hope you enjoy!
Chapter 1: Landing
Fai
The veil parted and Fai caught a glimpse of what seemed to be a fairly desolate urban sprawl before he was unceremoniously dumped on the ground. He sighed. Mokona wasn't really getting any better at these landings. He slowly raised his head, waiting for the usual angry remark from Kurogane, but to his surprise it didn't come. The thin blonde pulled himself up and looked around at the world they had just landed in. In the distance he could see buildings that formed a skyline similar to the more urban worlds they had been to, but where he was standing there seemed to have been a wide avenue carved through the city. Rubble was sprawled all around him, in which he could make out what could possibly be the groundwork of several different buildings which had evidently been razed to the ground. There didn't seem to be a soul around, and that included Syaoran, Kurogane and Mokona. He sighed again. He supposed their separation wasn't really Mokona's fault. They probably should stick to the physical contact rule whilst travelling dimensions, but somehow they always ended up forgetting.
He looked around again, hoping that he wasn't so far from Mokona that her translation wouldn't work when he was suddenly knocked back to the ground again, hard. He felt a sharp pain in his hand, and looked around, struggling to find his feet amongst all the debris when a large stone thudded into the ground where he had just been standing, shattering on impact.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Fai's head snapped round to the voice and saw the figure of a young woman hidden behind a curtain of incredibly long, wavy red hair which swished quite impressively as she drew a sword from her hip and cut another rock in two just before it sailed past her arm and into his head. In one smooth motion she brought it up to meet an identical sword in her other hand above her head and quickly sketched an intricate pattern in the air. Fai could see the shimmer the swords left as they danced in front of her and hear the faint whisper of her voice that accompanied the actions. This girl had magic, and fairly powerful magic too if he was any judge. When the spell was complete she turned to him and looked him over with a piercing, almost accusatory gaze. Her eyes were a fierce, bright red, looking not unlike Kurogane's when he was pissed off and about to slaughter something. It would probably be best to head that off seeing as the wizard seemed to be the only living thing within reach of those swords. He smiled and was about to thank her for saving his life when she cut him off.
"Are you hurt?"
Her words were blunt rather than friendly, and punctuated by the sound of two more rocks hitting the spell behind her and turning to dust. The fact that he could understand them was a good sign. Mokona must be close. She sheathed one of her swords, obviously holding faith in her enchantment.
"Me, no, I'm fine!" he sang, grinning even wider, deciding it would probably be best to try and befriend this ferocious woman.
"Then move!" she said, grabbing him above his elbow and pulling him up, "My ward won't last for long"
She gave him a firm shove in the direction of the buildings on the side of the rubble strip that were not throwing rocks at them and began to run, keeping her free hand on his arm until she was sure he was definitely keeping pace. As far as he was concerned there was no reason not to follow her, at least she wasn't trying to stone him to death, even if she wasn't exactly friendly. When they seemed to be about halfway between the two rows of buildings she slowed slightly. He looked at her questioningly but before he could speak she explained that they were out of the range of whomever it was who had been throwing the stones.
"You can keep moving though!" she added, sternly. Fai just gave her another smile and her eyes narrowed in response, suspicion written all over her face.
Now that they were nearing the buildings it was easy to make out figures moving amongst them. They seemed to be in some sort of uniform and most of them were armed in one way or another. Soldiers. The walls of the ground floor rooms facing them had all been torn out and used to barricade the streets between them. This world seemed to be in the middle of a war. He hoped the others had landed somewhere safe. A row of large, wooden posts were positioned at regular intervals a few meters in front of the buildings, angled slightly towards the vast wasteland Fai had arrived in the middle of. As they walked between them he felt the slight tingle of magic and the girl sheathed her other sword. Interested, he paused and tried to look back at them, only to be rewarded with another shove.
As they entered the shadow of the buildings he was greeted by a familiar shout. The magician looked up to see Syaoran and Kurogane standing in one of the semi-rooms in front of him, with Mokona perched on Syaoran's head. A little knot of tension eased in the mage's mind. He knew Syaoran and Kurogane were more than capable of looking after themselves, but he worried nonetheless. He had changed so much on his travels with them that he wasn't entirely sure who he was now without the reassuring presence of his companions. He waved overenthusiastically and called out to them, grinning like an idiot to annoy Kurogane.
"Syaoran-kun! Kuro-ri! Mokona! Whoo-whee!"
Mokona gave a delighted squeal and, as soon as they had joined them in the semi-room with what appeared to be guards closing up behind them, she jumped into the Fai's arms, crying out his name.
"Fai-san, are you alright?" asked Syaoran, rushing forward like Mokona. Kurogane just stood in the corner, looking bored as per usual. Before he was able to answer, the redhead gave a nod and all of them, including Mokona, were suddenly grabbed and restrained by the guards around them. Mokona screamed ("Kyaaa!") and Kurogane looked pissed off, but before any of them could begin to fight back the redhead's sword had suddenly flown to Kurogane's throat.
"I'd prefer it if you didn't struggle," she said, her voice as calm and cool as ice, "We mean you no harm, provided that you mean us none in return, however this is war. We cannot be too careful. After all, you have just appeared out of nowhere in the middle of our perimeter. How am I to know you're not Mesa spies?"
She looked round at them slowly, assessing them, her sword arm staying firm at the ninja's throat. Fai didn't know if it was just the light, but her eyes seemed to have changed colour, they now looked a steely grey. He exchanged glances with Kurogane and Syaoran and they came to an unspoken agreement. They would not resist. For now.
"We have no reason to hurt you," Kurogane said, showing just how much he had changed since they first started travelling together. Back then he would have hurt anyone just for laying a hand on him. The girl's roving eyes settled on his
"We're travellers, and have only just arrived in this country," Syaoran supplied, "We don't even know who this Mesa is." One of her eyebrows rose.
"We're all very friendly really," Fai added, in his most cheerful voice, "Well except Kuro-tan over there, but some people are just grumpy!"
Her gaze turned back to him, so intense he felt like she was stripping away the layers of his mind to peer into the dark corners he'd rather left unseen. He would have squirmed if he wasn't being held so tightly.
"So you promise, that if we release you, you will not fight us?"
"We promise!" Fai exclaimed, grinning again and trying to pull his defences back into shape. The strange steel eyes held his for a moment longer, then she nodded again and lowered her sword. The guards holding them relaxed their grip. Mokona hopped back to Fai's shoulder and clung on to his ear.
"Take them upstairs," the woman ordered the nearest guard before turning back to them.
"I'll be with you in a minute. I trust you'll remember your promise."
They were led up stairs to a room with no windows where the only furnishings were a few ragged looking sofas and armchairs and a desk. It was impossible to tell what the room had been used for originally, but it now seemed to serve as a sort of rest room for off duty soldiers. The only soldiers in there are the moment however, were the ones who had escorted them up the stairs, who were now standing guard by the single door.
"It looks like they don't trust us to keep our promise after all," Kurogane muttered, looking at the soldiers with distaste. It was clear to Fai that he was planning a battle strategy in case they had to fight their way out of this. Although he hoped that wouldn't be necessary, his own eyes had been carefully scanning their surroundings, looking for weak points or escape routes and he was sure Syaoran had been doing the same. They had been at this for a long time after all. There were there for only a minute before the strange, copper haired girl entered.
"It's alright, you can wait outside," she told their guards, who looked slightly startled, but obeyed nonetheless. She closed the door behind them.
"You may as well sit down," she said, but her mind seemed to be elsewhere.
Then, having evidently made a decision, she walked to the centre of the room, cupped her hands to her mouth and breathed a few words that Fai could not catch. Suddenly she spread her arms up to the ceiling as though she were throwing confetti and brought them down in a wide arc to her sides. Fai felt a surge of magic envelop the room.
"Now you may say whatever you wish, for none outside these walls shall hear a single thing uttered within them."
She looked thoughtful, as if she wasn't entirely sure about what she was doing.
"But doesn't that mean that if we were to attack you, you'd have no way of calling for help?" Kurogane asked suspiciously.
The redhead smiled. "If you were to attack me, I wouldn't need to call for help."
"You're that sure of your skill?"
"I'm that sure of theirs. If you are puppets of the Mesa, then I shall be able to defeat you. If you are not, then you have no reason to attack me, so I have no reason to measure my skill against yours."
She looked around, seeming to return from wherever she had been lost in thought.
"You really can sit down you know. I've already told you, I mean you no harm if you mean us none and I thought we'd established that you don't."
The ninja grunted and sat down heavily on one of the sofas, which creaked rather a lot as he did. Syaoran shrugged and sat on the sofa opposite, and Fai chose the armchair by the desk. The girl padded lightly across the floor towards him. She wore a light, green dress with a ragged, pointy hem. The neckline was asymmetrical, leaving one shoulder bare whilst the other was covered in a long flowing sleeve that was split at the elbow. She had a rather striking hourglass figure, emphasised by the criss-cross lacing at her waist and on her hips sat her sword belt and twin blades. Her red hair was plaited at the front and tied around her head to keep it out of her eyes, but flowed free at the back and reached almost past her hips. He noted that her legs and feet were bare apart from a thin strip of brown cloth which had been tied in complex patterns around her feet and up her calves. She was, he thought, rather pretty.
"This is for your hand," she said, passing him a strip of bleached linen. The magician took it, seeming confused until he looked at his right palm and found it oozing blood. He'd forgotten he'd hurt his hand when she'd pushed him to the ground. There hadn't been much time to think about it, and after all, he'd endured far worse pain.
"Thank you," he replied, binding the cloth around the wound.
"Fai didn't tell us he was hurt!" Mokona cried, hopping down to the mage's lap, looking concerned.
"It's nothing," Fai smiled, tying a knot in the bandage, "Hardly more than a scratch!"
"Do you want me to take a look at it?"
The question came from the redhead who was watching him, seemingly genuinely concerned. She didn't appear to Fai, to be able to figure out whether she wanted to kill him or save his life. So he smiled even wider and assured her that he was fine. She studied him for a moment with her piercing eyes and then lifted herself up to sit on the desk, suddenly becoming business-like.
"You say you're travellers, who have only just arrived in this country?"
"That's right!" Mokona chirped.
"Even though there are no travellers in this world, at least not ones who cross the country borders? And I would know if you were citizens of this land."
"Eh-heh… yeah." That was that cover story blown. How were they going to explain this now? Her eyes were shifting from face to face again, watching their every move.
"In that case you must have come from a different dimension then."
That surprised even Kurogane. They all stared at her and Mokona asked the question they were all wondering. They had met people who knew about dimension travel before, but they had always turned out to be rather important.
"How did you know?"
"'Once you've eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth.' It's an old proverb*. It's obvious that you're not from this world. That you travel between them is the only logical conclusion," she explained calmly. "However this still doesn't explain who you are, why you're here or what you want."
"We have to keep travelling between worlds, never staying in one for any length of time," Syaoran explained. "We have no way of choosing which world we visit next, so the fact that we came to yours is complete coincidence. Whilst we're here we only want a place to stay and food to eat. We're willing to work to pay for whatever we use."
Syaoran is always so earnest, Fai thought, that's a trait both of them share.
The redhead was staring at a point just above the boy's head. "There is no such thing as coincidence," she muttered, half to herself. "There is only hitsuzen."
Once again everyone stared at her.
"Where did you hear those words?" the ninja asked sharply.
"They are a truth," she replied simply, her eyes still lost in thought. When she focused them back on what was in front of her her manner seemed to have subtly changed.
"So you came here through hitsuzen coincidence, and will pledge that whilst you stay here you will not harm any that do not first harm you?"
The four travellers exchanged glances, then assured their agreement, with varying forms of enthusiasm. The girl smiled and nodded once, almost sadly, Fai thought.
"What are your names?"
"I'm Fai, the one with the brown hair is Syaoran-kun, and the scary black guy over there is Kuro-pii!"
"It's KUROGANE, you idiotic wizard!"
"And this little one is Mokona!" Fai continued, ignoring the ninja. The mage spouted the words almost ritualistically, he had said them so many times.
"Mokona is everyone's idol!" the little white creature pronounced, jumping onto the girl's lap. "Handshake! Handshake!"
The redhead smiled and took Mokona's little paw in her fingers.
"These are the names that you use amongst yourselves?"
"Well, yeah, that's what you asked for isn't it?" Kurogane said, looking confused.
"Then I don't mind that you've all kept your real names hidden."
Fai raised his eyebrows. This girl certainly had power if she could tell that the names they used were not their true ones. He noted that both Syaoran and Kurogane were looking surprised and Mokona was tilting her head to one side and blinking with interest.
"Hey! What's your name?" the little creature asked, seemingly unconcerned by the girl's surprising knowledge.
"Kezia." Her voice was soft, almost sorrowful.
"And is that your real name?" Kurogane asked, slightly sarcastically.
Kezia smiled whimsically and simply replied, "It is."
There was silence for a moment as Kezia gently stroked Mokona's head. Then she scooped her up in one palm and gracefully slid of the desk.
"None of you have lied to me, however this concerns the safety of my people. I can take no risk, no matter how small. I must be certain."
With this enigmatic statement she lifted Mokona to be level with her chest and raised her right hand so it hovered just in front of the white creature.
"Mokona, if you will allow me?"
"Mm-hmm, sure!"
The others watched with interest as Kezia closed her eyes and gently touched her middle finger to the jewel on Mokona's forehead. It seemed that they were all holding their breath, but Mokona was undisturbed by the girl's actions. After a moment she took her finger away, and opened her eyes with a gentle smile.
"Thank you, Mokona," she said, giving the small, white creature a kiss. Mokona squealed with delight and kissed her back before she placed her on the desk.
"Syaoran, if I may?" she asked, walking over to stand in front of him.
Syaoran looked around, slightly concerned, but as Mokona appeared unharmed he agreed.
"Sure."
Kezia smiled again in thanks and brought her right hand up to touch her middle finger to his forehead, just as she had done with Mokona. That same, strange moment of stillness passed and she opened her eyes with a small nod and moved on to the ninja. Kurogane looked as though he might resist, but after a glance at both the boy and the creature he agreed. Then she turned to Fai.
A sudden apprehension rushed though him, but he answered her request with a cheerful smile. Whatever power she had, she obviously hadn't harmed Mokona or the others. She closed her eyes and brushed aside a lock of his golden hair to gently touch her finger to the precise centre of his forehead. For an instant he felt a serene calm wash over him, and felt, for the first time in his life, at peace. Then her touch was broken and real life flooded back in. Her eyes opened and met his, holding his gaze.
"You have magic," she said. It was not a question.
"As do you," he replied, his tone serious for the first time.
She simply smiled and continued, "And the boy, Syaoran, though not as powerful as yours.
" And you, little Mokona," she continued, turning and scooping Mokona up again, "Are a most wondrous creature!" Her tone was warm and cheery and the little white creature squealed with delight again as she fussed her between the ears. Whatever she had just done seemed to have changed her attitude towards them.
"I welcome you to this country. I apologise if our treatment of you has been a little discourteous, but I must do whatever necessary to ensure the safety of my people."
"I take it you have decided to trust us?" Fai asked, interested by her sudden change in manner.
"What exactly was it that you just did?" Kurogane asked, looking suspicious.
"I read your souls," she replied, as calmly as one might say, 'I shook your hand.'
Author's notes:
* This is actually a quote from the Sherlock Holmes novels I believe, and thus all credit goes to Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. In this world, occasional bits and pieces from our culture will be presented as old proverbs or ancient culture, being little pieces of the world before the Mesa rule that they were able to find or cling on to - for more information see Chapter 2!
Gaia was the Ancient Greek Goddess of the earth, similar to the modern idea of Mother Earth. She is not directly worshipped in this story, but I thought the idea of her would appeal to the people of this world, given their past (again, explored more in Chapter 2) and so the name will be used/referenced fairly frequently.
The name Mesa is used in this world almost as a swear word (again, why will be explained in Chapter 2), however if the name means anything to you in the real world I apologise for it's negative connotations here! I thought of it from Half Life and Portal's Black Mesa (although it has nothing to do with them at all), thought it sounded quite good and couldn't think of anything else.