Battle Scars- by SakugariHana
Pairing: Fai and Sakugari
Anime/Manga: Tsubasa Chronicles
Time: Cliffhanger/Tengu dimension (As far as I know, not in actual storyline, but I'm only on Vol. 17)
Kurogane and Syaoran ran, nearly sprinting, along one of the many cliffs in the dimension. Sakura was over Kurogane's left shoulder, unconscious after another recovered feather, and Mokona was riding on Syaoran's shoulder.
"Where'd he run off to now?" Kurogane yelled over the winds that constantly ravaged this world.
"This way! Just a little farther." Syaoran replied.
"Fai ran off after Sakugari!" Mokona yelled, referring to the girl with pink eyes they had met in the lake world on one of her 'missions.'
Sakugari had power over plants and life, and she was also a feared martial artist. Later on they had discovered Sakugari was the 41st successor to the Hana clan and it's signature attack; Kahenhari Tatsumaki, or The Petal Needle Tornado. Kurogane remembered having to fight it once and never wanted to have to face it again.
"Why is Fai going after her and ditching us in the middle of a battle anyway?" Kurogane yelled angrily. "Yes, she got stabbed in the shoulder and kidnapped by the Tengu leader, but still!"
"Mokona thinks Fai likes Sakugari! Even more than he says so! I know because it's one of Mokona's 108 Secret Techniques! Super Secret Discoverer!" Mokona interjected with his usual expression.
"If that's true, Fai-san might get himself killed trying to help her!" Syaoran yelled, running to catch up with Kurogane.
. . .
Sakugari opened her eyes. She saw a pool of her blood, which was curving downhill from her right shoulder. To her left was a cliff. She tried standing up, but her shoulder's condition stopped her at a sitting position.
"Dammit… need to find-" Sakugari then heard the shrill cry of a Tengu, and remembered why she was here. She saw the shadow of the bird-creature expanding over the cliff face as it came in for it's kill.
"DON'T THINK YOU'RE GONNA EAT ME TODAY!" Sakugari pulled out a kunai knife and, somersaulting backwards, plunged it into the creatures beak. It screeched with pain as blood spouted from the wound. Sakugari, spying her halberd, dove for it and grabbed it, just barely dodging the angry bleeding tengu. Fending off the Tengu by combining her bow staff fighting and Hana martial arts, she started backing towards the cliff.
The Tengu King then tore her halberd away from her, creating a foot-long gash on her arm. It lashed out at her again, slashing her left leg and the right side of her stomach. Her blood poured onto the cliff, more of it by the second it looked to her. The Tengu raised it's wing for the final blow.
"Gari-chan! MOVE!" Blue magic lights lashed out at her opponent, and Sakugari saw the young magician running toward her.
"Fai-san!" She cried happily. She took one step forward, and the Tengu backhanded her with his talon, cutting her right eye and sending her to the ground, mere inches from the cliff. She hit her head hard, and was only able to interpret the following battle through sound. After what seemed like years, Sakugari opened her eyes. Fai was bleeding from multiple cuts on his arms and legs, and his forehead was slashed under his hair and bleeding. The Tengu was also burned in multiple areas. She watched as the Tengu lashed out at Fai and Fai jumped back every time, using more small magic to burn the creature. Then, the Tengu hit Fai with it's wing, causing him to fly to the ground. Sakugari's eyes widened.
"FAI-SAN!" she screamed. Somehow, Fai found the strength to get up and fight again. Before the battle started up again, Sakugari knew she had to act fast. She took out her last Shuriken and threw it, embedding it in the Tengu's throat. The Tengu uttered a last defeated cry, flailing it's wings. Fai was knocked on his back as the Tengu fell over one of the cliffs.
Sakugari finally found the strength to stand and went to Fai as quick as she could. She knelt down beside him and lifted up his head. He was breathing, but unconscious. Smiling, she hugged his head, then lost all her strength and fell to the ground. She heard footsteps, felt she was being picked up, and the sound of traveling dimensions, but she didn't care. Even if he wasn't well, at least Fai was alive. Fai…
…
Sakugari slowly opened her eyes. They had both healed, and her injuries were all bandaged. She was in a hospital bed, and next to her, Fai was till in comatose.
"Fai-san…" she said slowly, reaching out and brushing his cheek.
"Good thing there was a hospital in this world, or we would've been in trouble!" Sakugari looked over at the rest of their group, who were all smiling. Apart from Kurogane, who had his usual scowl on his face.
"Good to hear." she smiled, then her gaze returned to Fai. "Can we just let them rest for a while?" Kurogane asked annoyed.
Syaoran smiled at him. "Sure. We'll be back later. Okay?"
Sakugari nodded and continued watching Fai as they left.
. . .
Fai woke with a start, and felt something on his face. He turned his head to see Sakugari's hand on his face. Fai gave her one of his optimistic smiles. Turning red under her bandages, she drew her hand away. Fai grabbed her wrist and drew her hand back to his cheek. Not understanding what he was doing, Sakugari only turned redder.
"Sorry! You're hand's just really warm Gari-chan." Fai replied, smiling again.
"Oh…" Sakugari said quietly. Then, something crossed her mind. "Fai-san?"
"Hm?" Fai looked in her direction again.
"Why did you leave the battle to come save me?"
This caught Fai off guard. At first he was taken aback, but then he came up with something. "Because I was the only one available at the time."
"Oh…" Gari said, averting her gaze to the wall. She thought of all the time they'd spent together; when she was nearly killed by a rival clansmen and Fai carried her around until she regained her strength, when Fai was thrown into a lake and she was the one who saved him, and the one moment burned in her mind from where catching a falling Mokona had nearly cost them both a kiss.
Fai looked at her questionably. But he knew Sakugari had expected a different answer, and to be honest so did he.
. . .
They were released from the hospital two days later. Almost everything had healed except the cut on Fai's forehead and the gash on Sakugari's arm. As they were walking down the hallway with their friends, Sakugari thought of something else.
"Fai-san?" her voice cracked as she said his name.
"Something wrong Gari-chan?" Fai asked, turning to her in the middle of the hallway. Syaoran, Sakura, and Kurogane stopped and turned to look at them.
"What was the real reason you came to help me?" she asked.
Fai was, once again, taken aback, and his face even took on a light shade of pink as well.
"Um…" Fai said, tapping his chin impatiently, trying to think of an answer.
"Fai-san?"
At this moment Kurogane clapped one hand over Sakura's eyes and one hand over Syaoran's eyes, simply telling them, "Trust me, this isn't for young kids…." Fai's face took on more pink as Sakugari looked into his blue eyes with her magenta ones. Sakugari put her hand on the side of his face, caressing it for a little bit.
"Gari-cha-" Fai began. He was cut off as she kissed his face, right next to his nose. He inhaled hard, his lungs slightly pained by the sudden reaction. His face took on a slight red now, but after a few seconds of shock, Fai closed his eyes and went along with it. When Sakugari broke away, she said the words he finally wanted to hear. "I thought it was for another reason. Like maybe… you like me more than you say you do?"
Fai, turning another shade of red, gave her another optimistic smile. "You guessed it."
"Hate to interrupt you two, but this is even making ME sick. Can we move it along?" Kurogane said impatiently as he let the two children see again and walked away. Giggling, Sakugari and Fai walked after their three companions and continued on their way.
. . .
"Hey Fai-san? You're too tall, it hurts my ankles to kiss you." Sakugari said. But before he got a chance to reply, Fai received a full on kiss, and one of the most memorable in his life. After that period in time, the group continued on their journey with some of them having new feelings toward their traveling companions.
Fin