I don't own Tsubasa.
Parallel
Who is this girl? And why does she seem so familiar? She sure does act like someone we know… but who? (To see a picture of her, visit my website .com and head to the gallery. Look under "Asuka's Pictures", and it should be towards the end, entitled "Dragon Girl")
"I swear, I know that chick from somewhere!" Kurogane muttered under his breath as he walked past another guest in the hotel where he, Fai, Asuka, Sakura, Syaoran, and Mokona were staying.
"But where?" Fai asked, having heard Kurogane.
"Dunno," Kurogane said back.
"She's cute, isn't she?" Fai said.
The girl in question was very tall and thin, with flowing blonde hair and bright, sparkling blue eyes. But everything about her, even the way she moved and the way she spoke, seemed familiar to Kurogane. Perhaps she was one of those parallel versions of people that he knew. He ran into those a lot. But the problem was, he couldn't remember seeing her ever in his life. Which made it very strange that she even looked familiar.
"Honestly, why don't you two just go talk to her next time you see her?" Asuka sighed.
"She kind of looks like you, Asuka. In a roundabout way," said Fai.
"Yeah, she looks like your older sister, or something," Kurogane remarked.
"I think she looks nice. You should talk to her, Kurogane," Sakura suggested.
"Well, if all of you are just going to stand around arguing about whether or not to go talk to someone, I'm going to talk to her myself!" Asuka chirped.
"Mokona wants to come, too!" Mokona squealed happily.
So, Mokona and Asuka went off down the hallway in the direction that the girl had gone. They found her sitting alone in the hotel's lounge, smiling at everyone who walked past her.
"Hi!" Asuka said, and sat down on the chair next to the girl's. The mysterious girl turned around in her chair to face Asuka, and positioned herself with her elbows resting on the arm of the chair and her face cupped in her hands.
"Hello," she said pleasantly.
"I was just wondering… what's your name?" Asuka asked. "You remind me of someone, I'm just not sure who."
"Ai," the girl answered quickly. Perhaps too quickly. But her wide smile reassured Asuka that it was the right answer. The name was not familiar, and so she was probably not a parallel version of anyone. "I've noticed that I live in the room across the hall from yours," Ai said.
"Yeah, you do," Asuka said.
"Who are your companions?" Ai asked. "They don't look much like your family."
"Oh, well, they aren't. We're just all friends," Asuka explained.
"What's the dark-haired man's name? The one with the red eyes," Ai said.
"Uh… he's named Kurogane," Asuka said, wondering if Ai knew Kurogane. It had been the bad-tempered ninja who had first suggested that she looked strangely familiar to someone. Ai absent-mindedly traced the silver dragon pattern embroidered on her coat with one long finger as she spoke.
"He's very handsome," she said. "But he seems to have a bad temper. Part of me wants to get on his bad side, just to see what would happen, but part of me… likes him… and doesn't want to do that." Asuka found that strange. A girl who wanted to pester Kurogane was not a common type of person. Usually only people like Fai risked annoying him.
"Yeah, I guess," Asuka said, not really knowing what to answer. She wasn't quite sure what to make of this girl.
???
"So, did you figure out who that girl is?" Kurogane asked as Asuka returned.
"No, but it's driving me crazy!" Asuka squealed in frustration.
"Did you ask her name?" Fai asked. "The parallels of people always have the same names, so…"
"She said her name is Ai. I've never heard that name before," Asuka said.
"Maybe we don't know her," Kurogane sighed.
"Yeah, maybe Kuro-puu is just insane!" Fai laughed, and then ducked out of the way of Kurogane, who tried to hit him with a pillow.
"Um… we should probably go to bed…" Syaoran suggested weakly, even though the two older men were not listening.
???
The next morning, all five travelers, plus their little fluffy mascot, were going downstairs to eat breakfast. Kurogane was in a very foul mood, because he had to share a bed with Fai, who was rolling around the whole night and keeping him awake.
"I think Kuro-rin is a little grouchy," Fai said to Asuka.
"Shut up," Kurogane said in a halfhearted attempt to get Fai to be quiet. "It's too early for that."
"For what?" Fai asked.
"Your stupid nicknames, of course," Kurogane growled in reply.
The door across the hallway slammed open suddenly, causing all of the travelers to jump in surprise. "Good morning!" Ai said happily, walking into the hallway to join the rest of the group. "How're you today, Kuro-chan?" she asked Kurogane.
"What the heck?" Kurogane said in surprise. "How did you know about…?"
"The nicknames!?" Asuka said, finishing Kurogane's sentence.
"Huh? I just felt like giving you a nickname. Asuka said your name was Kurogane. Is that right? Kuro-chan?" Ai giggled. Asuka and Fai glanced at each other. Fai had never spoken with Ai, and so he wouldn't have said anything about all his nicknames for Kurogane.
"Asuka, did you mention Kuro-tan's nicknames?" Fai whispered. Asuka shook her head.
"Bye, Kuro-rin!" Ai laughed, and ran off down the hall.
"I guess it's a funny coincidence that she thought to give Kurogane a nickname," Syaoran said once Ai was out of earshot.
"There is no coincidence," Mokona quoted, imitating Yuko's voice. Asuka and Sakura both laughed at the imitation.
"But seriously," Sakura said when she stopped laughing, "it was very strange."
???
Later, when the group caught up with Ai again, they were in the pool area. Asuka and Fai were extremely excited that they were in a world where they could go swimming, and had even bought everyone swimsuits for the occasion.
"Hey, you guys!" Ai said happily when she saw them, and then promptly hopped out of the water, pranced over, and hugged Kurogane, so that he was now soaking wet.
"What was that for!?" Kurogane shouted angrily. Ai just smiled and dashed away, as he chased her around the pool. A moment later, the lifeguard yelled for them to stop running around the pool. And so Ai leapt into the water, splashing it up into Kurogane's face. This only served to infuriate the already annoyed ninja even more.
"Looks like Kuro-puppy is going to be very annoyed so long as we're with her," Fai laughed.
"Shut up!" Kurogane shouted, and threw his wet shirt at Fai's face. Fai tackled Kurogane so that both of them fell into the pool, causing the lifeguard to yell at them again.
"I think you two…er…three… should stop fooling around!" Syaoran suggested.
"Yeah, you're going to get us into trouble!" Sakura agreed. Fai laughed a little, and then looked at Asuka, who was strangely silent. And by the expression on her face, it was like a lightbulb had gone off over her head.
???
"Asuka! What did you figure out back at the pool!?" Fai interrogated as soon as they were away from Ai and all five travelers had changed back into regular clothes.
"I think I know who Ai is," Asuka said. "She's a parallel."
"Yeah, but of who?" Syaoran asked. "We already figured out what her name is. And we don't know anyone else by that name, or who looks like her."
"Maybe she's a different age," Sakura suggested. "Maybe when we met her in another world, she was a lot younger, or a lot older." Asuka just shook her head.
"That's not it. I think it's a fake name, but that's beside the point. Does anyone know if these 'parallel versions' of people are gender specific?" she asked.
"You mean…" Kurogane began.
"Try putting an 'F' at the beginning of her name," Asuka said. Kurogane looked at the blond wizard sitting next to him.
"So, Ai is a female version of…" Fai said, his blue eyes wide with shock. But before he finished his sentence, there was a knock on the door. Kurogane stood to answer it, and found Ai standing there.
"Hi there, Kuro-sama!" she said, and hugged him.
"Glomping Kurogane…making up random nicknames…that carefree smile… I think we're right," Asuka whispered to Fai.
"Ai," Fai said, catching the girl's attention. She released Kurogane and looked at him. Fai was being incredibly serious, and that feeling soon radiated throughout the room. "Why did you make up a fake name?" Fai asked.
"Because… I knew that I was a parallel version of you. Only a girl," Ai said. "I know about magic, and about traveling dimensions. I met someone once who told me about it. I thought you wouldn't find that out if I told you my name was Ai."
"So your name is Fai, right?" Sakura asked.
"Yes," she replied. "But you can call me Ai still, so that we don't get confused. Anyway, how'd you find that out?"
"Asuka noticed it," Fai said.
"Really…" Ai trailed off. "You must know this Fai really well, then."
"Yes, I do know Fai well," Asuka said, "But I mean, Kurogane knows Fai well. I noticed it with your name. You reminded me of Fai, and your name was the last two letters of his name. What else was more obvious?"
"Well, I'm leaving the hotel tonight," Ai said, sounding a little sad. "I came to say goodbye to all of you. It was so much fun meeting you all!"
"You too! I never thought I'd meet a female version of myself!" Fai laughed.
"Okay, then, bye, all of you!" Ai said. "Oh! And Kuro-tan…" She walked the length of the room to Kurogane, and kissed him on the cheek. "I'll miss you," she said to him, and then left the room.
"You're blushing," Fai notified Kurogane, and poked him in the shoulder.
"Shut up!" Kurogane snapped. "Seriously, though, I should have known she was a female version of you. I've never been more annoyed by a girl in my entire life."