Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa in any form but the manga.

Notes: My first attempt at anything not YYH! Well, okay, that's a lie; my first posted attempt!

Note 2: This is a drabble that I hope you all enjoy! It's a little oddly written in my opinion, but I like it, I think.

Normally, I'm much more into Fai and Kurogane, not necessarily as a couple (though I like that pairing) but this has very little Kurogane, and I apologize for that.

-o-o-o-o-

Leaving Those Behind

-o-o-o-o-

Fai was leaving.

That was all he knew; all he cared to know; all he thought he needed to know.

After all, the mage wasn't his responsibility.

What he chose to do with his life, what little of it he refused to live, was not Kurogane's problem.

That's what he thought he should feel, and so that is what he made himself feel.

-o-o-o-o-

Fai had woken up already knowing the worst was soon to happen.

The dreams had told him that long before anything else did; long before the ominous feeling of dread and death settled over the land they stayed in, chilling the temperature and sending the occupants scurrying for shelter; long before Kurogane asked him about his nervousness; long before he made his decision.

Chi's screams had woke him that morning, despite his attempts to yell back at her, to make her run and abandon her orders to guard Ashura from waking.

Tears ran down his face as he stared into the morning sun that streamed through the window; he had lost the last friend that he had.

Not that it mattered; he'd be dead soon anyways.

But true fear didn't hit the mage until he recalled his last thoughts. His last friend…No, that wasn't true anymore. He had three new friends; people he cared about; people he didn't want to loose; people he didn't want to die.

People he wouldn't let Ashura take again.

-o-o-o-o-

Sakura did not understand. She couldn't understand. The innocent girl didn't want to understand.

Everything that had happened to her, there were parts that were too good to be true. Such as the fact that she had three very close companions who were risking their lives for her for absolutely no reason.

In the beginning, she was almost frightful that one might leave her, or prove that everything in this fairy tale wasn't as good as it appeared.

And it was finally happening.

Fai was leaving her, them, everyone. The man who had so resembled a brother in his every caring move was leaving her. It was painful to think about, painful to ignore as well.

Sakura felt the pain of losing one she cared deeply for. She loved Fai in all her innocence. Perhaps not as she loved Syoaran-kun, but like an elder brother who had always been there for her, like Toya, she hurt deep in her heart to know that Fai was leaving.

Maybe, as the tears gathered in her eyes, she could convince him not to go; not to run.

Maybe, but she didn't think he would listen. He would flash his smile, and tell her that he had to do what he had to do.

And that's exactly what he did.

-o-o-o-o-

Syoaran was watching with less confused eyes. Unlike the princess, he understood more of why Fai was leaving. He knew that it was really for their sake. Just as everything he'd done so far, surprisingly, was for their sake.

He hadn't used magic for their sake.

He had smiled for their sake.

Pretended to be happy for their sake.

Tried to make everything better for their sake.

And he had hidden everything for their sake.

Now he was running for their sake as well.

As Fai told Makona to send him away, Syoaran knew everything he needed to know, and could assume so much more.

Fai and Mokana had been together this morning when he awoke and descended the stairs with his princess. They had been whispering, and for the rest of the day, poor Makona Madoki had seemed so depressed, so forced to smile and make everything seem alright.

He had seemed so much like Fai, who was doing the same thing with more strain than ever before.

And it was obvious now that the mage was leaving; that morning, Fai had asked Mokona to send him to a world where none of them would ever visit; a world without a feather.

He wasn't sure if Makona could choose the worlds, but it seemed that he had agreed to try.

Or perhaps Fai had made another deal with Yuuko.

Either way, it didn't matter now as wings spread from Makona's back, lifting him into the air.

Syoaran never got the chance to thank Fai for everything he'd done.

-o-o-o-o-

Creak

Deep blue eyes opened as the bar door squeaked open, swinging on its older hinges. The door swung shut with a soft thud.

Thump

Thump

Fingers twitched on the worn, wooden table as footsteps drew nearer. Blonde strands moved gently over those pale hands.

Ba-bump

Ba-bump

A lonely heart began to beat louder, and just a bit faster as booted feet stopped at his table, those blue eyes staring at them through a curtain of hair.

"Hello, Fai."

Slowly, a head strewn in the silkiest, most beautiful golden white hair most had ever seen, lifted from the worn table and the empty tankard of ale. Crystal blue eyes that held so much behind them; love, loss, magic, and humanity, stared at the figure before him in neither judgment nor decision.

"Hello, Ashura."

-o-o-o-o-

Wow, first attempt at another fanfiction and it ends up being one of my first one shots ever.

Interesting.

Well, this just came to mind after I read several various fanfiction and such. I only wanted to do a oneshot, but I'm planning a longer story involving Ashura returning.

Can't quite finish it until I can read the end of the 16 and maybe 17 volumes of manga.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoyed this short little drabble of writing.

Aaaand, I really haven't decided if I'm going to continue it or not…I'm not sure where exactly it could go, so probably not. But if I think of some oddly amazing place to take it, I might just continue it.