I do not own Tsubasa Chronicle...

"What are you doing, princess?" a question was heard behind her, yet she never turned around to answer. All she could so was stare out in the open, from the slightly lightened balcony. If she were to look down, she would perfectly recognize Souma's silhouette reflected on the floor as a dark shadow, by the small burning candles inside one of her many rooms.

Staring further away, up at the crescent moon risen on the night sky, she came to understand the bitter irony hidden inside her situation: a princess who believed to have it all… and yet who had nothing… not now… not anymore…

She had sent him away with such a lighthearted smile. She had explained him all his errors and imperfections with such easiness… yet she had been a fool and a blind person to think that her own flaws would keep her away from such a state… such a painful stat of loneliness… But, in the end, she was the princess… and he was her warrior, her champion… and, someday, perhaps he would've been his own kingdom's leader. But, as long as he remained in her service, all his sins were hers as well. And yet… all this time… she had blamed only him…

When she had opened that portal, she had never considered him to be gone for such a long time… she had never thought his missing to be so painful to her… she had never believed him to be so attached to her heart. Maybe a small part of her had been conscious of that, forcing her to place the second spell over him… but she had never taken in her calculations this particular situation… she had never thought of herself to fall in love with such a man…

And yet… she was!

"Princess?" Souma's voice tried to bring her back, with a slightly worried tone. The female ninja had always been protective of her master… but she could never substitute him… Souma could never be him…

In spite of his ruthless murders, his mad attitudes and flaming anger… he had been her strongest connection with reality and life through all her visions and nightmares. Whenever an enemy was too close, his red eyes would always remind her of him and, as a miracle, he would appear out of nowhere and protect her… even with his own life if needed.

But when he had learned of her plans… when he had found himself trapped in her spells… then he had become as enraged as ever… then he had called her names that had stabbed her heart deeper than any sword might have… he had unleashed his anger directly at her and she had taken all the blame on her shoulders… for what she considered to be the sake of her country.

She hoped that now, after all this time apart, he would learn to forgive… and perhaps, if he were never to return, to even forget. She knew that she was probably being selfish… that she had been selfish from the first moment, wishing for him to change according to her own will… but she now wished him to find his way and become once again the human she had discovered in the first day, when she had found him protecting the corpse of his mother against whomever came too close.

"Princess?" the tone grew a bit louder and she almost felt the female ninja step closer.

However, her eyes couldn't rip themselves away from the huge moon crossing the incredibly dark sky, lightened only by it's tremendous Queen and the small, glimmering constellations, which adorned the vault more beautiful than diamonds would a piece of black velvet. Whenever she would look at the unique satellite, she would only see the red piece of cloth on his forehead, carrying a similar sign. Whenever she would know the moonless night, she would only imagine his dark, spiky hair. Whenever wind would pass through her hair, she would only think of his eyes and the gentleness they carried inside every time he would pass a hand through her long strands.

Oh, how much she could miss those rare and simple, yet priceless caresses… those times when he would simply act human, and not the merciless killer in her service… those times when they were nothing but a man and a woman…

She had always thought him to joke… she had always thought him to tease and nothing else… and still, she had always hoped for more…

"Tomoyo…" a gentle caress passed through her loosen strands as a deep voice whispered in her ear. Her eyes widened at the realisation that it might actually be him… Denied tears broke through the barrier her eyelashes formed and fell down, on her beautiful pale face.

"Hate me for what I have done to you… Send me away for the spells I cast upon you… Kill me for my unjust deeds…" her voice pleaded with no power as she felt a movement and the well-known stranger stood in front of her. Afraid to open her eyes and meet his verdict, she shivered as a set of hands settled themselves on each side of her waist.

"Hate you? Send you away? Kill you?" in spite of the low tone, rage could still be detected inside. "Even if you were right to send me there in the first place? Even if my destiny was to cross those Universes along with my friends?" At the hearing of the last word, the princess could no longer take it and opened widely her indigo eyes, only to meet the sight of two red orbs she had so thirstily longer for. "Even if that journey was necessary for me to understand my own feelings?" Who was this man? It could no longer be the warrior that had left her world so long ago… too long ago… Surprised by her deep silence, he smiled lightly. "Well, isn't my Princess going to welcome me back? Her own protector?"

"Who are you? You cannot be the same Kurogane that grew up by my side." She spoke, rather scared of what his answer might bring inside her soul.

"That Kurogane changed… That Kurogane evolved into something not even you could predict, it seems. That Kurogane became the man you now see in front of you, less than a breath away…"

"But…?"

"Aren't you glad to see me, Princess? Or is your heart no longer in its rightful place?" a hint of sadness.

"But my heart has never been in its rightful place… Not ever since you left anyway… And maybe, now that it had returned… maybe now it will help me understand the new you…" she confessed, an unusual faint blush now covering her cheeks… and still, her eyes would never leave his… not for her life…

"I have long ago understood you, Tomoyo… I have understood and agreed with you… I have accepted my fate: at first as an orphan… then as a warrior… later, as a traveller with no other way but to comply with the rest of the Universe… and last… as a man who had finally learned the term "love"…" As one strong hand surrounded her waist, the other climbed up and gently touched her skin… as if he was afraid his china doll might break from the contact. Although his hands were still rough from holding the sword and fighting whatever threatening dangers, Tomoyo couldn't help but feel his touch the silkiest possible.

"Forgive me… forgive me for whatever harm I might have caused you… forgive me for whatever pain my actions have brought upon you…" she pleaded one last time.

"But… my love… I have long ago forgiven you…" he ended and sealed his words with a never-ending kiss.

In the end, Souma's voice had never asked again of her princess' welfare. Whoever was to see the protective light trapped within Kurogane's eyes would immediately understand the power which kept Tomoyo safe… and the love which brought her warmth with each and every one of his heartbeats. Her love was now Their love… Her life was now Their life… and Her world was now Theirs… Now and forever, as long as the Queen of the Night shone over their path and enlightened each darkness… along with her numerous glimmering subjects…

Wow, this is my first Tsubasa Chronicle one-shot. I've been thinking for quite a while to write one for this anime, but I didn't have the necessary inspiration... until tonight :P Written in half an hour, so it's nothing big really. However, some reviews would be nice...