This is by far the longest oneshot I've ever written. XD

I think it's obvious that I had waaaaaay too much fun with this one.

6. Break Away is one that I based more off of the song by Kelly Clarkson than the phrase itself. ^_^' But still...This was insanely fun. *heart*

Alright, I'm going to school now, so I'll finish editing this later. Bye-bye~

CRASH!

"Sakura-hime, are you alright!"

"Syaoran-kun? Where are you?"

"Hyuu, I can't see a thing!"

"Where the hell are we, white manjuu!"

"Teehee, we've reached the next world!"

"I can see that!"

"Really? Wow, Kuro-pipi must have better eyes than me! All I see is darkness!"

"Shut up, damn magician! And it's Kurogane!"

Suddenly, a bright light filled the room, causing our heroes to all clamp their eyes shut. Kurogane opened his slowly to see that the white manjuu was glowing, or rather, the jewel on its forehead was. "What the hell?"

Mokona just giggled, as usual. "It's one of Mokona's 108 secret techniques! Star power!" it said proudly.

"You're a meat bun, not a –" Kurogane began before Mokona slammed into him.

"Star power!" it said indignantly, hopping into Fai's lap. The magician looked as relaxed and comfortable as he always did, despite having no clue where they were. Kurogane assumed he was just happy that it wasn't that world of his where the man slept underwater. Syaoran, meanwhile, was busying himself with making a place for the princess to sit.

Kurogane looked around the room with only vague interest. Now that he could see, he noticed boxes piled all around them, with metal walls on each side. The warehouse had small windows near the top, but no light shone through them. Rain pounded on the windowpanes and the roof, drowning out any other sound from outside.

"Princess!"

Kurogane turned back to see Sakura lying motionless on the floor with Fai and Syaoran leaning over her.

"Don't worry, she's just asleep," said Fai. He removed his coat and placed it gently on top of her, and then he lied down himself. "It looks like it's night here anyway, and we haven't really slept lately. It'd be smart for us to rest some too. Seeing Syaoran's anxious expression, he added, "You'll be no good to Sakura-chan if you're half-dead. Now sleep."

Syaoran reluctantly sat down by the princess. Kurogane leaned back and closed his eyes. The magician was right; they were no good like this, so this chance to sleep was a blessing. He opened one eye slightly as he yawned, and he saw Fai lying face down. His thought before he fell into a deep, dreamless sleep was wondering why the blonde slept in such an uncomfortable position…

-X-

Kurogane felt the early morning light hit his still closed eyes, and he opened them hesitantly, enjoying the haze of slumber. As feeling returned to his sleep-numb body, he felt something encircling his waist. Looking down, he saw Fai thoroughly attached to him like a leech, a content, catlike smile on his face.

"Wake up, damn it!" Kurogane yelled angrily. Syaoran jumped to his feet, prepared to protect his princess, who still slept soundly. Fai yawned and slowly opened his eyes.

"G'morning," he greeted drowsily, cuddling up to Kurogane again. The ninja tried in vain to push him away before just giving up.

"Um, Fai-san?" Syaoran asked tentatively, somewhat unwilling to wake the sleepy man.

"Mm?"

"Don't you think we should start looking for Sakura-hime's feather?"

Fai blinked at him and detached himself from Kurogane with another yawn. "We might as well. If Kuro-tan can wake up, that is," he said, casting a mock-glare at Kurogane.

"I'm not the one that just woke up," Kurogane muttered. All the same, he stood and, locating a staircase, started upstairs. Fai followed, and Syaoran looked back at the still sleeping princess.

"Don't worry!" Mokona said as it jumped into Syaoran's hands. "Mokona will protect Sakura!" It kissed Syaoran on the cheek and then hopped over to Sakura's immobile form.

Syaoran smiled, relieved. "Thanks," he said before dashing after the adults.

-X-

Syaoran hurried outside to find himself faced with an absolutely stunning landscape. They were on the edge of a softly glowing city, facing a beautiful park with multi-colored birds sitting in emerald green trees. A waterfall fell into a distant sapphire lake, the roar of which could be faintly heard. The ground was free of litter, and the air even smelled pure. Syaoran found himself thinking of how romantic this would be if he were standing here with Sakura. Shaking the unbidden thought from his head, he jogged over to where Fai and Kurogane were. Kurogane looked immensely uncomfortable, and even Fai seemed to be a bit tense.

"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked, confused. "Isn't this place amazing? It's like a lover's paradise!"

"That's the problem," Kurogane said through gritted teeth. "I think it's just that."

"What do you mean?"

"Don't you notice that we're being stared at? More than usual, I mean. Look; everyone is paired up, and I'd say there's more to the relationships than just 'partners'."

Kurogane was right; everywhere he looked Syaoran saw people holding hands, kissing, and more. He blushed and mumbled something about the princess before leaving quickly.

Fai looked at Kurogane with a slight smirk. "Well, Kuro-myuu…You know Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan will inevitably be paired together, which means…"

Kurogane glanced at him and then looked away quickly. "You go get Mokona, and I'll say I'm a narcissist," he decided, wandering away. Fai grabbed his hand and gently pressed his lips to it.

"I don't think anyone's going to buy that," he said softly as he gazed up at the taller man.

Kurogane stared back and then growled and grabbed Fai around his hips, drawing him close. "Fine," he said. "But I am not the uke."

Fai's eyes widened and he grinned. "Although I somehow doubt things will be that drastic, whatever you say goes, Kuro-seme."

"…And as your seme, I order you to quit giving me nicknames."

"Hm…nope~!"

Kurogane had no time to get angry before Syaoran breathlessly came running back, dragging Sakura behind him. The girl was rubbing her eyes and trying her very best to be alert.

"Hyuu, Syaoran-kun sure returned in a hurry with Sakura-chan!" Fai teased with a wink.

Syaoran turned red and cleared his throat. "We didn't miss anything, did we?" Syaoran asked, honest wonder turning into suspicion as he took in Kurogane and Fai's position.

"Not at all!" Fai laughed. He twirled, Kurogane's hand over his head, and smiled. "We just had a dramatic confession of love~!"

"That was not a love confession!" Kurogane yelled, dropping Fai's hand in favor of chasing him. A rainbow colored feather floated down gently and landed in Fai's arms. Reminded of the reason they were there, he stopped suddenly, causing Kurogane to barrel into him.

"This is romantic, eh?" Fai said with Kurogane lying face-down on top of him. He propped his head on his hand with a grin as Kurogane silently stood up, cheeks turning crimson.

Fai got up himself and seemed to be deep in thought, pondering something. Then he clapped suddenly as a light bulb went off over his head. "A date!" he announced.

Kurogane and Syaoran stared at him. "Have you gone completely insane?" the man asked.

Fai shook his head impatiently. "We need to gather information about the feather, right? And in this world, everyone has a romantic partner, right? So what better to do than go on a date?" he said confidently. "So first…clothes!" He whisked Sakura away before she had a chance to react, and Kurogane and Syaoran exchanged incredulous glances before they followed.

-X-

Kurogane sat outside the Piffle Princess clothing shop. He impatiently tapped his finger on the hilt of his sword as he waited with Syaoran for the princess and the mage. The world they had landed in was pretty, he had to admit. Still, those birds were annoying, and he despised the idea of going on a date with the mage. Well…At least Fai was girly looking, so he could feel like he retained some of his masculinity. And truthfully, the magician was sort of…

"Kuro-nyon~!"

…cute.

Fai had apparently done his research on Kurogane's home country, because of all things, he was wearing a women's yukata. With the large sky blue obi tied around his waist, the dragon-patterned summer kimono gave him the illusion of having a stunning figure.

Wait. He was definitely not just admiring the magician's curves.

Fai caught Kurogane's eyes and grinned. "Well, don't I look pretty?" he asked, spinning happily.

Kurogane simply averted his eyes.

Fai felt a pang of regret stab his heart at the ninja's lack of a response, but he hid it with a flirtatious smile as he took Kurogane's hand. "Sakura-chan!" he called back. "Come on! You look amazing, I promise!"

Sakura shyly stepped out of the shop, her face as red as Syaoran's. She was garbed in a short, hime Lolita-style dress that was pink with small white crowns covering it. She stared down at her feet, unwilling to meet Syaoran's gaze.

Fai nudged the frozen boy. Syaoran fixed a smile onto his face and put his arm around Sakura. "You look beautiful," he said honestly. His smile quickly became real as Sakura in turn smiled at him.

"Aw, look at the little lovebirds!" Fai laughed, causing the children to blush and pull apart. "Anywho, we should split up. Mokona, you can go with Syaoran and Sakura and hit…um…some strategic dating location."

"Alrighty!" Mokona said, surprising Kurogane by jumping out of Fai's yukata. "Movie, movie theater!" it sang happily as it hopped away with Syaoran and Sakura trailing it cluelessly.

"So, where shall we move our date?" Fai asked softly, turning to Kurogane, who simply shrugged. "How about the park then? It's a romantic enough location, and there are an awful lot of people there."

Kurogane nodded and started walking with Fai still holding his hand. They wandered toward a lake down a trail lined with cherry trees. Fai jabbered about some unrelated subject, and Kurogane remained silent.

"So, Kuro-rin…When did you first know that you loved me?" Fai asked, batting his eyelashes at the red-eyed man. They were nearing the waterfall, and the rumble of water made it difficult to hear much, but when he received no response, he continued. "For me, it was love at first sight. I knew from the moment I saw you that you must be an amazing person, and I—" He broke off as Kurogane slammed him into a tree. With one arm by his side, and the other over the magician's head, Kurogane had him trapped.

"Listen, you idiot," he growled as Fai flinched. "I don't love you. I don't even like you. So quit saying this damn shit about you being in love with me when you don't mean it either. Guys like you make me sick." With that, Kurogane released him and started away, leaving Fai frozen at the tree with his blue eyes hidden.

"But what if I do?" came the faint response.

Kurogane stopped but didn't turn around. "What?"

"I don't deserve to. All my life I've done nothing but bring pain and sadness to those I care about. But…I can't help it, so….in order to save you from suffering as the others did, I'll just…" Fai's voice broke, and Kurogane whirled around to see him standing on the edge of the waterfall. "…disappear…"

"NO!" Kurogane shouted as Fai tumbled from the cliff. He sprinted to the edge and looked down, desperately scanning the churning water below, but to no avail.

Fai was gone.

Kurogane sat back, stunned, and then he suddenly punched the ground. "Damn it damn it DAMN IT!" His fists grew bloody, but he kept going, this being his only outlet for the emotions that were raging inside him, stronger than the waterfall. "Why-did-you-have-to do-that!" Finally he had no choice but to stop, his knuckles raw. Panting, he looked up at the sky and sighed. "You didn't even let me tell the truth…That I…love you…"

"Aw, thanks, Kuro-puu~!"

"What the hell!" Kurogane first jumped up and then fell backwards as Fai appeared, white-faced but otherwise fine. He was hanging onto the back of one of the colorful birds. "H-how did you do that!"

The huge bird glided over the cliff, and Fai jumped down nimbly. The bird landed beside him, and Fai stroked the bird's beak gently. "This guy saved me," he said fondly. "I knew he would, but…if you didn't actually love me, he wouldn't have. He only helps those who are able to love and be loved in turn." Fai gulped and laughed shakily. "For a minute there, in the middle of my freefall, I didn't think he was going to."

Kurogane stared at Fai, speechless. "You—! What the hell is the point of that!" he yelled furiously.

Fai blinked. "This, of course." He released the bird's head, and it plucked a feather from its wing. It offered it to Fai, who took it and waved it in front of Kurogane. "Sakura-chan's feather! It could only be obtained by someone willing to face the risk of literally 'falling in love'."

"…and how did you learn this?"

"I left last night while you all were sleeping. You know, you may be a ninja, but you sleep like a rock!"

"You—! You—!"

Kurogane was saved from his inability to form a coherent sentence by the arrival of Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona.

"Mokona went 'Mekkyo!' a few minutes ago, so we got here as soon as possible!" the manjuu said.

"Oh, my feather!" said Sakura. Fai ceremoniously presented it to her, and she fainted, as always. Syaoran caught her and set her delicately against a tree.

"Thank you so much, Kurogane-san, Fai-san!" Syaoran bowed to each in turn.

"Puh-lease! I'm the one who took all the risks!" Fai complained, sticking his tongue out at Kurogane.

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Whatever. I'm the one who was humiliated."

"At least you didn't stare death in the eye!"

"Aren't you suicidal anyway?"

"That doesn't mean I wanna die!"

"It's the definition of the word!"

Mokona jumped between the two. "Don't fight!" it commanded. "I have an announcement!" Fai and Kurogane looked at Mokona curiously. "A kiss!"

"Eh?" the men said together.

"Syaoran and Sakura, a—" Mokona found itself smothered by Syaoran as the boy hurriedly covered its mouth, blushing brilliantly.

"No such thing ever happened!" Syaoran muttered, dragging Mokona away.

Fai and Kurogane watched the boy go, and then Fai turned to face Kurogane. "It may not be right for the parents to copy the children, but shall we?" he asked suggestively.

Kurogane looked down at him wordlessly. Fai closed his eyes and stood on his tip-toes to reach the ninja. Their mouths barely touched before Kurogane pulled away, causing Fai to stumble and fall. "Absolutely not," Kurogane said, heading after the kid. "I'm still mad at you."

"Hey, Kuro-tan! Come on! Hey!"