Fai&Kurogane, prompt: times remembered and times forgotten.
Home.
It's an amorphous term, hardly worthy of second thoughts. But Fai dwells on it longer than he should, and whenever Mokona takes them to a different world, the thought emerges once more. It's like an itch he can't scratch, uncomfortable and sinking in to the very marrow of his bones unless they reach Clow Country, where Sakura-chan waits. Home is where the heart is, Princess Tomoyo grins, echoing a sentiment that guides them to the next place and the place after that.
Her presence is felt and missed by all, even Kuro-tan's, though he is prone to mutter something about a proper beating – that boy and the princess – and turn a shade of vermillion as he blusters his excuses in a way that Mokona protests at and Fai teases mercilessly. Some things never change.
Others do. At night, sleep is evasive, and Fai prowls in dark, trying not to disturb the others while he waits for the dreams to call his name. He never remembers falling asleep, but often awakens sprawled against doorways or the bottom of stairs, neck stiff from the awkward angle. Eventually, Kuro-chan tires of it, grumbling enough, and hoists him over his shoulders; Fai too surprised to fidget, and Tsubasa-kun watches them both with careful eyes, sitting up from his bed when Kurogane opens the door to his room and turns on the light. Not entirely callously, Kuro-rin chucks Fai into Tsubasa-kun's bed, narrowly missing the boy. The dip in the bed is not loud enough to muffle the squeak, and Fai scrambles to one side of the bed, while the Nihon swordsman strides to the other, all three squashed in the tiny bed.
"Mokona is joining this cuddle!" The funny creature slips into Tsubasa-kun's arms, and Fai catches a small smile playing on his face.
"Fine." Kuro-tan grumbles, and Fai laughs and prods his cheek. His frowny face reddens, same old, same old. "But we are all going to sleep."
It's happened before—they've shared sleeping in the same room before, back before the unhappiness began and the foundations of friendship were not quite there. But never—never quite like this.
Mokona's ear is tickling his elbow. Tsubasa-kun shifts slightly. Fai closes his eyes, comfortable already and falls asleep instantly.
The morning after, Kuro-chan has moved his arm across the bedpost, in order to prevent being pushed off the bed, and Fai feels better than he has in a while. An insufferable grin spreads on his face that lasts the entire day.
(Later, when they return and reunite with Tsubasa-chan, and they try to explain the situation, it settles into a pattern and a bed for all five is made. Tsubasa-kun and Tsubasa-chan are in the middle, with Fai and Kurogane on the other side; Mokona flitting between them all as Mokona pleases. To Kuro-chan's annoyance. His head rests on Tsubasa's shoulders, and when Fai wakes up that morning, he realizes with a smile that this is home, all five of them together, and leans over to pinch Kuro-rin's cheek in order to tell him good morning and send him on another rant which inevitably wakes everybody up. Not that anyone complains: just another day.)