Title: Laugh
Fandom: Tsubasa: Reservoir Chronicles
Characters: Kurogane, Fai, others
Rating: PG-13
Author: Youkohieifan
Prompt: Laugh

Another world and another feather. The group had just escaped the caves that they had been brought to by the mask-wearing people of this world. Safely undercover, they stopped. Fai and Mokona bursting into laughter.

"Syaoran-kun would you like me to show you how to wink?" Fai took the teen off to the side and with Mokona's help began teaching him the secret art of winking.

"Kurogane-san, is something wrong with Syaoran-kun's eye?"

"No, he's fine, the idiot and white thing are just being dumb."

"I heard that Kuro-run!" The ninja cringed, not turning to look back look at the smug face he knew was there.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Mokona had sensed a feather nearby and they were on their way towards it when they came across a swamp. The mage held his nose in disgust, as Sakura stood near him.

"This is gross, Sakura-chan and I will stay behind whie the Puppies bring back the feather."

"Like hell you will, the kid will stay behind, while we and the pork bun look for the feather."

"Mokona will stay here, I don't want to get goop on my fur."

"But Kuro-pon, my clothes will get dirty and gross!" Kurogane shook an angry fist at the two, and the blonde finally relented. Fai stood, his coat's held in Sakura's arm's, and made his way over to Kurogane. The ninja had thrown down his cloak and stood waiting on the mage.

"Oi, Manjuu, were exactly is the feather?"

"Not far from here, it's very close, Daddy and Mommy should be able to see it."

Kurogane glared at Mokona and stepped into the swamp, his leg immediately sinking downward in the griny muck. The blonde cringed and would have left if not for the ninja clutching onto his arm. Slowly they made their way through the thigh-high water. The children and pork bun were out of sight now and they had found no trace of the feather.

"Shit!" Cursed the ninja, he had almost lost his boot to the thick mud. Fai was holding on to the other man's shoulder's whining the entire way.

"If the white thing lied, I'll rip him apart and have you cook it!" Fai laughed at the image of a Mokona-eared cake.

"Kuro-mmmyyyyuuuuuu, do you see anything yet?" The ninja refused to answer. Garnet eye's scanned the area, nothin but tree's covered in overhanging vines and moss. The occasional bird and bug flying by. A splash of color against the green's and brown's of the swamp caught both mens' attention.

A tree stood in the center of the water, long roots raising out of the murky water. Flower's bloomed against the tree, in the center something white was caught in the vines that wrapped around the old tree.

"I think we found Sakura's feather, Puppy."

Slowly they made their way up to the tree, Fai climbing on Kurogane's shoulder's reaching for the feather. Hands ripping away at the flowering vine's. Fai grasped the feather and lost his balance. Kurogane couldn't compensate for the weight atop his shoulder's. Both fell backward's, the blonde's arms flailin wildly, while the other held tightly on to the mage's leg's. A splat was heard as both hit the mud.

"Eeeeewwwww!!!!!" Squeeled an unhappy Fai.

"Get up, and stop being so dramatic!" Kurogane had released the blonde's leg's and had managed to raise himself into a standing position.

"I'm sinking, help, Big Puppy, fetch or something!"

The ninja pulled the mage up, both their backsides and hair covered in slime. Thin fingers still held onto the feather, as they made their way back. Trudging through the mud Kurogane stopped when he heard Fai yelling.

"Kuro-tan, I'm stuck and I lost my shoe!"

Kurogane turned to look back at Fai who currently had his leg up, trying to keep his shoeless foot from getting any dirtier.

"Stop being a baby."

"Come get me!" Fai reached out for the man, trying to persuade him to come. It didn't work and Fai fell face first into the mud. He had no puchase in the swamp's grim, and only became dirtier.

"HAHAHAHA" He finally managed to heave himself up and looked bewildered at Kurogane. So much for staying remotely quite so those people couldn't ambush them again.

He did however stand entranced by the other's handsomely deep laughter, not even daring to wipe the mud off that was currently oozing down his face, for fear the man would stop.

Kurogane continued laughing at the disheveled mage, even wiping tear's from his eye's. The ninja trugded over to the blonde, lifting him up into his arm's, struggling to not sink any further. They returned to the kid's, Sakura gasped as she looked at the state of her family.

"Kurogane-san, Fai-san, what happened." Kurogane still held a smirk as Fai smiled at his princess.

"We fell in the mud, but Kuro-wankoro saved me!"

"Mage what have I told you about the nickname's?" Mischeif gleamed in the red eye's as he looked down at the blonde in his arm's.

"Kuro-rinta wouldn't." Kurogane smiled at him, Fai couldn't hold on to the ninja, the mud making them slippery, as Fai was thrown into the air. and landed in the thick mud. Syaoran stood shell-shocked, Sakura gasped as Mokona laughed. Fai lifted himself on his elbow's, pouting up at the ninja.

A hand was held out to him as Kurogane chuckled at him. "Don't pout." Fai was pulled up into Kurogane's embrace were a broad hand wiped away mud-caked lock's of hair.

"I want a kiss, or you'll eat nothing but sugar for a week!"

"You're covered in mud and you smell like a swamp." Fai pulled the ninja into a kiss and both pulled apart seconds later, hacking at the taste of grimy water in their mouth's.

"I'll just take a rain check on the kiss then."

They walked up to the bank, handing a blushing Sakura her feather. Syaoran, who was blushing just as furiously, watched his parent's taking off their shoes pouring out greenish colored water. Once they had rung the water from their clothes and Fai had mourned the loses of his hoe they were ready to go.

Swirls of magic enveloped them and they disappeared to the next world, leaving behind very confused hunters who had been ready to capture the group once again.