LITTLE PROBLEMS

By Rakime

Chapter 1

It had been four months, just four months and it already felt like an eternity. Maybe this feeling was caused by the different way in which time flowed in each country; maybe it was due to the fact that when he wasn't with her every minute felt like an hour; or maybe it was just his imagination. Either way, the cause really didn't matter, when you are not doing what you want nor staying where you want, time starts to flow differently.

But Syaoran didn't want to be misunderstood. He didn't regret his decision, he didn't hate traveling. Actually, he was enjoying his trip, why shouldn't he? He wasn't traveling alone, he was learning a lot of interesting things, he was seeing a lot of wonderful worlds, he was visiting old friends and he was able to meet Sakura at least once in a month thanks to the blue earring of the Black Mokona. So, things weren't that bad really, or that was how he thought before arriving to that world.

They had ended up falling from the sky, that was becoming a habit and they were getting used to it actually, but even so, it still hurt the same.

Syaoran sat up slowly, rubbing the back of his head, trying to relieve it from the pain caused by the knock of the fall. He took a glance at the place around him to find out in what kind of world they had arrived now, perhaps it was a known one. His eyes widened when he saw the panorama in front of him, blinking a lot of times to confirm if his eyes weren't tricking him.

Everything seemed to be turned upside down, at least from the perspective of his own knowledge. The sky was dark and the moon and stars could be seen even in the atmosphere was lip up; flowers and mushrooms were as tall as trees and the floor was covered by grass and little plants which looked a lot like bonsais. It was definitely a weird world, even for him, who had travelled through several dimensions. He shuddered slightly when he made out what looked like a fish flying behind one of the huge sunflower, or would it be called moonflower there?

Syaoran stood up and started to walk toward a lake that was a few meters ahead of him, looking around searching for a trail that show him the whereabouts of his companions. When he reached the lake he had a quick look at it, expecting to see birds swimming under the water, but what he saw shocked him even more.

- What the… ? – he expressed as he took his hands to his face, feeling it and touching it, trying to reassert if the reflection was really his. It was.

How on earth was it his reflection? Yes, it was a reflection of him, but it was an older him. How was that possible? No one could age like twenty years from one moment to another, it was totally impossible!

He looked down immediately and inspected his body and he was indeed taller. He bended down to see if the distance made any difference in the reflection and wished he hadn't done that, because his heart almost stopped beating and he felt down on his butt due to the impression caused by watching someone coming out of the water right in front of him.

- Why the hell do I always fall in the worst places? I'm gonna kill that shiro manju once for all!

- Kuro… Kurogane-san? – Syaoran asked, skeptical.

- What?

- Is that really you? – he insisted.

- Of course it's me! Who else could it be? – asked the ninja, irritated, shaking his legs to get rid of the excess of water held by his clothes. Then, he put in place his shirt, glancing around, stopping dead the moment his eyes met Syaoran. – What the hell happened to you, kid?

- To me? What happened to you?

- What are you talking about?

Kurogane looked down right away, inspecting his body. All his extremities were there and in their right place, everything else appeared to be all right. But, wait. Why did his body look smaller? His mind started to work very fast, analyzing what he was seeing. If Syaoran looked older, that meant that he…?

The ninja turned over to watch his reflection on the water and he became petrified when he saw the image projected by the water, which showed him his six-year-old self. A loud scream escaped from his throat unconsciously.

- I see you already notice our situation – Both, Kurogane and Syaoran, turned their heads and their eyes widened slightly when they saw a kid, who looked just like Fai, approaching them, with Mokona standing on his shoulder.

- Is that you, Fai-san? – demanded Syaoran, even if he already knew the answer.

- I'm afraid so – the mage answered, smiling.

Kurogane shook his head to get rid of his shock and he leaned on Fai, taking Mokona in his hands.

- You did this little rat! – stated the ninja, shaking the rabbit-like creature hard – I'm sure you did this! Change us back now!

- Help, Kurogane is going to kill me! – asked Mokona, trying to sound melodramatic, but her giggles gave her away.

- Ne, ne Kuro-rin, calm down, you're going to hurt Mokona for real – said Fai, trying to remove Mokona from his hands.

- Calm down? Are you freaking kidding me? How in hell am I supposed to calm down?

- Well, at least leave Mokona alone Kuro-tan, this is not her fault – confirmed the mage, causing Kurogane to stop trying to kill Mokona.

- Then it was you?

- No, it wasn't me either – Fai went back a few steps after watching the murderous look in the ninja's face.

- Then it was the shiro manju! – now he started to pull the bun-like creature's ears; Mokona kept asking for help, but she never stopped smiling.

Syaoran stepped forward, put an arm around Kurogane's waist and lifted him up, forcing him to release Mokona. He was worry that the ninja could damage her for real this time. Also, he had had enough of that silly fight that was preventing him from finding out what Fai knew about their current situation. Because he must know something, if he didn't, he wouldn't be able to be that calm, would he?

- Hey! What do you think you're doing kid? Put me down right know! – demanded Kurogane, kicking and writhing, trying to wriggle out of Syaoran's grip.

- I will when you calm down, if you continue fighting, they won't be able to tell us what they know – said Syaoran, holding him tighter.

- I'll calm down when that little rat change us back!

- But Mokona didn't cause this – argued Mokona.

- Yes, you did! It must be one of your twisted jokes! – the ninja tried harder to get away from Syaoran.

- Kurogane-san, please! – shouted Syaoran, Kurogane shuddered when he heard him pronouncing his name with such a strength.

- All right, all right, but put me down right now – as soon as he were back in the ground, he folded his arms against his chest, sighing heavily and shifting his gaze toward an opposite spot.

- Now, Fai, Mokona, do any of you know what happened to us? – asked Syaoran as he tried to remain calm, even if he felt as anxious as Kurogane did.

- Mokona didn't do this! – maintained.

- So, what happened then?

- Well, I've been analyzing the situation and it occurred to me an interesting theory – commented Fai, his right hand scratching his chin – You see, this world looks exactly the opposite from what we know, so, what we know as black would probably be white here. Basing on that theory, if you Syaoran were a kid in the other worlds, here you would be an adult and we, who were adults, would be kids. – explained with a serious and calm tone of voice, the smile never abandoned his face.

- That's stupid – murmured Kurogane.

- No, actually that's a really credible theory – argued the amber eyed man – So, Fai-san, that would mean that this was caused by the world itself and not by any magic?

- Yes

- No, that doesn't make sense! If it did, why the shiro manju didn't age? – the tanned kid pointed out, a vein standing out of his forehead.

- Well Kuro-tan, Mokona is a magical creature, so, she will never age – explained Fai.

- That's right, Mokona is eternal! – said the rabbit-like creature, happily.

- Then, if that's really the case – started the ninja, ignoring the horrible fact of Mokona – Shiro manju, take us to the next world! – he demanded.

- Mokona can't, Mokona has to wait until the earring shine.

- What? You are always useless when we really need your help! – Kurogane leaned on Fai with the intention of grabbing Mokona again, but the mage was faster and put her out of his reach.

- Ne, Kuro-chan, there's no need to be that impatient and moody; actually, this isn't that bad – exclaimed Fai, smiling – we'll just have to wait until we move to the next world and everything will be back to normal.

- Are you out of you mind mage? How the hell isn't this bad? – more veins were showing up in his forehead.

- Well, first of all, because Kuro-rin looks so cute! – Fai admitted, shameless and cheerfully.

Kurogane stopped dead and blushed a little. Why that mage always find the way to embarrass him? He regained his mobility immediately and started to chase Fai, he was going to kill him for saying such an idiotic thing.

Syaoran just sighed heavily while he watched the two kids running, and shuddered slightly when Kurogane bumped into a rock and fell flat on his face. God, the trip was going to feel even more eternal.

To be continued…

Well, just an idea that has been going round and round in my head for days, so I decided to give it a shot. It won't be too long, five chapters tops, I guess. Review if you like it n_n

And sorry if there are some grammatical mistakes, I'm not an English speaker, so, my English is way too far to be good. If you find any, let me know so I can correct it n_n.