Disclaimer: Kurogane and Fay both belong to CLAMP.

A/N: I feel horrible for even saying this, but... I wouldn't really mind if the series ended like this.

This is one of my responses to 15-flames, the prompt for this one being #2: Fade to black. As some of the other responses will be pictures, to see them all, look for draconn-malfoy at LiveJournal.

A Funeral of Fire

Fay stared in shock as a dark form approached him. He had never seen Kurogane looking so incredibly exhausted. As soon as the ninja had reached his side Kurogane dropped his bloodied sword, falling onto his knees in front of the mage.

Kurogane reached out his hand. There was something incredibly powerful held on his palm.

"Here you go," the ninja said, offering him the tiny glowing orb like a sacrifice. "You are no more dependent on anybody now."

Fay reached out a slightly trembling hand to touch the shining thing that was his missing eye. Not knowing what to do with it, he hesitated for a moment before following his instinct and slowly putting it into his mouth.

It hurt. Not as much as losing it had, but it hurt anyway; it filled him with a power he had already half-forgotten, and its enormousness pained him. Was this what he had been struggling with all the time?

He felt incredibly full, full of power and life and everything. And, however painful it was, he was still glad for it. This was what he had been born with; he should stop escaping it like a coward, since it would always catch up with him anyway. Tearing his eye-patch away, he slowly opened his eyes to look at Kurogane and tell him all this.

What he saw with his now two eyes was a fleeting smile on the ninja's face before he collapsed forward, his head falling heavily into Fay's lap. The change in his position revealed a wound on his back, one so deep that the blood flowing from it had soaked the back of his shirt thoroughly.

"Kurogane, you idiot," he hissed, a hand hovering tentatively over the wound. "You shouldn't even move in that condition!"

He had thought the ninja was unconscious, but was proven wrong as the head lying in his lap stirred a bit. "Had no choice," muttered Kurogane. "Had to return it to you..."

"No, you didn't," Fay replied, tears filling his eyes. "I'm not worth that. Nothing is worth that."

"Too late," the ninja said, and as he laboriously turned his face into sight, there was a bitter smile on his lips. "I just wanted... you to be... free. Of me, too."

Fay was about to say something in response, but the words died on his lips as Kurogane's body suddenly tensed, his face drawn into a pained grimace. Then, the ninja relaxed. Too relaxed.

Nobody should be so relaxed they did not breathe.

"Kurogane," Fay said frantically, "Kurogane, stop that. Breathe. That's not good for you..."

Kurogane did not respond. His red eyes stared unseeingly into the distance.

For a moment Fay just sat there, holding the ninja's head in his lap. He didn't hear or see anything else; Kurogane was the only thing he could give any attention to. Then he raised his face towards the sky and raised his voice in a pained cry.

The power within him swelled, threatening to take him over as his self-control slipped in his grief. He did not care; it didn't matter anymore.

Kurogane had died for him and he could not bring him back.

Sakura and Syaoran stared in shock as Kurogane staggered to Fay, giving him the regained eye. They were shocked to see this since the ninja soon collapsed, after which a few words were exchanged by the two men.

Then Fay was silent for a moment before raising his face in a pained cry.

The cry seemed to continue forever, a mix of regret and insane grief. And, as Fay still screamed, a bright light started to shine from within his body.

The form of a phoenix enveloped Fay, a glowing bird of gold and fire. It raised its head in a powerful, mourning trill, and they very clearly heard the echo of Fay's voice within its wail.

Then the phoenix spread its wings and rose to the sky, glorious and beautiful, leaving behind two lifeless forms.

Syaoran turned towards Sakura, intending to say something comforting to help her recover from the shock, but found her still staring up to the sky even as the phoenix had faded out of the sight.

"Did you see it?" asked Sakura quietly, sounding dreamy rather than mournful.

"See what? The phoenix?" Syaoran asked, slightly confused. Sure, it had been a wonderful sight, but no sight would be worth losing two friends at once.

"No, not the phoenix – alone, anyway," Sakura replied. "I meant the dragon that flew away with the phoenix."