It seemed the war had ended and that they might have won. It was hard to tell. He sat on the ground, cradling the poor girl's head in his lap. They were all exhausted by this point and they all exerted themselves so much more than any of them had done in the past. At least for himself, it was more powerful magic than he had ever used before.
Silence filled the empty ruins. Neither of them spoke, maybe out of fear of waking the children, disturbing the peace or maybe neither knew what to say.
Finally, Kurogane stood up and brought Syaoran up with him. Fai thought about standing and bringing Sakura up in his arms, but it seemed too much effort. He could see strands of his previously blonde hair now stained a deep brown. Then the exhaustion and blood loss fell upon him.
He ran a hand through the hair on the injured side of his head. He winced as he touched the gash. Mokona came bounding up to his side. It studied the girl and then looked up at Fai, "Fai is injured."
So it seemed Mokona would break the silence. Fai smiled down at the white creature, "I will be fine. It seems Kurogane is all right too." He glanced over at the tall ninja.
Kurogane's shoulders stiffened at the mention of his full, real name. It was rare for Fai to call him by it at all. He shifted Syaoran's weight in his arms. His sword arm seemed hurt, by what Fai could see since the dark ninja seemed to favor the boy's weight on his other arm.
Mokona hopped up closer. Fai scooped him up and placed Mokona in his pocket. He stood and brought Sakura up with him. His body swayed at he steadied the extra weight. He could see Kurogane flinch out of the side of his eye. He smiled at the other man once he was still. Kurogane nodded once and continued through the ruins.
They wandered through the ruins until they found an opeing leading outside. Voices and shouting could be heard from further down. The two men glanced at each other. Without a word, they changed direction and headed toward the voices.
Light shone through a crack in the wall. Boulders had fallen and covered up what had been the enterance. The hole grew larger. It seemed the people on the outside had found the hole and were trying to get into the ruins.
The hole was finally big enough for people to climb through. Kurogane and Fai blinked at the sudden flash of daylight. Fai felt Mokona burrow deeper into his pocket. Each man clung tighter to the child in his arms. They were unsure if these people were friends or foe. The battle was over downstairs, but who knew if this was the cavalry or the enemy.
Someone in the group yelled out, "There are people in here! They have the Princess!"
Fai pressed Sakura closer to his chest. Kurogane stepped up as if to protect him and the girl even though he held Syaoran. The group began to advance on them and both braced themselves for conflict.
Another voice spoke up, "Stop! They are helping the Princess." A blonde, bespectacled priest stepped out of the crowd. Fai could feel the power this man had but did not fear him. The priest was here to help, he was sure of it. "Please, come with me. I will lead you to the palace."
Fai and Kurogane glanced at one another. Fa nodded once and began to walk toward the priest. Kurogane trailed behind, watching the crowd carefully. They made it out of the ruins. To both of their surprise, the ruins stood as solid as ever despite what had happened inside.
The desert nation was enormous. It took them a short time to get to the palace but the desert stretched on as far as the eye could see. It reminded Fai of Celes, but instead of empty mountains and fields of snow, Clow was full of flat plains of sand. The palace stood towering over them. Just like the palace in Celes. He shook his head wishing to forget that place. Kurogane looked at him. He smiled once again. The dark ninja frowned; he was catching onto Fai's lies.
Inside the palace, men and women rushed them. In a matter of minutes, Syaoran and Sakura were taken away from them and they were sent to a guest room. A guard or four stood outside the door. Neither of them wished to cause trouble. They knew the children were all right. Now it was time for them to heal.
Fai sat on the edge of the bed. He reached in his pocket and pulled Mokona out. The white creature rolled around on the soft bedspread. The two men ignored him. Kurogane wandered about the room. He was restless and there was another emotion he was feeling strongly but Fai couldn't place what it was. He was weak and tired so his intuition was off.
"Kuro-rin, come sit. You need to rest as much as the others."
He stood when the ninja said nothing and ignored him completely. He appraoched the taller man and placed a hand on his injured arm. He could feel the muscles tighten in pain.
"See? You are hurt. Hide is all you want but sooner or later you are going to be treated." Fai pulled the arm out from under the cloak. A line of blood had dried down the length of his forearm. He wanted to help with the use of magic but feared hurting his friend more.
Kurogane reached his other hand up to the side of Fai's head, "It seems you're hurt too."
"Unlike you, I will admit to it." He dropped Kurogane's arm and moved his head away from the mechanical hand.
He reached his own hands up to his hair. He undid the ribbon that tied his hair back. He pulled the hair back again and retied the ribbon. He let his bangs fall forward to cover the gash in his head. He laughed lightly, "I need to get used to not having an eye patch again."
The edges of Kurogane's lips turned up slightly, "Your eyes look better blue than gold."
Fai smiled and looked to the door. It seemed the healer was approaching, "We have a visitor."
One cue,the door opened. Mokona stopped rolling about and stood on its little feet. The priest from earlier appraoched them,Both of them turned to face him.
Before either could ask, the priest answered, "The Princess and the boy are fine. Thank you for bringing them to us."
Fai smiled but said nothing. Kurogane also said nothing but didn't react at all. Another person entered the room with a stack of clothing over her arm. She placed the pile on the bed next to Mokona and left without a word. The priest smiled at them, "You seem capable of doing things yourselves. If you need assistance or have any questions, ask a guard on the other side of the door." He bowed slightly and walked out the door. A guard closed it after him.
Fai looked at the clothing, "These are pretty nice."
Kurogane stared at him, "You need to eat."
"So do you," he retorted.
"I'd have to eat twice unless you feed now."
Fai didn't want to argue. He undid the belt that kept his jacket closed and slid the jacket off. He took a hold of the bottom of his shirt and slid that off over his head. His muscles ached a little. He laid the clothes next to the pile of fresh ones. He unfolded a shirt that was on the pile that looked tight enough where it would be a comfortable fit for him.
Without him knowing, Kurogane had stepped up behind him. He wrapped his metal arm around Fai's waist. The magician shivered at the feeling of the cold metal on his bare skin. Then, Kurogane brought up his other arm. He put his wrist in front of Fai's face.
Fai fought him and tried to wriggle his way out of his grasp. It just made the taller man angrier. He squeezed tighter and kept the magician's lanky form pressed against his body. He pushed his wrist against his mouth.
"Bite," he commanded.
The blonde gave in. The scent of the blood right under his nose made him hungrier. He couldn't take it anymore. His teeth sunk into flesh and warm blood flowed into his mouth. He brought his hands up and grabbed onto the arm to make sure he wouldn't lose a single drop.
After a minute, Kurogane started feeling light headed. He unwrapped his metallic arm from Fai's waist. Gently, he used his hand to pry his other arm from Fai's mouth.
"Ah," Fai sighed. He licked his lips and teeth to make sure he got it all.
He looked better already. Besides the blood in his hair, the rest of him radiated with life. On the other hand, Kurogane's tan skin was fading to white. He sat on the bed.
"Thank you, Kuro-tan." He stood in front of the weakened man. "I think you need help before I get food for you."
He reached out and undid the string that tied the cloak at his neck. Fai was surprised that Kurogane didn't slap his hands away and tell him that he could do it himself. The cloak side down his back and the black cloth pooled around his body. He slid the red mask that framed his face away. He placed that carefully on top of his own blue and white clothing.
He stood straight and looked into Kurogane's red eyes. He smiled his satisfied, I-see-what-you-did smile then bent at the waist and kissed the dark nija on the cheek.
He stayed bent and looked him in the eyes again, a soft smile on his lips, "Where would you be without me?"