Date Written: July 1, 2007

Summary: Father and daughter go fishing and unwanted chatting ensues.

Flo: I need fluff. Yet, all that is written lately seems to be angst. Why?!

Yuuko: Probably because the latest chapters are angst. Fanfiction seems to follow the path of mood that the actual story is going. So it seems that you're the weird one here!

Flo: … Dang. Well, people need to warm their hearts!

Kurogane: I want no part in this crap.

Flo: Too late, you're in the first chapter!

WARNINGS! … Uuuuuh, shonen-ai? I don't think I have any since this is just pure cuteness and fuzz. I'll probably have a bit of naughty language, but really, nothing too bad. But probably warnings in future chapters! For, like, spoilers and stuff.

Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa Chronicles. Insert your own clever comment HERE.

Written because of the latest angst filled chapters. We all need some love!

Hope you enjoy!

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

It was quiet. And not one of those quiets where you're thinking something bad is going to happen. It was a quiet where you could probably take a nap. Kurogane would have gladly done so, except for the girl sitting next to him who didn't seem to understand the concept of fishing and it's peaceful atmosphere.

She kept trying to strike up conversations, mostly about the kid, and all Kurogane would respond with was a few agreeing statements in one, maybe two words, or, more commonly, a grunt. This had been going on for about an hour and he was beginning to wonder why she wanted to go fishing with him in the first place. The mage himself had made it perfectly clear to everyone and their mothers that he thought fishing was boring and too much work (there was some garble about cutting a hole in ice), so it would make sense that the princess would listen to him since she practically believes everything he says (we're not going to go into that). Yet there she was, sitting prim and proper in the dirt with a fishing pole in her grasp.

Admittedly, she was better company than the mage for this activity. Even if he did like fishing, Kurogane wouldn't let him anywhere near a pointy object. Besides, he wouldn't be able to sit still for five minutes. The princess was just barely able to do that. The kid would be okay, but he seemed too jumpy sometimes. Like a scared rabbit or something. And he wasn't about to think about what fishing with the manjuu would be like. No, the princess was fine company. He had nothing against her and she was always willing to try something new. That was probably why she wanted to come. From what he understood of deserts, there weren't many fish swimming around.

"Kurogane-san!" she suddenly squealed. "I think I got something!"

"Reel it in," Kurogane said, not nearly as enthusiastic as her.

With great concentration, she began to wind up the fishing wire, a small grunt occasionally sounding. Kurogane had to raise an eyebrow at her show. He didn't think reeling in a fish took that much effort, but then again, she wasn't exactly built like him. It was also taking a long time. He was thinking that he might have to step in eventually, until he saw that her hook was actually just caught on a nearby log. Sighing, he grabbed the line and gave it a quick jerk, causing the hook to fall back into the water.

"Reel it in and cast again," he said to the blushing princess. She quickly followed his instructions and then plopped back down onto the bank.

"Fishing is harder than I thought," she said. She looked as though she was trying to cover her blush with her hair. Kurogane could admit that it was kind of cute. To no one else but himself, of course.

"It's not hard," he said. "You just need a lot of patience. You'll catch something sooner or later."

Another thing about the girl was that she was easy to cheer up and quick to get over things. Most things. Little things. Like fishing. Unlike a certain mage he knew (and no, we're not going into that one, either). Kurogane hadn't even been trying to cheer her up, but there she went, giving him a big smile before puffing up her cheeks and focusing all of her mind power on getting a fish.

That lasted for about five minutes. Better than the mage and manjuu, but still not as good as the kid. "Um, Kurogane-san?" she said, just barely above a whisper.

Should I answer? he thought. Ignoring her would either result in her getting the picture or hurt for life. Kurogane concluded that the chances of the latter happening were too great and he didn't want to have to explain to anybody why she was moping. "Yeah?" he said.

"Well, I was just wondering if it would be okay for me to ask you something… That is, if you don't want me to it's perfectly fine it's not like it's really important and I wouldn't want to bother you any more and-"

"What have I told you about your little habit of rambling?"

"Don't?"

"Good. Now get on with it."

"Right, I'm sorry." Taking a deep breath she said in record speed, "How do you know when you're in love?"

Surprisingly, Kurogane wasn't expecting that. So much so that he ended up slipping down the bank they were sitting on and falling into the water, making all the five fish swimming around there go off somewhere else. The princess freaked out and actually asked if he needed help getting out of the foot deep part of the river. Kurogane grumbled what resembled a, "no" and slowly got out and sat back down beside the princess, looking straight ahead. She did the same.

Nearby, a frog croaked and a turtle swam by them. No fish.

"Why would you ask me that?" Kurogane finally asked. "That sounds like the mage's area."

"I know," she said. "But… I didn't think that Fai-san would tell me."

"Why's that?"

"I'm not sure. I guess I just get the feeling he wouldn't say if he was in love. I know it sounds weird, but he doesn't really talk about his feelings much."

It seemed the princess was much more perceptive than he gave her credit. Putting that annoying mage aside, Kurogane felt it necessary to go ahead and answer her for the sake of the kid's blood supply, who he just knew would be the next person she would talk to and wouldn't be able to speak properly for days afterward. Him and the princess both. "Alright, you win." He could tell she was suppressing the urge to hug him. And he silently thanked her for not putting him in that even more embarrassing position. "What part about it are you confused about exactly?"

"I don't know." Oh, she was such a big help. "I suppose I want to know how you know when it's really real. And not just… you know."

"Lust?" She "eeped" at that one. "Right." Kurogane began to absent mindedly scratch the back of his head. It was one of those things that he wanted to phrase very carefully. He didn't want to have to go into a deep and long conversation about it. Sadly, it seemed she already knew that he knew the feelings of love all too well. "This is about the kid?"

"Uh, y-yes." Kurogane was starting to wonder if he blushed half as much in his lifetime as the kid and princess did in one week.

"Right." Why is this so damn hard?! Kurogane thought.

A few birds were chirping back and forth to each other as the fisherman and his little helper sat in an awkward silence.

"It's, uh, perfectly natural to feel that way. You're at that age where your… hormones are basically at war throughout your body." The princess blushed and Kurogane quickly realized with horror that he was unintentionally turning this into the dreaded Talk. "But that's not what you mean, right?" She furiously shook her head. "Good. Okay." Another pause. "Do you love that brother of yours and that priest you're always talking about?"

"Yes."

"But your love for the kid is different?"

"Mm hm."

"Shouldn't that be enough of an explanation already?" Really, he came out to fish, not to have emotional discussions with a little girl!

"I'm sorry, I'm annoying you, aren't I?" He could tell she was looking down sadly at her fishing pole and he couldn't help but growl at himself.

"No, you're a hell of a lot better company than some other idiots. It's just not everyday somebody asks a ninja to explain to them the concepts of love. Understand?" He glanced back at her and she gave him a small smile. Taking a deep breath and steadying himself on the bank, Kurogane came to a conclusion. "I think it might be easier if you tell me how you feel when you're with the kid."

He looked back down at her and saw her clutching her heart. "It's strange. Syaoran makes me feel so many different things, it can be so confusing sometimes. I can be happy with him one moment but sad the next. It hurts my heart so much when he won't tell me that he's in pain, even when I can see it. I think it's because it feels like he's hiding things from me. I don't like it."

Without a word, Kurogane dropped his hand on her head in understanding. "You're making it sound as though you think this stuff is just a bunch of pain. It's a pain in that ass, though, I'll tell you that." He felt her head shake as she chuckled. He would never understand how she found him funny. "Yeah, there's pain and that person makes you feel so many damn things you thought didn't even exist or were just gone and it drives you crazy. But sometimes that's a good thing. It just means that you care more deeply for that person than you do anyone else. They make you want to do things you never thought of before, things that are completely insane. Nothing seems to make sense, but you don't care and that makes even less sense than the feelings themselves. It's as if nothing else matters except that one person and you'd do anything just for them to be happy. You'll fight, but you'll regret it and in a matter of no time you'll be back to where you were, one of you acting like an idiot while the other tries to ignore it."

"Even though he secretly doesn't mind and finds it cute?"

Kurogane pushed her cap down over her eyes while she tried not to laugh again as punishment for that statement. "What have I told you about listening to that idiot when he's telling you things about me?"

"Don't?"

"Why?"

"Because they're not true?"

"Right. You got any more questions?"

Sakura thought for a moment before answering, "No. I'm glad I asked you, Kurogane-san! You understand." It was a shocker, but he couldn't deny that they had some similarities when it came to their love life, no matter how disturbing that thought was. "We should stick together!" she continued. "I can help you with Fai-san and you can help me with Syaoran!"

"No."

"O-Okay." It was best to just douse that little idea before she dwelled on it even more. He still couldn't understand why she appeared to like his company, and he also couldn't understand how she managed to actually get him to talk that much on that topic. Must have been that "pull" or whatever the mage called that thing about her that made him comfortable speaking such things. But he had to admit, it felt good to say some of his feelings out loud. Almost as if a weight was taken off of his chest. However, just to be safe.

"It's a rule and tradition that you never talk about what was said during fishing to anybody. Got it?"

"Got it!"

OoOoOoOoOoOoOoO

A/N: I always loved that one picture of Kurogane and Sakura fishing. It's just so cute! Anywho, I decided to put this up since I keep coming up with fluffy one shots and instead of having a thousand of those, I thought it best to have something to put them all in. So, viola!

I vow to never put an angst fic in this section. Only fluff and heart warming love between couples and family!

NOTE! To the people who actually read "Snowflakes of Joy" (ew, hate that title!) in the five or so hours it was up, I'll be putting the much better version of it up here. It's fairly different, but it's still the concept of Fai and Yuui's dad playing with them (I know they haven't said anything about their parents, but I like to think that they were happy with their children before they died).

You know what to do!

Please leave a review!

As always, CONSTRUCTIVE criticism is welcomed with a hot water bottle for your heart.