Fay did not go to bed that night. For most of it, he did not even sleep. He sat, wide awake, and stared out the window, silhouetted against the moon, which was very large and bright in this world. He could not sleep because of what he had heard, what he had seen. Over and over, he heard the voice in his ear. Where are you going, Yuui? Where are you going... where...

He must have dozed off. He awoke with a start, feeling like someone was watching him. He was dazed, as one usually is when suddenly awoken. It was still dark, but the moon wasn't in the sky any more. His vampire sight helped him to see. Kurogane was still asleep on his bed. Fay could see his body outlined by the covers. But that wasn't all. There was something else in the room, something he couldn't see.

"Yuui... it's because of you."

The voice again. His brother's voice. Sweet and childish... and terrifying.

"All because of you. You took it from me..."

"Shut up! Stop playing with my mind!" Fay shouted, knocking over a table.

He fell to his knees. Suddenly, the room was bright again. The clouds that had been obscuring the moon seemed to just vanish into thin air. Kurogane stirred, rolling over and looking at the magician. Fay was on his knees by the window, his hand over his good eye. The ninja stood and walked over.

"Oi. What the hell were you yelling about?"

Fay's shoulders were shaking. He didn't say anything for a minute, and then he stood up, perfectly composed. His clear blue eye met Kurogane's red ones, and he gave the faintest of smiles. It was thin and forced.

"Nothing, Kurogane-san," he replied.

Fay took it upon himself to keep Syaoran busy the following day. His heart ached from loosing Sakura, but he pushed through it in an effort to make sure that no one else would disappear. Syaoran was curious as to why Fay was spending so much time around him, even when he was in the company of Fujitaka, the man who served as his adoptive father in his home world. They were talking about a rock with the skeleton of a fish pressed into it. They called it a 'fossil'.

"I didn't think you were interested in this sort of thing, Fay-san," he commented.

Fay smiled. "I am," he said, "Learning about the history of a world through it's... fossils... is very intriguing.

Fujitaka gave him a large, friendly smile, "Then perhaps you and your friend would be interested in joining us. I was going to take Syaoran-kun to a nearby dig site."

Fay forced a smile. Rocks were so boring, but... "Certainly. I'll just go invite Kurogane-san."

It took a little convincing, but Fay managed to get Kurogane to agree to come with them. They couldn't let Syaoran disappear, not like Sakura. Maybe if they were all together, then they could stop it this time. They walked along, Syaoran walking beside Fujitaka. It was obvious that he was happy to have found his father once again, and be able to spend some time with him. Kurogane and Fay trod along behind them, desperately trying to seem interested.

"This place is full of sandstone caves. That's the best place to find fossils, in the sandstone. There are lots of sea creatures... it's like this entire place was underwater once." Fujitaka explained.

They continued to walk along. It seemed like they walked forever before they reached the cave he had talked about. Fujitaka lit a lamp and lead the way into the cave. Kurogane carried a lamp too, glowing and flickering as they wandered. Fay kept his eyes on the two people in front of him. Every few minutes, he swore he could see through Syaoran, but it turned out to be a trick of the light.

Kurogane was watching too, but he was more so watching Fay. It seemed as though Syaoran was safe as they wandered deeper and deeper into the caves. They tried to keep Syaoran and Fujitaka in sight as the path became more and more complicated. Turns and twists drew them deeper in, and each time it became harder and harder to catch up to them. And then, as they turned one final corner, the light Fujitaka was carrying went out... and didn't reappear. Fay's heart skipped a beat.

"Syaoran!" he shouted.

Syaoran... Syaoran... the name echoed off the walls of the cave, but there was no reply.

"Syaoran!!" He tried to run ahead, tried to find him, but Kurogane stopped him.

"Stop it!" the ninja said gruffly, holding his arm. "He's gone. We couldn't stop him from vanishing."

"No, no!" Fay tried to pull away, but his strength failed him. He fell limply to the ground. "...no..."

Where there once was four, only two remained. As Kurogane pulled Fay to his feet and guided him back out of the cave, he could almost swear that as they walked, he heard a child's laughter.

Fay spent that night beside Kurogane, as if to reassure himself that the ninja was still there. Mokona, Sakura, Syaoran... the only one left was Kurogane. There was so much he didn't understand. He didn't know why this was happening. Something – or someone – had taken away Sakura, and now Syaoran too. But they could still understand one another. That comforted him a small amount. If he and Kurogane could still understand each other, that meant that Mokona hadn't gone far. And maybe the children were with him....

Kurogane was stirring next to him. Fay looked over as the dark one's blood red eyes opened, staring up at the ceiling of the room through the dark.

"Why did they disappear?" he asked.

Fay silently wished he had the answer to that question. He sat up and hugged his knees to his chest. For the first time since Acid Tokyo, he was terrified. He tried not to show it.

"I heard the voice again last night," he revealed.

"Again? What did it say this time?" Kurogane inquired.

"It... he... is blaming me for something. He says I took something from him." Fay muttered.

"Did you?"

Fay was silent.