15. Castle in the Sky. Ashura.

First child born into the Ashura Clan after half a century: child with a name nobody used because it was Ashura. A child with wild, black hair, slender and beautiful.

A girl.

The Ashura needed a leader. The Ashura needed a king. The Ashura needed a warlord and a commander and a swordman, so she became all of it. Became it so thoroughly that she forgot that she was anything besides those titles and duties. With the loyalty she inspired, she could have had anyone. Anyone except Yasha.

He died in her arms. It was the only time Kohana cried.


A/N: Kohana – Little Flower


16. Dream-Wandering. Tomoyo.

Hinato-Sama had taught her universes were sometimes created out of the dreams of people. There were pretty ones, and terrible, and in most of them there was one version of herself.

Tomoyo, President of Piffle Princess Corporation.

Tomoyo, daughter of a wealthy businesswoman.

Tomoyo, Princess Miko of Nihon.

If she blinked she could see another universe, right in the corner of her eyes. In her dreams, she travelled anywhere. No matter where she went, she never found a second Kurogane.

No matter how much she dreamed, she did not want to wake up anywhere else than in Nihon.

Come back.


17. Nameless. Shinfo.

The only world Shinfo ever knew was the world inside Feiwan's hideaway.

Feiwan Reed had created her from human souls: that was what she knew. She also knew she was a puppet. Soul-less, name-less, because she understood that a name was only of use when others would call her by it.

Call it with love.

The only thing she knew about other worlds was what she saw through the mirror. It might have been a lonely life but she did not know what loneliness meant.

She just was.

Syaoran was the only one who grieved for her after she died.


18. too near. Kurogane.

Somehow he had come to care for those people far too much. They had crashed his barriers, eroded his walls, and Kurogane was pretty sure he would regret it in the time to come.

Tomoyo had told him he wasn't alone. He had accepted her, but never anyone else. He knew why now.

He refused to let them out of his sight, even when he only went down to the water reservoir. He would not lose one of them like that again.

They were too near. He couldn't be with them without hurting, but maybe that was what it meant.


19. Powerless. Syaoran.

A constant feeling.

Syaoran had felt it before: With Sakura, in the ruins of Clow Country. Watching, unable to do something. Then, again, only able to watch from the confinement of Feiwan Reed's cage. Now he had his freedom, he had his magic, but he still was as powerless as he had been then.

Nothing he could do would ever change that.

Sakura did not even look at him: he could not blame her. He felt the same about her. So much pain, so much sadness, and for what?

But he had made a decision. He would stand by it.


20. Loyalty. Fye.

"Your loyalty is worth nothing if you only pledge it for a span of time," Kurogane said and turned away. Fye watched him leave, knowing of whom he was thinking. The unreadable ninja seemed different when he thought of his Princess. Fye supposed he was the same.

He'd never thought he'd come to love her that much.

Kurogane was right: he had no right to be anything to her, no right to pretend caring. But that was the thing: he had stopped pretending long ago.

King Ashura was calling from the depths of the pool.

Fye didn't have much time.


21. Interlude.

"Moko-Chan! Moko-Chan! Come back, you'll get all wet and cold!"

The rain pours down relentlessly. But the sky is blue, somehow, and the rain drops are warm and soft.

"Sakura!" Syaoran follows her on her heels, as usual. Kurogane, safe under the small roof, growls. "Kids!"

Fye grins and ignores the ninja's glare. "Daddy is worried, children, come back or you'll catch a cold!"

"Take that! Ncha Cannon!"

Splash!

"Sakura – you're all wet!"

But Sakura only laughs, drenched in rain, and Mokona jumps onto her shoulder and laughs as well.

The rainbow that follows the warm summer rain is beautiful.