I wrote these few chapters mostly based on old fan translations of the manga tbh, and some of those lines I ended up rewriting since those lines don't quite read well. Might do another revision later based on Tokyo Revelations version.

Pity that FFnet no longer allow strike out effects to be used nowadays, so one certain line had a different formatting here compared to the version I posted on AO3.


"We have to decide before the princess comes back... what we're going to do from now on."

Indeed they should, Syaoran admitted silently. Well, in his case he's already aware of what kind of action that he should take. After all, it was his decision that started it all. So there was no turning back for him. No turning back but continue moving onwards.

But again, what about the others?

Syaoran thought back to the first time all 'four' of them were gathered. Kurogane's wish was to get back to his own world. Fay... his wish was to not return to his own world...

He glanced back towards Kurogane as he recalled the man's earlier retort to Yuuko.

"I'll expect to hear more of this later..."

Syaoran turned his attention towards Fay, who was seated some distance away and was now talking to Yuuko. At this point, Yuuko-san might decide to reveal to the others about Fei Wang Reed. That magician aside... he wondered what would Kurogane do once he heard about the truth? The princess too... come to think.

If the others knew of the things Fei Wang have done to achieve his wish, would they still continue the journey? Now that his other self has come under the man's control again, there's no doubt that his other self would continue doing what his creator had intended for him to do. Gathering Sakura's—the princess's feathers—at all costs. And also, Fei Wang would have still need to recover the princess.

Would the others still continue the journeyeven after knowing that they'd be playing into Fei Wang's hands to achieve that impossible wish? Or would they put a stop to this?

If the others chose the latter, what should he himself do then?

Syaoran glanced back towards Kurogane.

"Have you decided?"

The man nodded.

"Yes. There were things that will stay the same and things that have changed..."

Syaoran remained silent. Just as he was about to ponder about the decision that Kurogane has made, another voice broke the stillness of the place.

"WHY DID YOU LET SAKURA GET THE PAYMENT BY HERSELF?"

Both of them turned around. And it seemed that Fay finally found out about the princess's decision.

xxx

"The princess wanted it that way."

"Is that why you did not stop her?"

His body immediately reacted before he could think. And many thoughts came to mind even as his mind rages at the things that happened while he was unconscious.

"Are you going to where the princess is?"

"What if I am?"

"Wait here."

A sudden burst of rage suddenly erupted from inside of him. Fay turned around.

"That child... she might not get back if she got hurt. You're aware of that, right? Was that why you didn't treat that back of yours?"

It was just a passing observation, he saw that the other Syaoran's thigh injury has been treated. That injury was less severe from what he could see of Kurogane's injury. And being aware of the situation for the people currently living here...

"This country is low on medication. If Sakura got hurt when she gets back, you'd want to at least leave some medication for her."

That's it. Because that's the kind of thing that Kurogane would do. That man who tend to notice many things on his own that he himself wished the man wouldn't, how could that man NOT be so thoughtful? As much as Kurogane claimed that he didn't care too much about others, in truth... that man was the most caring of all five of them.

But that's why he couldn't forgive the man for acting like this. Right now.

"What if that child wants to come back but couldn't? It's fine if she only got hurt. But if she loses her life, she can't come back anymore..."

[Like Fay. His other half.]

"The princess knew this..."

"If you knew this why...?" Fay cried out, still frustrated at how Kurogane was behaving.

If he had looked back, he would have seen the pained look the man was wearing. But Fay wasn't looking. Kurogane took in another breath as he started to speak again.

"That is why... I promised the princess that I will wait. So I'm going to wait. Waiting is far more painful than going with her."