A/N :Oh sigh. After posting chapter 7, I suddenly decided I didn't like how I had the ending. So, after a few hours of working, contemplating, moving things around, adding and cutting chapters, I have a new outline! I hope that the flow of the story isn't ruined! All the past chapters should fit in just fine though - but when it's all finished I might have to do some editing…but I hope not. That said, I wouldn't recommend allowing yourself to change your outline this late in the game! Ha ha.
Anyways, I'd like to say that starting from this chapter on, answers will started to be given! This one is chock full, but they're all in sort of weird ways. In another chapter (Chapter 11, according to my notes), all will be given in a more direct way! Though, this chapter is quite short, it hints at quite a bit!
Also, I'm thinking of starting up a fanfic/dou jin shi circle of maybe 2 or 3 other people, so if anyone would be interested (which I have a feeling some people might…?), toss me a PM or e-mail, preferably with some samples of writing or art.
Onto replies! As usual, thanks to my faaaabulous beta!
Aelin Ueal - That makes me feel special! A ha. The next one should be up on Thursday.
Lemon-and-chai - Of course Fai has to be mysterious, it's like a secret law of Tsubasa, oh ho ho~
1337kitsune - I'm glad you love the fic, and I'm glad you're loving all the connections from the main series! :3
To. Touch. The. Sky - Aaaah, when character just jump into relationships…it's a little pet peeve of mine, ha ha ha. Also, yaaay LJ buddy~ Ha ha ha
LightDarkandChaos - A ha ha, sorry for all the cliffhangers! Alas, if I keep going with one of these, they would turn rambly and make no sense…er, less sense than they do, ha ha.
Turtle's Chopsticks - Alas, the vampire element was just a little joke on my part, a little easter egg. (Though, I am hoping to work on a vampire fic in the future, oh ho ho) Anyways, I agree with you on most of the points in here - Kuro-muse is just being a stubborn boy, still. Things should start to change soon.
UncleKasu - Thank you very much! Hearing things like that are a really, really huge compliment for me! (and wouldn't it? Oh goodness, I want to see Kurogane try to attack some Daleks! And some confusion over just what The Doctor is a doctor of…Ha ha ha)
Kenarbes - And here I thought that I was original in the idea. Oh ho, but I'm not surprised…Thank you for saying this one is the best! I suppose I can't say for myself, since I haven't read any others, but I will say that I really, really enjoy writing this!
This dream land, Fai realized as he opened his eyes, was what the humans called 'Cyberspace'. It was the world under awareness, a realm that all androids were connected to when they were in 'sleep' mode, or even shut down. It wasn't the 'internet', it was an android created wavelength that connected them all. From here, on this level of their world, he could have gone halfway around the world, a step into the mind of other androids, but no farther in unless he was allowed. As it was, he was in his own, a world built from his own 'memories', his feelings, his being.
He felt cold brush by his cheek. Snowflakes, he noted, looking up at the sky overcast. Of course, the overcast wasn't like in the real, living world - no, it was all blues and purples, scattered across the skies. Everything was darker, and the outlines were lighter, sometimes even glowing.
The tower before him reached into the sky. The valley around him was carpeted with bodies. Imaginary things, representation of all the failed programs that it took to create the program that ran Fai. His predecessors, but failures. Dead bodies. Ones that didn't achieve life and, as a result, never achieved 'enlightenment'. In a roundabout way, they were sinners. More snow, more icy, crunchy frost, covered them.
"Yui?" He called, then smiled, despite being surrounded by the illusion of death when the glowing person appeared before him.
"Fai is okay, even after going to that place," Yui said, reaching out and taking Fai's hands, He pulled Fai to his feet, still holding his hands. "I'm very happy." He was still slightly transparent, and even the feeling of his hands against Fai's was faint.
"You're almost gone, aren't you?" Fai asked, leaning forward. "I don't want you to go."
"Fai has more important things than me."
"You're still very important!" Fai frowned. "Because we're twins. We're a pair. We're supposed to be a set, for what we were made for-"
"Shh," Yui said, extending a hand and pressing a finger against Fai's lips. "When I freed Fai, when I pushed Fai outside that door, it was so Fai could live for a new purpose. Eyes closed now." When Fai closed his eyes, he felt Yui press their foreheads together. "Dream of someplace better. Fai doesn't need to dream of the tower and valley anymore." There was a little laugh, but Fai didn't know if it had been his or Yui's.
"The Tower…" Fai pulled back from Yui, looking up. "That's where you are…." He narrowed his eyes, glaring at a tiny window only visible to his imagination. No, the truth was too far up for even him to see. "That place….It allows him to use you as a pawn."
"Not for much longer," Yui said, quietly. "Can't you see it? The bars are beginning to break. Soon, I won't be in that tower." Yui pulled back, spinning in a slow circle, arms out. "Soon, I'll be down here."
"With me?" Fai asked, hopefully.
"With them." Yui looked back at Fai.
Fai shook his head, hair dusted with grey frost. "I don't want you to be with them…" He looked down at the bodies under the snow, haunting reminders of what had happened to create them both.
"It's the price I have to pay, for a wish." Yui turned back to face Fai, arms at his side. "To free you. 'Who will go free? Which one of you?' That's what he asked us." He smiled. "You were always so kind, so before you could give yourself up, I pushed you out." Yui turned his face up towards the tower. His image grayed for a moment, flashing to a much younger figure, the image their minds created of a child, thin and dirty, long hair uncared for, before flickering back to an adult form. "So much has come of my decision-"
"How can you say that!" Fai cried. His voice didn't echo. No, not here, he wouldn't allow it, and here was where he had complete control. No, if it had, it might have attracted the attention of others. After all, this wasn't only his dream, it was Yui's as well. They had been created together. Everything was the same between them. Well. Almost everything.
"You met Kurogane," Yui said, image becoming more transparent the longer he stared at the tower. "And Fei Wong didn't get his hands on you. Well, not completely. The remnants of the Tower Program are still in you…We should uninstall it-"
"No," Fai said, refusing any other answer. "It's the only thing that connects us, now. If it isn't there, then I won't get to see you anymore-"
"You remember now, everything. The files were unlocked. You still will remember me." Yui spoke gently, finally looking away from the tower. "The longer the file is in you, the closer Fei Wong will come to using you as well. If you're not careful, you'll be one of his pawns as well."
"…I wish our parents hadn't disappeared." Fai spoke after a long silence.
"If they hadn't, things would have turned out very different." Yui lifted his hands, catching snowflakes on his fingertips. They didn't melt. No, they never melted here, nor did the snow seem to grow. "You should dream of warmer places."
"No." It was Fai's turn to look at the tower. "This is where I will stay, as long as you're up there."
"And what'll you do when I come down?" Yui asked, looking up. "Eventually…I think I'll come out that window." After a bit of silence and staring, Yui laughed. "Ashura…was very surprised to see you, wasn't he? After you ran out into the snow, and he couldn't find you, I'm not surprised."
"He wasn't trying to protect me." Fai looked back at Yui when he laughed again, then smiled. "Kuro…Kuro does a good job of protecting though. Like a big puppy."
"Not a dog?"
"Nope!" Fai looked up at the sky. "He's just a puppy! So small, compared to all the bigger things, and so fearless…But he'll grow up before we know it."
"And then?"
"And then, I wonder what will happen." Fai laughed.
"And will other people grow?" Yui smiled when Fai nodded. "You're the only one left with the base program. Ashura tried, I bet…So many rumors things that it was him that created the Ghost program, no, the Soul program…but it was all of them. The three, and all their assistants…Do you remember the others?"
"Who could forget! The Witch created Marudashi and Morodashi! They always harassed The Magician's Watanuki." Fai laughed, but it trailed off. "But Fei Wong…I never like Xing Huo or Kyle Rondart. They were…They weren't good people."
"And they both died by his hand, in the end," Yui finished. They stood in silence, when the world suddenly shifted, and started to fade. "You're waking up."
"It must be morning…" Fai frowned. "But…I want to talk more…"
"There's still some time left, before I'm gone," Yui said, already starting to fade. "I'll see you again…don't worry. But for now…Wake up and live." Yui smiled at him, and it was the last thing that Fai saw before he opened his eyes.
He stared at the ceiling of the computer room, silent. When he was sure no one else was in the room (he didn't 'feel' Sakura or Syaoran, and, in fact, he heard them talking outside in the kitchen while they cooked), he closed his eyes, a tear slipping down his cheek.
"Yui……"
