"Sven," Train spoke quietly as he walked up to the lime-haired man.

"You're back." His friend let out a rush of breath that the ex-assassin easily identified as a sigh of relief. That red-eyed ninja had been correct. He had been worrying Sven. Well… It would be for the best if he informed his friend about what he planned to do before he found out through some other means. "A police officer called, telling me to collect the bounty." Sven started in a casual tone, but Train knew his friend was still worried about him, "Did you capture a bounty or something?"

"Twelve." He responded in the same quiet tone, unable to find the energy to say anything else. The simple realization that he may never be able to see Saya again, despite the fact that she had been dead for quite some time was taking its toll on him. Giving up the ability to sense her comforting presence around him made him feel like she had died all over again.

But he knew that giving up that simple sense was a whole lot better than actually having to forget her, like that witch had mentioned his initial price to be. Had it not been for Saya's willingness to share his price, he would have forgotten her altogether.

And then where would he have been? Everything he was today was because of her. If he had forgotten her completely, would he have turned back to his ruthless old self? That coldblooded killer? Would he have perhaps abandoned Sven and Eve when they needed him the most?

Train closed his eyes, gritting his teeth to keep his emotions in check.

"Train…" the former IBI agent started only to be cut off by his friend, "I'm leaving with them."

I won't let Saya's sacrifice be in vain.

"What?"

"Those dimension travelers…" He said tonelessly. He let himself become numb. It was easier to ignore the pain this way. "I'm going to look for Eve with them."

"Like hell you are!" Sven yelled angrily, grabbing Train by his shirt's collar as he glared at him. "Have you gone crazy?"

"Sven..." Train sighed, not in the least bit phased by his friend's sudden temper. This numb feeling was good. It served as a good shield for him. "I need to find her."

"And you think I don't?" The other man's gaze hardened.

"..." Train chose not to reply, looking away to avoid meeting his stare. Damn him. The emotions clearly playing across Sven's face were going to crumble that feeble protective cocoon Train had tried to hide himself in. He knew he would break down if he looked at his friend any longer. But he needed Sven to understand. He was doing this for their sakes. Could he not see that?

After almost a minute had gone by, he sighed, shaking his head. "I'm not saying you don't but..." Even now, he could feel the emotions crawling back up, clawing their way back into his heart.

"But what?" Sven pressed on when the former Black Cat trailed off, "What reason could you possibly have that I don't, to make such a foolish decision?"

"…" not now. Please. He could not afford to break down now. He had to stay strong for them. Princess was depending on him. Unknowingly, even Sven was depending on him. If he broke down now…

"We don't even know for sure if what these people are saying is the truth." Sven said quietly as he let go of Train, stepping back to regard him.

"I had a talk with Yuuko." Was all Train said in reply as though it explained everything. It should explain everything. He had, after all, heard those dimension traveler's stories, had he not? Sven ought to be smart enough to realize what Train meant.

"You're going to have to give me a better explanation than that." Sven's frosty tone however told the ex-assassin that clearly his answer had no explained anything. "Of course, if that's all it was…" as the clairvoyant continued, Train felt fear clench his heart and a painful knot form in his gut. He silently prayed for his friend to not say what he knew he might say. However, Sven's next words were proof that his prayers were not answered.

"Maybe I'll go have a talk with her myself." The shield of numbness cracked and shattered into millions of tiny pieces, leaving Train vulnerable to the raging emotions he had been trying to keep in check. There was sorrow. There was worry. But above all there was fear and anger. Fear that Sven would unwittingly subject himself to something he did not deserve and anger that he the world's most feared assassin had failed to protect another person he had cherished.

"You will do no such thing." Train growled, whipping his head around all of a sudden, fixing his fierce predatory glare on a shocked Sven. "You're going to stay as far away from her as you can."

"Why should I?" The former IBI agent narrowed his eyes defiantly as he overcame his astonishment and closely observed the amber-eyed male for his reaction, "If she can give me a chance to get Eve back here safe and sound, why shouldn't I ask her for it?"

Yugh! Why was he making this harder than it already was?

"That's what I'm doing," Train spoke though gritted teeth.

"So?" Train could tell that Sven was beyond irritated. But he didn't care. He was not going to let him suffer a fate similar to everyone else who had encountered that witch. "Why the heck are you so insistent on me not helping?"

"Why the fuck don't you understand, damn it?" Train's hiss startled the lime haired man as he found himself in the same position the Black Cat had been moments before. "Stay here. Is that too much to ask? Or do you want to lose whatever you hold precious, huh? Tell me? Do you?" knowing he could not hit the other man, Train settled for shaking him harshly as he demanded an answer for his next question. "Are you willing to pay a price like that brown-haired brat?"

Train ignored the dumbstruck look on his face as he tried not to break down in front of him. Why the heck could he not make him understand? His body shook as he tried to reel in his raging emotions. "Do you think you can bear it if you got the princess back only to have her forget what you mean to her?"

When Sven did not answer him, Train let go of him, wordlessly turning on his heels as he picked up his discarded jacket. He had to get out of here. He could not stand the look of immense hurt and disbelief that had suddenly become visible on Sven's face. And he most certainly could not stand the look of pity that had flashed in his companion's eyes. Without another thought, he walked right back outside the jingling bell being the only evidence that he had exited the shop since a couple of seconds later, he himself had disappeared from Sven's sight.

-0-

It took several minutes for Sven to bring himself out of that stupor as he heard a pair of quiet footsteps approach him. Turning around he noticed it was amber-eyed boy, Syaoran.

"How much of that did you hear?" he asked in a quiet but stern tone that he rarely used. The boy did no fidget under his single eyed stare as any other teenager might who had just been caught eavesdropping in on a private conversation but he still had the decency to apologize.

"Everything," he answered, meeting his stare with an intense amber-eyed stare of his own. "Forgive me for overhearing and speaking where it is clearly not my place but… I think Train-san might be right in asking you to stay behind."

"Eve is very important to me too, you know," he said solemnly.

"All the more reason for you to… I'm not saying any of us will stop you from coming with us but you should know, the price Yuuko-san asks for in return for allowing us to use Mokona is our most precious possession."

A soft sigh escaped his lips as he looked outside the window before reaching inside his coat pocket and pulling out a pack of cigarettes. Putting one in his mouth, he lit its end and took a drag before breathing out the smoke. He could feel a headache coming along.

"My most precious belonging, huh?" he chuckled darkly, shaking his head as he settled on a stool next to the counter. Without any hesitation, Syaoran sat down on the next one.

Closing his eyes, Sven took in another drag. "My most precious belonging…" he repeated, letting the words sink in. he thought back to the look on Train's face when he had suggested going to Yuuko for help. It had not just been anger there. No. Train was terrified. Panicked even. And for as long as Sven had known that man, Train had never panicked. Grow alarmed? Yes. Panicked or terrified? Never.

"Train," his pale face flashed before the sweeper's closed eyes, the immense pain etched across his features. "You idiot…"

What did you give up for our sakes?

There had been so much pain in his eyes.

Minutes ticked away into hours but Train did not return. Still feeling worried about the chocolate-haired ex-assassin, decided that if he was getting so many calls from the police station to collect the reward money for several major targets, his friend was just out there to let off some steam.

During the time it took Train to calm down and return to the small bar, Sven had several hours to think and in the end he decided to do what his normally cheerful companion asked of him. This was obviously important to Number XIII and after having lost something he had cherished above all else, Sven decided to let him have him have this. 'The peace of mind that someone he cared about would not have to suffer in the same manner as him.'

He wanted to be there for Eve, more than anything else, but like Train had pointed out, what if the witch asked for Eve's memories of him? He was a strong man, sure. But even he could not bear the pain of that price. Feeling like an extremely selfish coward, both traits very unbecoming of a gentleman- self proclaimed or not- in the end, Sven decided that perhaps letting the Black Cat go alone might be better.

He was still sitting on the stool next to the counter, when Train returned near midnight though the chestnut-haired sweeper ignored him completely brushing past him to climb the stairs leading to his temporary bedroom.

"Train…" he addressed the man, making him freeze halfway up the stairs, though just like he had the previous night he did not turn around to face him. "You better get back in one piece or else…" he let his threat hang in the air but from the slight relaxing of Train's tensed shoulders, he knew that the other man was relieved at not having to argue with him. "…If you take too long in coming back or anything happens to either of you, don't think I will hesitate in going to Yuuko. No matter what world you will be in, I'll kick your ass to hell and back, you hear me?"

"Sven," Train looked over his shoulder at the man sitting below, "Thanks." The gratitude filled in that single word was enough to halt Sven in mid-rant. By the time he came back to his senses, Train was safely behind the closed door of his room.

-0-

It was early next morning that Yuuko contacted the group of dimension travelers to inform them about the newest addition to their group. Having already heard the news about the increase in their number from Syaoran, none of the travelers expressed any surprise and Sven seemed pretty calm about it too.

After breakfast, just as Sven made up his mind to head over to the police station to collect the reward money, Mokona hopped into the room informing everyone that it was time to leave. Train had trailed down the stairs with a simple traveler's bag slung over his shoulders only a short while later, avoiding Sven's gaze as they headed outside in towards the backyard.

"Oye Train," Sven called out just as the white, long eared creature hopped into the air and fluffy, white, angelic wings exploded out of back. Those wings reminded him painfully of Eve. Her trans abilities allowed her to create wings identical to Mokona's. "You better come back, you hear me?"

A soft smile touched the sweeper's lips as he gave him a nod before his body was dissolved into multi-colored smoke and sucked into the mouth of the bejeweled rabbit along with the other travelers before the creature itself popped out of existence.

The wind rustled the leaves in the trees and Sven found himself shaking his head next to Annette. "Stubborn idiot…" he muttered with a quiet chuckle, lighting up a cigarette as he placed it in his mouth and inhaled. Exhaling heavily, he raised his head to look up at the lazy clouds floating above their heads, his single-eye crinkling up against the sun's brightness as he watched.

"Stay safe… both of you."

-0-

In a distant dimension, a cherry-eyed girl let out an anguished scream as her lithe body thrashed against her restraints, blue magical runes keeping her from transforming into something that could allow her to escape.

The bespectacled man, gleefully observing her, picked up a notepad to write down his observations. Next to him, a chestnut haired boy with mismatched eyes watched apathetically as the dark magic began to work its way into the girl's system and she let out an even louder scream.

A/N: and I'm back with another chapter for you all. What do you think? Was it any good? Did you like it? Hate? Don't know what to think of it? You know how to let me know. Just go ahead and click on that pretty little magical button that frees Eve and lets her go kick Kyle's ass. ;) ;) you know you want to.

I hope I didn't make anyone act too OOC.

So in the end I decided against letting Kyoko come along, simply because I could not work her into the plot. Plus, apart from a couple of reviewers no one ever bothered to help me figure out an appropriate price for her so yeah. She not going. The next world they go to, what do you think it will be? Clow? One of the previous worlds? Or an entirely new world? Who is brave enough to dare and guess what I might be planning next?

Pretty please, let me know.

-Nims

PS. I just remembered, I'm putting up a poll on my profile about who you guys think would win in a fight between Kuro-toffee popcorn and Train. Please vote for the one you think would be stronger.