Disclaimer: I wish they were mine... but they're not

A/N: I can't believe it's taken me so long to write that oO It's not even that good a chapter or so I think I must admit I liked to write it though, because SPOILER I'm happy to see Fai moving on by himself :) /SPOILER So yeah, not that good, but I did enjoy it… I might come back on it someday, when AVLLC is finished and my other story started :)
Anyway, just in case the next chapter didn't make it in time: Happy Valentine's Day in advance^^

Quick word to the reviewer:

Melissa Brite: Glad you do ^^

Kayla-chan1990: Aw, I'm so glad you're back! It's always frustrating when Internet keeps you away from fanfictions for too long

Yoshikochan: Yes, I suppose anyone would be frightened in Fai's place because as you said, he has a tendency to lose those close to him so… yeah, that's quite likely to make someone feel insecure.

Jay: Ah, maybe I didn't phrase that correctly: Kurogane isn't torturing his phone's cord, he is picturing Fai (who does torture his phone's cord out of nervousness). I'll have to go back on that if it's not clear ^^' And yes, from now on, I guess what'll happen is not that unpredictable but… I'll have to end the cycle, you see? Even though I know it's not really that surprising anymore, it would feel wrong not to go to the end of the story^^
As for plot twists… Ah, well, you'll see by yourself x)

Ezi: Oui, ça n'a pas été facile… surtout dans sa reaction face à Kurogane, quand il a voulut s'installer chez lui… On m'a repproché dans une autre review de l'avoir fait trop silencieux, trop "calme"… je ne sais pas ce que tu en penses ^^' Personnellement, j'ai tendance à penser que le silence serait une réaction dans la logique de Fai, au sens ou c'est encore l'option la moins blessante à laquelle il songerait (à mon avis) Enfin bref… tu me diras ce que tu en penses, hein^^ En tout cas, merci pour ton soutien^^

Eilonwyn: Hehe, I liked inserting that line, I must admit it^^ Besides, it was also a way to remind readers that even though they're not really present in the Fic, Fai is still close to Touya and Yukito… it was also my way to dedicate this chapter to them two (they were my first CLAMP pairing after all^^). As for the following of the Characters… Well, I've got a whole lot of OCs running through my head since 2001, I've had to create everything for them (background and all)… after such a work, keeping track of Someone else's characters is but a piece of cake^^ (Especially since most of them are way calmer than my OCs lol)

Tuliharja: It's a good thing, from you to try and point the good aspects as well as those that need fixing^^ It really helps not to feel too bad^^
Ah, yes, you're right, Tsubasa isn't aiming for the same public^^ While CCS can be read from the age of eleven (or so) I think one needs to be a bit more mature to truly understand Tsubasa's story and themes^^
Yes, unfinished stories are awfully frustrating indeed! Even for the writer, it's frustrating to leave a work unfinished, even though sometimes you just find yourself unable to go to the end of a story
No, no italics at all :) The timeline is a bit complicated to follow between Italics and normal text, I must admit it^^' In fact, it's more like the "normal" parts of chapter 28 are Fai's thoughts, and the Italics are the memories that come to his mind as he reflects x) Except for the very end of the chapter, where it goes back to a normal 3rd person narration, divided between Fai and Kuro's POV.
I have a tendency to switch between various narrators in my stories, because I always feel the story is not as complete and/or interesting if it's told from only one point of view. That's also why I like to write 3rd person narratives: it allows me to switch from one storyteller to another more smoothly than a 1st person narrative would. Plus, switching from one narrator to another enables me to explore their respective personality without digressing too much, and that's a pretty nice thing to do^^ But yes, I must admit that these sort of things can be a bit confusing sometimes… it's just that, since I'm the one writing, I have difficulties to see where readers could get confused.
Hehe, yes, the Crush is for Kuro-Wan^^ He's most likely been in love with Fai since chapter 5, Awkward Moments, even though he realized it only years later^^
There's a sentence that often reminds me of Fai: "Pour vivre heureux, vivons cachés" which means "To live happily, live hidden"… I think that sentence suits him well, because that's just how I think he reacts: "If I want to be left in peace, I need to have as few people close to me as possible". And since he's very hard to get close to, he must be totally terrified at the very idea of losing his beloved ones, that's why he's so afraid of telling his family about his relationship with Kurogane. (People outside his family and friend circle are totally unimportant to him, I must say.)
Yep, Kuro-Chuu, Chii-Chan and Sayoran are all the same age in AVLLC^^
They saw an imaginary Disney movie ^^' Though I must say I've been inspired by what I've heard about "Up", from my family and friend who saw it. It's just that I couldn't think of an existing Disney movie that would fit with the scene^^' But yeah, Kuro really only agreed to the Disney because it was Fai asking, and also because he wanted to avoid the Romantic Comedy x)
Well, I do agree that Fai was unusually silent in the scene. However, I don't think it is this "wrong" for him to be silent. I mean, Fai is not someone who likes confrontation (far from that) and we know that he is totally unable to be straightforward… plus, the guy spends his time trying to avoid problems, so explaining Kurogane why he didn't want him to spend the night at his place, or that he was downright terrified & excited was out of the question, right? On the other hand, he couldn't laugh it off either, because that would have meant hurting Kurogane… badly so. So if Fai won't tell what bothers him in a direct way, and if he can't laugh (or smile) the matter off either, he's only left with the only other option he knows: retreat. Fai only ran away from harm, it's like… well, the "least bad solution" he could find. (This doesn't sound English, but I don't know how to formulate it in another way.)
Ah, yes, Lineos is like THE friend x) (He's better at sorting out his friends' problems than his own, though). He's not afraid of telling people what's wrong with their behavior, not even if he knows it'll hurt them… that makes him someone… er… special, though. But he was the best avalaible option since, as you mentioned, Kurogane and Yuui are out of question^^
And the 's' in "What If-s" was a plural, because I didn't think I could write it "What Ifs"… but as an afterthought, I'll probably change that later, so as to make it less confusing ^^'

Thanks a lot to all of you, anonymous readers and people who added this story on their favorite and/or alert list, even without leaving a review!

29 Surprises Under The Misteltoe

"I thought you didn't want to work with children?" Hiromu asked, surprised.

"Yeah, well, that's about the only option I have if I want to teach Ninjutsu… so kids it'll be. Can't be worst than teaching hormone-ridden, spoiled teenagers anyway."

"Don't worry dear," Sonomi reassured him, "you're nearly twenty two now, you're old and wise enough to make your own choices. It's just a bit… surprising, seeing as it's so different from what you've always wanted to do."

"Don't make such turns a habit, though." Hiromu joked as Kurogane huffed. "Or next thing, you'll tell us that you've abandoned women in favor of men."

Kurogane managed not to flinch.
Truth be told, he had never really switched from women to men. He had switched from useless (and loveless) relationships with women to a (not so) stable and loving relationship with Fai. Of course, as a young boy, Kurogane had thought he might have been gay. He had even tried and kissed a guy, once… but that hadn't been a good experience (especially since the guy's boyfriend had engaged Kurogane into a fight shortly after). In the end, he had had to admit to himself that, really, it was only Fai. It had always been Fai. Somehow, Kurogane had never mistaken the twins. Not even once.
Perhaps he had always loved Fai more than Yuui.

Whatever the answer was, Kurogane knew that loving Fai was something truly unique. It wasn't like loving his parents, or one of his many girlfriends. It wasn't like loving a woman, and yet it wasn't like loving any other guy either. Somehow, Kurogane realized, loving Fai –and getting in a relationship with him- had proved to be much more of an adventure than he would have first thought. Fai, with his moronic looks and his totally brainless-like behavior, had proved to hide a much deeper (and sometimes, darker) personality… and strangely, it seemed that the more Kurogane discovered of this not-so-fool Fai, the more he fell in love with him, with how complex he could be… how strong and fragile he could be… even though it was sometimes awfully difficult.

"Something's wrong, Kuro-Kun?" Chii asked as she passed by him on her way to the kitchen. "You look like you're about to eat someone."

"Must be hungry then."

Chii laughed heartily and kissed his cheek before she hurried toward the fridge, her petite silhouette easily dodging Hideki's possessive arms, and Kurogane sighed.

Sometimes, he really did envy his best friend's relationship with her boyfriend. It seemed so simple, so easy for them to be in love: they were not afraid to speak, not afraid to show how they felt, or explain it… it seemed to be natural to them.

Kurogane… had never been good at telling how he felt. He hated to admit it, even to himself, but he knew he wasn't very talented with words… they intimidated him.
Of course he knew how to use them for technical and practical conversations, he could even be charismatic when he wanted and needed to… But to put his feelings in to word, to dig into his own heart and voluntarily unveil its content, to freely divulge his deepest, most intimate thoughts was something that frightened him to no end.
Chii had once told him he shouldn't be so afraid of being hurt, of being wrong… at first he had forgotten that sentence, thinking the blonde girl had spent too much time with her brothers… but then again, perhaps she had been right. Perhaps that was the reason why Kurogane couldn't speak in tender ways… maybe by acting like he didn't care, he would be able not to care for real.
But then again, what he had to say could definitely not be taken seriously if he said it like he didn't care.

Besides, Fai's behavior didn't help him at all. No matter how different Kurogane and the blonde could appear, they were very alike in some ways. Fai was always smiling and cheering everyone up, speaking loudly and moving too fast for others to see his eyes shining with fears and doubts… but in the end, he told as little about himself as Kurogane did.
With his smiles and easygoing attitudes, he managed to keep most people away from the real him, never really letting go of anything… the only real difference between them on that point was that, opposite to Fai, Kurogane didn't try to hide the fact that he kept his feelings for himself.

Perhaps that was why they had never talked about the ring.

Yes, the ring. Two years after Ashura's death, Fai still wore his wedding ring. Of course, insensitive as he pretended to be, Kurogane did try to understand. He knew Ashura had had a very positive effect on the blonde's life, and his death had more than shocked him… besides, Fai was someone who got easily attached to objects, it was not surprising that he kept one so important to him for so long….
Nevertheless, the golden ring was a painful reminder of Ashura… of the fact that, to Fai, Kurogane was probably only a replacement.

Deeply gone in his thoughts, Kurogane didn't even realize that he had crossed the living room to enter the hallway until he bumped into the very object torturing his mind.

"Oh, Kuro-Pyon!" Fai smiled, though a bit shakily. "Why aren't you inside with the others?"

"Why won't you call me by my proper name, even once in a while?"

"Because I like nicknames better!" Fai teased. "Besides, I don't recall you calling me by my name either… Well; except for that time on Yuui and I's eleventh birthday, but I'm not certain you were totally conscious of what you did back then."

Kurogane rolled his eyes and was about to retort, when his gaze fell on Fai's left hand, and he couldn't help noticing the lack of golden shine on his ring finger.

"You're not wearing your ring." The brunet said flatly.

"Yes!" Fai defended nervously. "I… I'll probably never really leave it but…" He shrugged and took a thin golden necklace out of his shirt, exposing Ashura's ring to the dim light. "I thought… I thought it was high time I stopped considering myself as only a widower… I mean, it's been… two years already and… well, keeping the ring on might have been a bit… uh… cruel, to you."

Kurogane knew for sure that he wasn't a man of words. He had never really been comfortable with them, especially not when they were supposed to express tender feelings, and therefore found himself unable to answer Fai's words, for his throat was too tightly clenched by emotion.
And so, since he couldn't find anything appropriate to say, he did the first thing that came to mind. Pressing Fai to his chest, he kissed him with all the tenderness and love he was capable of.

"Silly Kuro-Mine." Fai chuckled when he was finally able to speak again, "It's not even midnight yet."

Kurogane followed his lover's gaze to the ceiling and realized they were standing right under a bunch of mistletoe.

"I don't give a damn about that." The younger man grumbled.

And, as if to prove his point, he kissed his boyfriend once more… and that was when things went wrong.
Because, in the blink of an eye, Freya and her two little brothers appeared in the hallway, and as soon as she saw her uncles kissing, she ran to the dining room and shouted:

"Uncle Kurogane and Uncle Fai are cheaters! They're not waiting for midnight to kiss!"

Unfortunately, Chii had always been very quick and, before either Fai or Kurogane could move, she stood before them in the hallway, her eyes wide with astonishment.

"Well," Yuui's voice breathed after a long silence, "serves me right for not believing one can find surprises under the mistletoe."

End of Surprises Under The Mistletoe.


Next Chapter: For Better And For Worse… In which you get to have the family's reaction… because there's got to be one, hasn't it?