Summary: Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE; Fai's POV. He meets up with someone he did not expect.

Warnings: So Fai doesn't really swear. So that takes care of my standard first warning (or lack thereof). Curse Fai and his silly spoilers! Why does he talk about their previous worlds so much? Damnit. Oh well. Warning Two: Spoilers. Again, nothing HUGE, but spoilers nonetheless. And the KuroxFai hints keep coming! Not as nonexistent as the last one (because…well…Fai's difficult, for some reason, and keeps thinking about what Kuro-puu thinks of him), which leads to all sorts of tidbits that could be interpreted as…something else. So Warning Three: KuroxFai hinting. Nothing serious (unless you want to read into the ending).

Disclaimers: As with the first chapter, all things hereafter belong to CLAMP, et al.

Lucidity

The room I found myself in was quite small. It reminded me a lot of that shrine Kurogane and I stayed at in Shurano. The room felt quite loved and peaceful. A low table sat in the center of the room with cushions surrounding its four sides. It was laid for the kind of tea we used to serve in Outo Country. The lanterns hanging from the walls lit the room dimly and I felt a quiet breeze drift through the sliding paper doors.

I was alone though. In the silence. I shivered. I had never minded silence as a boy, but it grew quickly to be a presence that I hated. I still do. And being alone was almost as bad. I did my best to push down the panic that attempted to seize my heart. I could not possibly be alone. Kurogane, Syaoran-kun, Sakura-chan, and Mokona had to be around here somewhere. My gaze darted around the room, hoping to find a clue of where to go.

I knew for certain that I did not want to be in this room, as happy and comforting as it felt. I did not want anyone to find me here lest they think I was some kind of threat. And then I would never find the others. I swallowed nervously and tried to focus again. As I felt my calm restoring itself, a soft scrape of wood heralded what I had feared; I was going to be discovered.

A soft tinkling of delicate metals caused me to open my eyes and saw before me a young lady of about Sakura-chan's age. Her mauve and white robes drifted about her as if entranced. Her hair was woven into an ornate style and fit her perfectly. She had to be some kind of noble. Her violet eyes held a warmth I had not experienced outside of Sakura-chan. She smiled at me beautifully.

"Hello, Fai," she said.

I felt the shock show on my face before I could suppress it. She laughed merrily at my expression before refraining.

"Forgive me," she smiled. "The look on your face was too much." She bowed slightly to me. "I am Tomoyo, the princess of Japan." She lifted herself from her bow. "Kurogane's Japan."

Ah. So this was his Tomoyo-hime. I suppose I should not be surprised that she was exquisite. Nothing less for Kurogane to protect and devote his life. I felt a pang of jealousy, before forcing it away. I returned her smile.

"It's nice to meet you, Princess," I said, bowing lower than she had. "Kuro-tan, er, Kurogane speaks highly of you."

She sighed eloquently. "Fai, if you please, I have come into the habit of speaking rather plainly around Kurogane. I would rather do the same with you and I would appreciate it if you would do me the same courtesy."

It threw me off balance for a moment. "Uh…all right…"

"Thank you," she smiled. "Shall we have some tea?"

I loved tea. Especially the kind that Kurogane seemed to enjoy. It had started a little strong for my tastes, but it quickly grew on me. It had been the kind we had served in the Cat's Eye in Outo Country. She sat at one side of the table, arranging herself so that her robes would not be in her way. I sat opposite her.

She poured our tea and set a chipped cup in front of me. I looked at it oddly and heard her laugh again.

"I'm afraid the state of your teacup is the fault of Kurogane," she said. "He was never too careful with my cups."

I looked at her, almost horrified. This tea set was beautiful, and Kurogane had had the gall to be clumsy with it? It was most unlike him.

"I don't think I would blame it on him, however," she continued. "He was just never very graceful when we sat together."

I smiled. It sounded like they had a wonderful relationship. Something I had never had with Ashura-ou. I could not sit with him in a main room in case someone intruded and discovered that the king was mingling with his court wizard. In public, I almost felt like he treated me as an embarrassment. I looked down at my cup then, studying the particles of tealeaves, collecting at the bottom.

"Do not be shy, Fai," she encouraged. "I only wish to speak with you."

"About what?" I asked quietly.

She regarded me kindly for a moment before answering. "I would like to know how you are."

I gave her a rather confused look. "I'm just fine, thank you."

"Now that you have given me the polite answer, how about if you give me the real answer?" She responded.

I was quite taken aback. I wondered if she was the one from whom Kurogane had learned to read people; or perhaps even vice versa. She waited patiently and I looked back to my cup. "I…I…don't know…" I murmured.

She nodded, almost gravely. "He can help you, you know."

I met her eyes. She could not possibly mean Kurogane. "He doesn't even like me," I began.

"Oh nonsense!" She interrupted. She looked away then, clasping her hands, her eyes turning starry. "My Kurogane is finally maturing. It's absolutely wonderful."

Maybe she was not quite the formal princess I had thought; she now seemed like the kind of girl that would get along well with Mokona. She looked back at me, her eyes still glowing. "You know that you are the first one who has been able to touch him as you do?"

Touch him? He tried to kill each time I touched him. "But…"

"No, no," she shook her head, the dangles on her hair ornament clinking together like chimes. "Do not let him fool you. He is quite tricky that way. He will swear that he hates you until the bitter end. But do not give up!"

"Princess?" I asked. She was not really making sense anymore. Was she always so adamant about things?

She shook her head. "Please call me Tomoyo. Kurogane never used honorifics when speaking to me. I do not see why we cannot do the same." She leaned in a little as if about to divulge me with a secret. "I have never much liked the honorifics anyway." I nodded and she beamed at me before going on. "I'm sure you have realized that Kurogane is quite distanced from people," she said and waited for my nod before proceeding. "He served me since before I could remember," she said wistfully. "He was ten years older than I, but I found that he was the one with whom I preferred to spend my time. He had to be around me anyway, so I thought we might be able to play together." She laughed lightly. "I was quite disappointed when he informed me that ninja do not play. As I grew up and learned how to act as a proper princess in this country, he turned into my only escape.

"At first, he wanted nothing to do with me, except to protect me, as he had sworn. I was a stubborn girl though, and the word 'no' applied to foolish things had never sat well with me. I could not see why I could not sit around and chat with him. I would be alone otherwise. So I persisted in heckling him until he finally began to open up and be himself. He had been so formal at first. I found out, however, that he hates formalities and proper speech. He was always so blunt with everything. Insomuch as he was my ninja, I also felt that, to an extent, we had become friends. Somehow I knew that he would give his life to protect me without a thought. As war and upheaval erupted in the country though, I was assigned a second ninja, Souma."

"So there really is another Souma," I exclaimed, forgetting my awkwardness.

"You have met her then?" She looked excitedly at me.

I nodded emphatically. "Yes. And Kuro-pii was so surprised that he dropped me!"

Tomoyo laughed outright at that, and I could not resist joining her. I could only imagine Kurogane sitting in the corner of the room watching the both of us hopelessly. We soon calmed ourselves and I finally felt at ease enough to take a sip of the tea in front of me. I had been right; it was exactly as Kurogane had made it that first night.

"Souma is a good ninja," Tomoyo continued. "But she was quite formal and always squabbled with Kurogane about his language with me. She never realized that I enjoyed his informal tone. He truly did see me as an equal."

I had always longed for that kind of a relationship between Ashura-ou and myself. At first, he was my savior, sweeping me away from that ruin of a life that I had known, and bringing me into his service. I had practically worshipped the man, doing anything he requested of me. And I had been all too glad to allow him to put that tattoo on my back. It would allow my magic to be controlled. By Ashura-ou.

"He sees everyone as an equal, it seems," I interjected quietly.

"Even you." Tomoyo finished my thought and I looked back up to her.

"Yes," I nodded. "I began this trip with only the slightest amount of confidence left."

"You did not let that drive you down, however," she observed. "You met everyone with the most pleasant of smiles and proceeded to charm them into thinking that you have not a problem in the world."

I was not surprised that she was so perceptive. "And they believed it. They still do."

"Except for Kurogane," she said.

He had never been fooled by my smile. And he hated me for not being honest.

"He does not truly hate you," Tomoyo looked sadly at me.

"He said he did," I said, not able to conceal the bitterness in my voice. I did not want him to hate me.

I looked up in surprise as Tomoyo reached across the table and took one of my hands in both of her own. "You must realize that Kurogane only hates the part of you that you show to the world. He hates it because he knows that it is not the real you. He never liked me very much when he actually saw me performing my duties. It was not the real me."

I was not strong enough to show him anything other than my façade. I took a wavering breath and I looked down at her delicate hands holding mine. "I want to be able to show him."

"But you think he will hate you for who you truly are?"

I nodded glumly.

"You do not believe in him?"

"I…I want to believe…"

"The fact that he has stayed with you all is proof enough to show that he cares," she said, softly. "He usually cannot put his feelings into the proper words, so he expresses himself through his actions. I knew he cared for me when he began killing for no reason. He always told me that he killed them all the first time so that they could not get up to try again. I did not appreciate the sentiment, but that is beside the point. Which is, he allows you to do things no other person would be able to even consider. Not even me."

I looked up at her again.

"Your nicknames for him," she smiled. "I would simply have loved to see the expression on his face when you first called him one." She chuckled lightly and I offered her a contrite smile.

"It was rather funny," I said.

She smiled at me again, and I felt the dark mood that had come upon me begin to lift. "You also insist on talking to him."

"Kuro-chan's not much of a conversationalist though, is he?" I was able to grin.

She laughed again. "Most certainly not. All of our conversations consisted of myself speaking, asking questions, and getting one-worded answers. He really is hopeless, then."

"He is!" I said.

"But he allows you to do all of it," she told me then. "And that means…"

"He…doesn't hate me?"

"Correct!" She applauded.

I smiled at her. Again, an image of Kurogane glaring at us from a corner came to mind.

"Leave me out of it," he would have growled, rolling his eyes.

Tomoyo shook her head again. "He never much appreciated jokes at his expense."

She could read minds too? She quirked an eyebrow at me, and waited for me to ask it aloud, which I decided to do.

"The shock on your face was enough for the last one," she explained. "I am not quite that magical. But believe me when I say that Kurogane has been in that position more than once. He always sets himself up for them though."

"He does," I agreed. "He really does."

"They always made him feel like a fool, he told me," she said. "I never cared though. He was funny without even trying. Which made jokes all the easier."

"And at this point Kuro-tan would start yelling about how it wasn't true," I laughed.

"Ah yes," Tomoyo sighed. She took a sip of tea and stared into her cup, a touch of melancholy in her voice. "I do miss him."

"I'm sorry, Tomoyo," I said.

She looked back up at me. "There is no reason for you to be sorry, Fai. I sent him away in the first place."

I shrugged. "Still, to not have him beside you must be strange."

She nodded. "A little lonely too." She looked at me slyly then. "But I'd imagine you'd be even more lonely if he were not beside you, wouldn't you?"

"What?" I almost reeled back in shock.

"Ohohoho!!" Tomoyo lifted a hand to her mouth as she laughed. She looked back at me, mirth still sparkling in her eyes. "That look was priceless, Fai! Priceless I tell you."

"What…what are you talking about?" I asked nervously.

"I cannot divulge," she told me. "If you don't know by now, then you will have to figure it out on your own."

"But why?" I began.

"Obstacles must be overcome on one's own in order for them to be truly overcome," she said. "If you trust each other, you both will be able to get passed your troubles."

I almost missed the way our conversation had switched courses. Kurogane had troubles and obstacles to overcome? "Kurogane never shows any sign of having troubles," I said to her.

She looked quite sad at my words. "It is a shame that he cannot tell you yet. However," she put a finger to her chin thoughtfully. "He has always been terrible at hiding his secrets. I would have thought you might have been able to notice something about him by now."

"What? What do you mean?"

She frowned. "I can hardly tell you, myself. Kurogane would most likely disown me and commit seppuku so that he would never have to face me again."

I blanched at that. "What on earth could possibly be that bad?"

She rolled her eyes. "It is not that bad, as you say. But Kurogane is deeply disturbed by it. It is very important to him and he wishes for no one to know it."

I honestly wished that she would simply tell me. But she had a point; Kurogane's troubles and secrets were his to tell, not hers. I nodded to her. "I understand. I've got some of those myself."

"Can you tell him about them?" She asked.

"No…" I said. "I wish I could though."

"He wishes you could too," she mentioned.

I smiled wryly. "Really now?"

"Oh yes," she grinned and I laughed again. "I have great expectations for you, Fai."

"For me?" I said.

She nodded. "Yes. I believe that, by your journey's end, you will become the person you were meant to be."

"So you don't think I'm the right me?" I said, smiling.

"No, you are," she said. "But you have so much more potential. You will find your strength before the end."

How I longed for that to be true. I could be how my heart wanted me to be and not how my insecurities forced me to be. "Tomoyo, do you think…"

"No more," she said abruptly and sighed. "I do wish I did not have to leave you like this. I had so much fun. Maybe we will meet again someday."

"What? What do you mean?" I asked and scrambled to my feet as she rose.

She tilted her head at me. "It is time for you to go."

"Me to go…?" She was completely confusing me, but before I could question her further, she smiled once more and the room dropped away from me, pitching me headlong into blackness.

I opened my eyes then and found myself lying on my side on a dirt floor, surrounded by almost complete darkness. Kurogane lay on his back about an arm's length from me, his head turned to me, eyes closed in sleep. Blood had dried in a trail from his temple down the side of his face and an arm was extended slightly toward me, palm upward.

I curled my knees up to my chest, huddling against the cold that seeped into the room. I looked back at Kurogane to find his dark eyes watching me dully. Neither of us said a word as we looked at each other. He opened his mouth slightly, as if he wanted to say something, but in the end, he could not say anything. The hand that lay in the space between us flexed slightly before relaxing again. I reached out and rested my hand against his.

A/N: So this is the second chapter. I'd like to take this time to apologize to Fai fans. Forgive me for always writing Kurogane's stuff first. I can't help it (he is my first favorite character…) and his words/story always seem to come to me easier. Fai's always a little difficult. Again, this story's base plot was suggested by Miss Duchessa. I hope it lives up to the first one. I don't really think so and am somewhat disappointed in how this one turned out, but I can't really think of how else it would go. It doesn't seem as deep and meaningful as the first chapter, but then, Tomoyo and Fai seem more like the "Let's all sit down, drink some tea, and tell stories all night" kind of people. Sure there are some meaningful things, but they aren't as subtle as it was in chapter one. grumble I'll get Fai right one of these days for sure! So speaking of which, I hope I kept everyone in character. I'm pretty sure Tomoyo slipped a couple of times, but…maybe not…::shrug:: Don't know for sure. And…I could absolutely not help myself at the end. I swear that part wrote itself. But I still think it's subtle enough. A nice meaningful silence followed by a nice meaningful gesture. Speaking of which, the end of this story is something I dreamt up after finishing off chapitre 65. SPOILER: Syaoran goes looking for Kurogane and Fai amongst Ashura's people. After getting some negatives as answers on their whereabouts, he wonders if they're hiding something or if Fai and Kuro really have gone to a different world. I'm working off the assumption that they are all still in the same world, but that, as the townspeople said, might have been (and for the purposes of this story were) captured by Ashura's army for being strangers in the land and thrown into the dungeon or what not. (I sketched in that Kuro was injured in the line of duty ::coughprotectingFaicough::. Ahehehe….Again, I am innocent of actually writing that part. It wrote itself. I guess that's it. If I think of something else, I'll add it in an edit. So if you think something might be better in this chapter, drop me a line. Oh, and did anyone catch the X-Files reference? Teehee.