Summary: The final battle between Ashura and Yasha. Kurogane and Fai get back together with Syaoran, Sakura, and Mokona.

Warnings: Swearing. Very slight KuroganexFai and SakuraxSyaoran. Some spoilers for chapters 65 and beyond.

Disclaimers: So not mine.

Legend

Letting Go

The first rays of the morning slowly seeped through the lush foliage of the forest to filter down and streak golden paths across Fai's blond hair. He let the light wake him slowly and he stretched languidly. Sighing with contentment, he glanced to his side, knowing he would find Kurogane's eyes on him.

"Good morning, Kuro-puu," Fai smiled lazily, still basking in the small rays of dawn.

"I was afraid I was going to have to wake you up," Kurogane grinned.

"And I know how much you love to do that," the bowman winked and rolled onto his side, now facing his partner. He reached out to tenderly flick aside a lock of black hair from the swordsman's eyes just to smile as it fell right back. "Do you think we should go find those two?"

Kurogane's soft expression fell instantaneously at the mention of the pair he and his bowman had met last night. He rolled his eyes, already exasperated by the topic. "That guy can take care of himself. I have no obligation to him."

"Except that we need to get them both back with that boy and his princess," Fai said patiently.

Kurogane grunted in reluctant acquiescence. "I suppose." He paused, mulling over their situation. "How do we intend to do that anyway?"

The blond shrugged. "I was hoping you would have a plan."

The swordsman let out a long sigh. "Well, I guess we can't have people thinking that there's some kind of demon craft working, so they can only see one pair of us at a time. They'll have to dress like us, just in case." He pushed a hand through his hair, his brow furrowing in thought. "This shouldn't be this hard."

Fai reached over to pat Kurogane's shoulder. "On second thought, maybe we should leave the planning to me."

Kurogane glared at him. "Don't patronize me. You said you hoped I would have a plan, so I'm trying to think up one."

"You're more of the action type, Kuro-chan," Fai said, mockingly sage. "You should leave the thinking to those who exercise their intellect daily."

"You still said that you hoped I had a plan," the swordsman groused, folding his arms over his chest crossly.

"You're awfully cute when you pout, Kuro-chi," Fai grinned.

Kurogane grumbled, denying the claim. "So what is our plan?"

"Well, we're going back into battle today, so I think that at one point we switch positions with them so that the two children will never know that there were more than just their own versions of us," Fai pondered. "What do you think?"

"The kids are going to want to know why it was we were fighting them," Kurogane said. "What should we tell them to say? They were just trying to train the kid better, or something lame like that?"

"Oh that's not lame, Kuro-kun," Fai chuckled. "In a way you are training the boy. Fighting against you is always training."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Kurogane raised an eyebrow at the grinning bowman.

"Oh nothing," Fai dismissed the question with a wave of his hand. "So we switch places when it's a good time. This way the children will have their versions of us back and no one will be the wiser."

"Why is it important that they don't find out there's two of us?"

The blond mulled over the inquiry a moment before responding. "I don't know. But it seems like it would be less confusing. You tend to take your own existence for granted, right? Well, if the children found out that we existed on more than one plane, then what's to say they would not be running into their own counterparts in some world they go to?"

"You just want to take that fraction of uncertainty away from them?" Kurogane asked.

"In a way, yes," Fai nodded. "But other than that, I don't know why I think it's something important."

"Well, I know most of the warriors would be a little more than frightened if they saw two sets of the same people," Kurogane smirked.

"This is true," Fai laughed. "Speaking of whom, shall we find our twins and then get to camp?"

Kurogane sighed, not at all looking forward to meeting up with his infuriating likeness again. "If we must."

The two warriors rose and headed into the direction in which Kurogane's double had disappeared. In the light of the dawn, it did not take them long to discover the two sleeping under a thick tree. The light filtered down onto them, the black-haired man leaning against the tree and the blond resting just slightly against his shoulder. Kurogane studied the two thoughtfully.

"It's strange, when they're like this, I can almost imagine that they are us."

Fai took his hand, twining their fingers together. "They seem to get along better when asleep."

"Don't talk about me like I can't hear you," the black-haired man opened his scarlet eyes, glaring at the two warriors.

"Well, he's awake after all," Kurogane sneered. "Here I thought your senses were duller than your brain."

The man snarled, but did not move from his position. He turned his icy glare to the blond resting against him. "Hey, wake up."

Blinking blue eyes open, the blond man sat up, taking in his surroundings. His gaze fell upon Kurogane and Fai and he smiled fleetingly.

Fai grinned and waved a greeting to his doppelganger before leaning over to whisper to Kurogane. "It's a shame you and yourself can't get along. We might have some fun together."

Kurogane frowned skeptically. "That guy and I will never get along."

"So what are you doing here?" the black-haired man stood, a hand falling to rest just beside the sword at his hip.

Anticipating the growl and the aggressive lean forward, Fai put out his hand to stop Kurogane from actually attacking the other man. "Kuro-tan," he warned gently, before turning his attention to the other Kurogane, now gripping the hilt of his own Souhi. "Kurogane."

The man flinched noticeably and his eyes widened slightly. He looked back at his own Fai who simply looked intrigued that someone would call Kurogane by his proper name. He rolled his eyes and shook his head, giving Fai his full attention.

The bowman could not help but chuckle to now realize that the black-haired man must not be addressed by his name either.

"How come you call him by his name?" Kurogane muttered, giving Fai a sidelong glare.

"To tell the two of you apart," came the cheery response. "Now as I was saying, Kurogane. We have a plan to get you back with the rest of your group."

"I'm listening."

"At some point in one of the upcoming battles, the four of us will switch places and you can simply rejoin them," Fai explained.

"That sounds very simple," the red-eyed man frowned.

"Well it would have to be if you were going to understand it," Kurogane snapped.

The other Kurogane growled deeply, but made no kind of movement. He took a steadying breath. "When's this next battle of yours?"

"Today," Kurogane said. "We'll have to get you in the same clothes that we're in to make sure no one notices a difference."

"I suppose you have extras lying around, then," the red-eyed man said.

Kurogane scowled at him. "Don't be stupid. You know a warrior can't afford that luxury."

The man nodded fractionally. "So how do you plan to dress us up?"

Fai smiled. "Simple. We'll just have to scrounge something up. The armory has plenty of armor; I can easily get an extra bow and quiver; Kurogane, you already have Souhi. That takes care of most of it."

Kurogane nodded, and pointed to the tree next to his and Fai's likenesses. "The two of you stay here while we work this out. We'll be back in a little while."

The blond seemed to sense that the two were leaving and gave a little wave, smiling. The black-haired man rolled his eyes and shook his head, sitting down heavily against the trunk. Kurogane frowned at the attitude, but chose to ignore it, turning toward the camp. He and Fai made their way through the underbrush to the clearing that housed the tents and the rest of the warriors.

"Do you really think we can pull this off?" Kurogane asked as they walked to the armory tent.

Fai ducked through the flap and headed toward a workbench strewn with shoulder guards. "We'll find out soon enough, I imagine. Though I really don't have any reason to doubt it."

Kurogane slung a pair of leg guards over his shoulder and, almost as a second thought, snagged a long piece of white cloth his other self could use as a bandana. He looked over to Fai, who was patiently waiting for him. "Weapons?"

The bowman nodded cheerily and led them over to the next tent. He began putting together a quiver that closely resembled his own and pointed a longbow out to Kurogane for him to retrieve. "I think this will do," he said, scrutinizing them.

Kurogane grunted. "Do you think anyone's really going to look that closely?"

"You never know," Fai said. "Now about the clothes situation."

"This is more work than it's worth," Kurogane sighed, scratching the back of his head.

"It's all right," Fai said. "Let's go."

After some hunting around through the medical tent, the two warriors came up with something that remarkably resembled their clothing. The army was preparing for battle though, and the two hurried back out to the forest to retrieve their doubles. Once set in their outfits, the four could hardly be told apart, save for their eye colors.

"Well, I'll be," Kurogane scrutinized his now mirror image carefully.

"We did quite a good job, I'd say," Fai laughed, smoothing the cloth around the blue-eyed man's shoulders. "But you forgot that black moon, Kuro-tan."

The swordsman frowned. "We'll get some ash when we go back through camp."

"So what are we supposed to do while you run off to fight?" The red-eyed man asked.

Fai shrugged. "Wait for the signal, maybe?"

Both Kurogane's glared at him skeptically. "Signal?" They scowled at each other.

Fai chuckled. "You two are far too alike."

"We are not!" Kurogane thundered indignantly. "Don't compare me to him."

The other man scoffed. "Likewise."

Fai's double patted him on the shoulder soothingly, cooing something in a strange language. The man swatted the hand away.

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "We should go. You two follow behind us, and stay out of sight."

With that, Kurogane and Fai moved off to rejoin the camp and take their positions for the battle. Kurogane scowled almost mournfully at Souhi as he thumbed its blade.

"I didn't even have time to sharpen it," he muttered.

Fai smiled at him as he restrung his bow. "I'm sure its fine. You take care of that sword better than anything. I'm pretty sure a non-sharpening won't be detrimental."

Kurogane looked at him skeptically. "You're just saying that because it's not your sword."

Before Fai could respond, a dark figure appeared before them. Yasha scrutinized the two closely. "Something the matter?"

Kurogane hesitated, but Fai beamed up at their commander. "Of course not Yasha-ou. Last night was just not as restful as we had hoped."

"You're ready for today, though?" Yasha questioned. "I rely on you two."

Kurogane stepped in. "Of course we are."

Yasha smiled. "Excellent." He turned to move away, but paused, not looking back at them. "What will you do when I am gone?"

"Yasha-ou, that's not fair," Fai said lightly. "We don't know if you're going anywhere."

"You only pledged your loyalty to me, not my tribe," the warrior continued. "Ashura will release me and I will be gone. What will you do then?"

Kurogane sighed harshly and pushed a hand through his hair in thought. "I don't know. Why does it matter?"

"It matters to you," Yasha said, finally moving off down the ranks.

Fai's gaze followed their leader curiously. "What do you suppose that was all about?"

Kurogane rolled his eyes. "Hell if I know."

Then the swirling light encompassed them and they were transported to the field on the outer reaches of Ashura's territory. They were at the front, Ashura and the boy, waiting for whatever it was to come. Kurogane caught the resigned look in the young noble's eyes; today was the day indeed. He glanced at his bowman once before he charged immediately at the boy.

"Hey, kid!" He grinned, bringing Souhi swiftly down toward the boy's head. "Thought I told you to come at me to kill this time!"

The boy was completely startled, but was able to bring his sword up for a block. He struggled against the warrior's strength, but then a shadow flitted across his eyes. Kurogane did not have the time to be perplexed by such a sight before the boy's hands seemed to move on their own, pulling out of the block and striking against Souhi with such a force as to send the seasoned warrior staggering backward.

Kurogane regained his footing instantly, gazing at the boy intently. He had never seen such a thing. It seemed that the boy had become possessed by something for an instant. This conclusion was supported when he noticed the youth's look of shock and confusion as he gazed at his sword hand. His attention was drawn over then to Ashura. His eyes were shallow, his face sad, but determined. He moved forward with his mount toward the middle of the battle, effortlessly eliminating the enemies who moved to take him down.

"King!" A man moved forward to help.

"Stay back," Ashura almost whispered.

"But," his protest was cut short.

"I said stay back," Ashura repeated.

Fai appeared at Kurogane's shoulder and the two watched emotionlessly as Ashura made a graceful leap to land in front of Yasha on his own steed.

"Yasha-ou," Ashura's soft, sad voice drifted down to the field on the same breeze that sent his hair curling in wisps around his frame. "Let's end this. I will grant your wish."

With a swift lunge, Ashura pushed his flaming sword through Yasha's chest. The warrior did not even acknowledge any kind of pain he might have felt, but closed his arms around the slight man holding the sword, clasping them together. His eyes fell closed.

"Ashura."

The boy gasped at the scene. "Ashura-ou!"

The king tenderly traced a hand over the side of Yasha's face, now showing the scar again. "That's the wound I gave you, isn't it?"

Yasha made no reply, but to take that hand gently and press a kiss against it. Ashura leaned forward and kissed against the scar on Yasha's face as the other held him close. Then it was over, Yasha's body slowly became nothing but wisps in the wind as it carried them up and away, leaving the hollow shell of armor still clutched tightly in Ashura's embrace. No sooner, though, then a bright sparkle cascaded out from thin air, bathing the silent and still field in brilliant light. The light fell back into itself then, materializing a shining feather, glowing softly with its own light.

Kurogane heard the boy gasp. "Sakura's feather!"

Fai leaned down to Kurogane, his whisper brushing his ear. "I think that's what the boy was looking for. And I think it's time we made our switch, hm?"

Kurogane did not acknowledge the statement, watching as Ashura called the boy to him, the boy clambering up the hill to the king's side. "You know, watching that kid, I think maybe he'd do better with the two of us than those other two."

Fai chuckled. "Now, Kuro-min, you don't mean that." Though he too looked up at the young man speaking with Ashura, holding the delicate feather, almost as if his life depended on its safety. "He is very strong."

"He'll do his princess proud for sure," Kurogane nodded. "Now that other guy," he growled, glancing off to a side, catching a glimpse of their doubles waiting a ways from the scene. "He'll do right when he finally gets his head on straight."

"You're so mean, Kuro-puu," Fai smiled, touching the swordsman's shoulder lightly. "But we really do need to reunite them."

"Whatever," Kurogane grunted.

Shouts from around the hill pulled their attention back. Ashura held Yasha's sword as the ground began to shake around him, the moon castle beginning to crumble.

"We'd better hurry," Fai urged.

Kurogane grimaced with annoyance. "Pain in the ass," he muttered, turning to pull himself up onto the back of Fai's mount and they rode swiftly over to the two men. Kurogane glared at the black-haired man.

"It's time," he said.

His image scowled. "Finally."

Kurogane slid from the mount and grabbed the man's shirt in a fist. "Look, shit's going down out there and your little friend could be in danger. Now would not be the time to piss me off enough to run you through."

The man did not flinch, but grinned. "Like you could."

"Now, now," Fai came up to them, placing a hand on each shoulder. "If we don't hurry, things might get bad out there."

"Too true," Fai's double grinned.

The three men looked over at the blue-eyed man in shock.

The red-eyed man shook his head. "It's something to know we're close enough to that stupid manjuu that you can talk normally again."

"Manjuu?" Fai asked.

"How can you talk all of a sudden and we can understand?" Kurogane asked.

Fai's twin laughed. "That's kind of a long story that I'm sure we don't have time to tell."

"And nobody actually cares either," the red-eyed man said.

"Shut up," Kurogane snapped. He looked back over at Fai's double, taking in the blue eyes he thought were gone forever. "I care."

Fai pouted dramatically at the swordsman. "Kuro-chan, if you keep that up I'm going to get very jealous."

The blue-eyed man smiled abashedly. "Can you really be jealous of yourself?"

"Yes," Fai deadpanned.

"Leave him alone," the other Kurogane growled.

Fai leered at him. "Are you getting jealous too?"

A quick blush rose to the man's face and he turned away quickly. "Of course not. Don't say stupid things."

Then Kurogane looked away from the other Fai and stepped back, taking his own Fai's hand. "Don't worry."

Fai sighed wistfully. "And suddenly all is well again." He smiled and gripped Kurogane's hand a little tighter.

"So what do we do?" Kurogane's double asked, still trying to will the red from his face.

Fai looked back at his and his swordsman's doppelgangers. "Quite simple, really. You merely get up onto this fine animal and go back into the thick of things and proceed as you normally would under these circumstances."

The blue-eyed man smiled. "My, that is simple."

"What about the eye color?" The red-eyed man asked.

Kurogane scoffed. "Just tell them it was all magically done when you arrived here and now it's magically undone. And all that fighting was to train the kid more."

"But why would we be in the army?" Fai's double wondered.

Kurogane gave a half-hearted shrug. "I don't know. You had time before you found the kid and may as well have done something semi useful."

"How long have you been with it?" The blue-eyed man asked.

"We joined up about a half a year ago," Fai responded.

Kurogane frowned at him. "Has it been that long already?"

Fai grinned. "Time flies when you're having fun."

"Right," the red-eyed man scowled.

"Ashura-ou!" The boy's shout reached the small group and they looked back toward the hill. The destruction was steadily increasing and a large boulder began its descent toward the monarch. Another man called out for the king, but he never moved from his position. The young man leaped up, meeting the large rock in its fall, cutting it cleanly in half. He landed next to Ashura, still at the ready for anything.

Kurogane's double shook his head. "That kid is far too rash."

"But at least he can handle what he gets himself into," Kurogane observed.

"Not for long," Fai frowned, as it appeared Ashura had said everything he needed to say. He turned to the other men. "You'd better go if you want to help your companion."

"What about you?" The blue-eyed man asked as Kurogane's double pulled himself onto the steed and yanked him after him.

"Just let us worry that," Fai smiled. "Good luck."

The crimson-eyed man frowned at the two before surreptitiously pulling the arms around his waist closer and turning the animal back toward the hill at a gallop just as Ashura sent a mild attack that threw the young man away, through the air. Fai gripped Kurogane's elbow briefly, his only show of concern, as their doubles barely made it in time to snag him from his fall. The two turned back away from the hill just as it was enveloped, and Ashura disappeared.

"Somehow," Fai murmured. "I'm a little sad that this all over."

Kurogane cast a sidelong glance at his bowman. "Somehow I'm not."

"Kuro-tan, you're so insensitive," Fai grinned. He turned his eyes back to the scene in front of them just as the young man realized that his own Kurogane and Fai were back with him. "What do you think they're saying?"

"I hope they're not using that lame-ass excuse that their eyes magically turned black and now magically they're normal again," Kurogane grunted.

"You were the one who suggested that reason in the first place," Fai said.

"I was being facetious," Kurogane retorted. "They'd better not have taken me seriously and told the kid that. It'd confuse the hell out of him."

They watched as the young man's face took on a very troubled and puzzled expression as the two men spoke. Fai grinned. "I'll bet they used your reason."

Kurogane frowned. "Stupid asses."

A girl's cry from the direction of Ashura's kingdom rang across the field and a young woman appeared dressed in beautiful noble's robes. She was breathless and carrying with her a small long-eared creature. She called out again and came up to the three warriors.

"Want to bet that she's their princess?" Fai asked. "She's very pretty."

"I'll bet she'd get along all too well with Tomoyo-hime," Kurogane said, though his voice did not carry his normal malice.

"I think you're getting soft when it comes to girls, Kuro-pii," Fai teased.

"Shut up!" Kurogane turned on him. "I'm not soft!"

"Ah…so then would you be…hard?" Fai smirked.

Kurogane's cheeks tinged a deep red. "No! Don't say stuff like that."

Fai poked Kurogane's arm playfully. "I'd say you're pretty hard. But you're still soft in a lot of ways."

"I hate you," the swordsman frowned.

Before Fai could come up with a teasing response the sky lit up with an otherworldly power and the creature the princess had been holding floated into the sky above the four people, sprouting wings on its back. They were engulfed in light, swallowed by the creature, and then the creature disappeared into a sparkling symbol in the air. The light extinguished and left the entire field in stunned silence.

"That was new and different," Fai said.

"That was freaking unnatural," Kurogane corrected.

The bowman glanced back at his swordsman. "So, Kuro-chii, what do we do now?"

The man shrugged nonchalantly. "Find a place that's not here or Yamano?"

Thoughtfully humming, Fai nodded. "I guess that's a good enough plan for now. Where shall we head?"

"I dunno. North?"

"All right," Fai nodded. "Let's be off then."

The bowman and the swordsman set off into the north, making their way through a small thicket of trees and out into a vast plain on the other side. Fai watched the setting sun cast dancing shadows amongst the golden blades. He was about to mention how pretty the landscape was when a familiar voice echoed across the plain. He hesitated slightly and looked at his swordsman before turning slightly to the east.

"Syaoran! Don't be so mean to Kero-chan!"

"That's right, brat! There's no way you could measure up to an awesome beast like me!"

A scoff. "You're just an over-stuffed toy, that's all."

There was a young man and a young woman there, a small toy-like being floating in the air next to the girl's shoulder. They were dressed as fortune-tellers or magic-users of some kind; the young man wearing a long, dark green cloak with a magic circle sewn into the chest, and the girl wore a pale pink robe and held a curious ornate staff.

"You can't be serious," Kurogane frowned as he recognized the young man as the one they had just sent on his way and the young woman as the one who looked like his princess.

"It looks like we'll be meeting them again," Fai said. "Maybe we're bound to cross paths after all; no matter which dimension we're in."

"Hey look! Visitors!" The toy pointed over at the two warriors.

The young people looked over and blushed at having had their argument so loudly in front of the two rather imposing men. The young woman pulled her robe up from around her feet and jogged over to them, bowing low.

"I'm sorry if we disturbed you…" She trailed off and looked up at them, head tilting thoughtfully. "We haven't met, have we?"

Fai smiled fondly at the young woman. "It's a possibility. But we can start again. I'm Fai. And this is Kurogane."

Kurogane arched an eyebrow at the bowman being serious for once. He gave a nod of acknowledgment to the girl.

The young man caught up with the girl and bowed as well. "I'm sorry. Uh, my name is Syaoran and this is Sakura."

The toy coughed. "And?"

The young man, Syaoran scowled. "And that toy is Cerberus."

"That's right!" Cerberus put a paw on his chest. "I'm a magical beast sent to protect to shaman."

"Sakura is the shaman," Syaoran put in. "I'm…"

"My very important friend," Sakura beamed, taking his hand.

The boy blushed scarlet and looked away, but did not take away his hand. Fai smiled at the two and looked over to see Kurogane almost smiling himself.

"Well, where are you all off to?" Fai asked.

"Oh! We're going to find medicine! Our queen is very ill and since Syaoran's her son, we're off on a mission to get her herbs and medicines to make her better," Sakura explained animatedly, waving her hands for emphasis.

Kurogane scowled at them. "You're going out here alone and," he looked the boy up and down, "weaponless?"

Sakura giggled as Syaoran looked a tad embarrassed. "We have Kero-chan; he's actually a very powerful being. And Syaoran can use all sorts of magic. I mean, I can too, but he's very good at it."

"But you have much more power than I do," Syaoran protested.

"The fact remains that you don't have weapons," Kurogane said.

Sakura's face lit up. "Would you like to come with us?" She jumped forward and took a very startled Kurogane's hand in both of hers. "We would love to travel with you, right, Syaoran?"

"Of course," the boy smiled.

Sakura looked back to Kurogane and then to Fai, hope lighting her sparkling eyes.

Kurogane glanced at Fai, who shrugged. The swordsman sighed. "Well, we really don't have anything else to do."

"Hurray!" Sakura flung her arms around Kurogane's waist. "Thank you!"

Kurogane twitched. "Is she always like this?"

Syaoran nodded. "The shaman is very energetic."

"I thought shamans were supposed to be mysterious and withdrawn," Fai mused.

Sakura moved then to stand next to Syaoran. "Shall we go then?"

Fai grinned. "Let's." A mischievous glint sparkled in his eyes then and he waved over to Sakura. "Hey, Sakura-chan! I know this great song that I used to sing all the time when I traveled as a child. Maybe you know it." With that, the bowman began to sing merrily, his voice overshadowing the bird song.

Sakura laughed and clapped her hands in delight. "I know that one too! Kero-chan, sing with us!" The two joined in Fai's singing and soon the melody was the only sound on the plain, the harmonies of Fai's and Sakura's voices mixed with the sometimes off not from Cerberus creating what could either be described as a beautiful song, or a cacophony.

Kurogane pinched the bridge of his nose, deciding on cacophony. "I have a bad feeling about this," he winced as he followed the rest of the group, heading across the sunset-painted grassland.