Tsubasa Reservoir Chronicle: Reflections
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Disclaimer: Not mine, no claim on characters, no money earned, et cetera, et cetera.
Warnings: Even more pointless than the first. Angstier than I had intended it to be. Odd formatting remains. References made to mangas 1 through 10/anime episodes 1-22. Number six has a direct reference to a scene in episode 16 of the anime, but that does not appear in the manga (I think. I'm missing a couple of volumes). Can be seen as mild shonen-ai or just a very good friendship, whichever floats your boat.
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Chapter 2: Fay
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1. Memory
Fay remembered the first time he had met the black puppy. He remembered it quite vividly in fact, mainly because he had been rather annoyed at that point in time, though he took pains not to show it. The ninja was an excellent swordsman; that much he could see at a mere glance. He was also selfish, arrogant, and exceedingly rude, and Fay had begun to fear a tedious journey.
2. Beginning
He quickly revised his opinion once their travels began in earnest however. It was simply too much fun to annoy a reaction out of the pup, and hopelessly easy to boot. Watching the tall, dark, brooding ninja go completely non compos mentis; complete with incoherent yelling and windmilling arms; was absolutely priceless, and it wasn't long before Fay turned the entire affair into a personal little side quest of sorts, one which he secretly thought of as 'Operation Stick-extraction'.
3. Forbearance
Strangely enough, Kurogane bore with it rather well, something that surprised even Fay (who, it should be mentioned, had had years to hone his techniques). He hadn't quite gotten over his fits of wild and violent gesticulations, but at least he no longer seemed so scarily genuine about it.
4. Test
There were reasons behind Fay's foolish pranks and child-like behavior, reasons that older (and some would say wiser) men than either of them had never been able to grasp. Kurogane did though, and somewhere along the line, Fay sensed that he had somehow gained a strange sort of respect. It was one which he had come to cherish, knowing how difficult it was to earn from this man who scoffed at anything he found even remotely romantic, including whimsical statements about the pursuit of happiness. It also led to a certain unwritten Arrangement that was grounded in the principle that any person, in every situation, no matter how dark, needed his or her light moments too.
The other reason was, of course, personal entertainment.
5. Equilibrium
Destiny, Yuuko-san had called it, and Fay agreed with her. It was no coincidence that all four of them had appeared at that shop at almost the same time that fateful day their journey began (although Fay strongly suspected that in Kuro-tan's case, he had been set up by the person who had sent him there). It was not coincidence that each of them balanced out the party the way they did. Kurogane, as a swordsman and military tactician, provided power and skill. Fay, as a wizard, provided knowledge, including knowledge of magic, which had strength in its own right even without the magic itself.
6. Tandem
It almost frightened him, how they worked together so well, especially in battle. The one at Kiishimu's lair had been the first they had ever fought together as partners, yet it had felt as though they had been fighting alongside each other for years. He had never done anything like that before, and he recognized instinctively that Kurogane, in a lifetime of combat, hadn't either. It was why, in the land of Zolo's Thunder, Fay had adamantly refused to fight seriously, resorting to pulling every trick he could think of and preferring instead to risk Kurogane's anger. If the day ever came when he should cross swords with that man, it would not be for anyone's diversion, or for the sake of trivial competitions. They knew each other too intensely for that.
7. Companion
It was a comfortable friendship, if an extremely odd one that tended to involve a great number of drinking sessions. Sometimes, as in Outo, they would get drunk—or rather, Fay would get drunk, and Kurogane would be forced to put up with a night of noisy, cheerful, and inane blathering. As time passed, there would also be the occasional one where both of them would simply sit with a bottle of wine, side by side, with their backs against the wall, or out on the steps of wherever it was they were currently living. Sometimes they talked, sometimes they didn't. Whenever they did though, Kurogane never failed to startle Fay with his perceptiveness.
8. Resonance
They really were very alike, the black ninja and he. Each saw in the other the same determination not to die, different though their reasons for it might be. They each had a past that they were reluctant to speak of, and neither ever tried to press the issue, though Fay did catch the occasional strange look, an expression of pain mixed with longing. He knew perfectly well that Kurogane had noticed similar things with himself, although in Fay's opinion, the other had it worse. After all, there didn't seem to be even half as many Ashuras running about as there were Tomoyos and Soumas, who had such a high tendency of chancing across their group that Fay was beginning to think it was all a rather cruel cosmic joke.
9. Reconciliation
For all of his gentle cheerfulness, Fay had always made a conscious effort to keep a certain distance from every other member of the party, and with good reason. Because every journey, no matter how long, must end eventually, whether it be in death or the fulfillment of their wishes, and it was the latter that he feared more than the former. Because then the sweet Sakura and her Syaoran would return to her country, while He would return to Tomoyo's side, and Fay knew he could stay with neither. He sometimes wondered if Mokona would consent to stay with him and jump him through worlds, or if he would have to make his way on foot.
So he was stunned and slightly puzzled that night in Outo when Kurogane had let a flash of real anger show, because Kurogane really hadn't had a right to say what he had said on business that was not his own, and while Fay didn't mind a whit, he honestly didn't understand why Kurogane had been so bothered that the ninja had actually overstepped the boundaries he was normally such a stickler for keeping. It left him rather unsettled and unbalanced, and it took Mokona's innocent yet startlingly astute observation for him to finally realize and accept that perhaps there was someone who actually cared and worried for him, and more, that it was all right for him to be cared and worried for.
10. Kismet
At times, Fay still questioned if what he was doing was wise. Then, as the big puppy let out his howl of outrage and they began their dash around the room, Fay decided that he didn't care.
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Owari
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Author's Note: Thanks so much for the reviews, everyone, especially those who tried to clear up the confusion on this guy's darned name. I've pretty much Given Up on it and decided to stick (for now) to what I saw in the Tsubasa movie-book-thingy, which is 'Fay D. Flourite'. Bah. In any case, I hope this one wasn't too repetitive and draggy, and that it actually made some sense. Read and review