Disclaimer : I don't own Final Fantasy : Unlimited or the characters in it. There may be a few OCs I haul off and throw in there, but not for a while.

Warnings : Yaoi which means male/male. Come on, what else do I write? Expect violence, mild child abuse/neglect, language, sexual situations, and anything else especially good. Not for the children. You don't like it, don't read.

Notes : Been a while since I updated. Work has left me tired beyond all reason and I just haven't had he energy to do much else of anything.

Land Of Confusion

Chapter 4 : Rabbit Holes

by Reppa

The conversation between her and Kaze had ended on that strange last note. This was the first time she had heard of anything related to the man's past. The only bit she was somewhat aware of was Makenshi. But a sister? It had Lisa sitting and pondering for lengthy periods of time, even if she had no exact details. She had never thought, not really for an instant that the man had family on the mind. It was silly, no...it was stupid of her not to think so. Chaos had taken family away from Makenshi, why she hadn't considered whatever loss Kaze had suffered was beyond her. But maybe that was why he was so emotionally detached, so much like a rock.

Kaze didn't say another word after that, taking full advantage of her dumbfounded reaction and making a retreat around her to do what he had planned to do just before her reappearance. She sighed, since then, she hadn't caught sight of him and she was certain he had managed to figure out just how to lock the doors.

"Got one!"

Perking up, Lisa looked to see Cid high on his perch at the helm of Sylvia. "A portal?"

"Not as good, but it'll do. A last chunk of Teros that survived and a rabbit hole. I'm gonna land this lady in just a hot second, so get ready." The plan had been, while Cid sought out the right portal, if there was one, they would travel the rabbit hole system in order to find the world of portals. Marie and Joe agreed to let the twins join her, but only on the circumstance that Lisa could bring the man of the Magun with them, for protection against anything that could go wrong. Thankfully, she knew just how to get him to come.

As many of the Comodeen rallied about the ship to prepare for a landing and to possibly refresh their supplies, Lisa raced away from the command chamber to run down the hall towards the main sector of living spaces. It took her several minutes, Kaze just had to have one of the rooms that was located way in the back of the ship. Coming to the locked door, the woman took a deep breath and hoped he was still holed up inside, lightly tapping her knuckles on the thin metal, "Kaze?"

There was no response, making her sigh as she continued, "We need you to come with us. You seem to know the rabbit hole system to some degree and we could use your help."

Still there was no response. Either he was asleep or ignoring her. Or he wasn't even there, but she doubted that. When there was a spot Kaze had picked out and had secured as his, he usually returned to it, "If you come, there might be a good chance we may run into Makenshi somewhere out there in Wonderland!"

Though there was no verbal answer, she could hear what sounded like the rushed rustling of cloth. That had gotten his attention, Lisa was certain it would. And that agitated her, to a great degree. She sighed at that, stepping back as the door slid open rapidly and Kaze lazily meandered into the hallway. He eyed her, his expression empty, "White Cloud is alive, where is he?"

"I don't know, that's why you should come with us. If he's alive, we'll run into him without a doubt. Maybe sooner or later. Just...no fighting, all right? You two are friends...I think, so you don't need to be blowing everything up."

Kaze snorted at her, like he was going to use the last of his bullets on a fruitless fight. He had tried bothering the man who seemed to know his mechanics, wanting to know if he could have more bullets made, but Cid neither seemed interested nor concerned with such a task. The Black Wind assumed he had other, more important things to do than resupply his ammo. That or Cid just reasoned Kaze was not worht the time nor the effort. "Nn..."

Lisa sighed, grabbing his arm to drag him down the hall, "You're such a bother sometimes..."

-+-

When they had set foot back on the soil of Teros, there was little of the wooded area left that had escaped the damage done to the cube it once resided in. Pleasantly enough, they had met up with Mr. Bolbol who seemed as jovial as ever. His happy, bubbling nature however turned to regretful words and loud blubbering when they had imparted the unfortunate news of Lu's death. They did not speak a word concerning Clear, they weren't even certain on the boy's real fate.

"She was such a sweet girl..." He muttered, wiping away another tear as he snorted loudly.

Ai sighed, depressed as was Yu, not wanting to think about the friend they had lost. She was gone...what would dwelling on that unpleasant scene do to change that? They had a job to do, she looked up at Lisa with brows furrowed together slightly, "Lisa, we need to use that rabbit hole. Maybe Mr. Bolbol can show us where it is."

"Ah, a rabbit hole? Such a thing is dangerous to use, but if you need to, it's just ova there." The little girl tried not to giggle at his accent as she and her brother took off ahead of them in the direction the short man had pointed, Chobi squawking loudly as he too ran. Lisa followed after, exclaiming for them to wait and as Kaze slowly made his way past Bolbol, he felt a tug at his cloak. The Black Wind stopped, glancing down at the stocky man, "By the way, your tubby mouse-rat friend with the funny meatball on his head was here. Looking for you."

Kaze's brows rose, Moogle was near? That was actually some of the better news he had caught wind of in a long time. Muttering his thanks, he looked about the now sparse woods. He shifted, about to leave Lisa and the twins to themselves to look when he felt another tugging, this time at his arm. Lisa had a firm grip on his wrist and was pulling him towards where the children and the chocobo had run. "Come on, Kaze, we can't let them just take off ahead of us, it's too dangerous."

Maybe, he hoped really, that the moogle caught sight of the airship and got wise. Hopefully, the moogle would get to the Comodeen and then he wouldn't have to worry. His eyes looked ahead to see a gaping hole in the ground waiting for them. Ai and Yu were crouched at the edge, looking down and they looked fearful. Jumping into something like that didn't seem like such a good idea anymore...For a few moments, they all stood close to it. It was a couple yards in diameter. A slight fog billowed slowly and they could hear nothing but the ominous groan of the hole's depth. He blinked a few times, wondering what the problem was as he looked at the three of them. Rabbit holes weren't that bad. "Well?"

"Um...!" Ai jumped, turning her head to give him a nervous look. She didn't want to jump, in fact, she wanted to go back to the ship now. "We can't jump in that...!" She shrieked, pointing at the darkness that sank into the ground as she huffed at him. It was frightening.

"Of course, we can."

Lisa sighed, rather agreeing with Ai. This was too dangerous. At first she had reasoned it was fine enough, but now? There was no telling what was on the other side, just as Cid had said. For all they knew, they could fall on or into something dangerous. It was a risk factor that made her skeptical. She tapped her chin in thought, wondering what would be the best course for them to take. She knew it did no good to have cold feet, but even with the Lords of Gaudium gone, the Inner World was still a dangerous place, "I don't think we should..."

As the older woman muttered to herself, the little red haired girl scoffed at Kaze, looking away with an obnoxious snort, arms crossed and stomping her little foot as if that was the end of the discussion. A pinch of dust and dirt sifted down the hole, "You've gotta be kidding me!"

"I'm not." Without any warning, Kaze's free hand shot out and he gave her a surprising, rough shove against her back. The small girl let out a piercing scream as her arms flailed madly in the air, completely unbalanced by the force he pushed her with. But her flailing did not help and Yu and Lisa could not react fast enough to catch her before she tumbled face first down into the darkness. Her cry could still be heard as she fell, growing more distant before strangely...all was quiet with an abrupt silence.

"Sis!" Yu got no answer in return, staring down in the hole with disbelief and worry, "Sis, are you okay!"

"Are you crazy!" Lisa snapped, turning on Kaze with her hands clenched and pounding a fist on his shoulder. As if that was some form of punishment. She was livid, why did he do that? Why! The man just lacked absolute common sense! But he just stared at her, his expression blank as he regarded her before he slowly raised his hand again. Her eyes widened briefly, knowing what he was thinking and what he intended to do. But he wouldn't...would he? "Don't you da-"

He dared, giving her an equally bold push against her shoulder which sent her backwards. Yu just stood there, blinking as he watched Lisa take her turn down the rabbit hole, and just like Ai before her, all of her screaming and cursing went suddenly quiet once she had fallen out of sight. The young boy looked up at his idol with a weak chuckle, finding it kind of amusing but he froze. Kaze was staring at him now. Yu gulped, deciding to be a man instead of having to be pushed in so he took a tentative step back. He cast Kaze a quick glance, surely if he thought it was fine...Nervously, he looked back down before closing his eyes and jumping.

Falling wasn't some new sensation for him, the air whipping around him as he fell. It wasn't so bad. But then a sudden, strange feeling came over him. It was when the feeling came over him that was probably when they stopped hearing the girls' cries. Briefly, he had felt like something had stretched him out and press him in, like dough...Then he just felt like he was still falling again until light surrounded him and he made contact with something solid. Yu landed with a loud grunt on top of Ai and Lisa who had started to push themselves up. They both in turn cried out in surprise.

"When I see Mister I'm gonna beat him silly with Pochepocket till he turns blue!" Ai wailed miserably.

"Not if I don't Kigen him across the Inner World..." It was Lisa's turn, she groaned softly. She could not believe Kaze had the audacity to be throwing them into strange holes when they didn't know where they led. Craning her head, she frowned at the twins in concern, "Are you two all right?"

Ai just groaned in response as Yu chuckled a little, rubbing his head as he sat up, "That was weird...Huh?" He didn't seem too phased by what just happened.

The three of them looked up when they heard distant squawking coming nearer. The noise was being bugled out through the rabbit hole they had fallen through, which was imbedded in the side of a cliff face. It was wider and much more eerie than the one on the other side. Chobi...Scrambling up, they got out of the way just as both Kaze and Chobi barreled out of the hole themselves. The Black Wind landed on his back, grunting at the impact. The chocobo unfortunately landed on his chest, knocking the air out of him just a little. With an irritated noise, Kaze shoved the flustered avian off of him before starting to get his bearings again. That was until Pochepocket slapped him dead-on in the face.

"You butt-head! Why did you push me! You. Never . Push. A. Lady !" With every word, Ai swung the sputtering purse at the man who at the very least kept his face shielded as she worked her temper tantrum away. When the blows eventually subsided, Kaze reopened one eye to see Ai had winded herself out, huffing and puffing. It seemed she was trying to get her second wind, maybe go in for another childishly brutal assault. The Black Wind took opportunity to get to his feet and distance himself from Ai.

Lisa growled angrily, pointing at finger at him, "Kaze! Don't ever, ever do that again! Do you understand? At least have some concern for other people's safety!" She scolded him fiercely, folding her arms as she continued to glare at him. Her expression however, went somber very quickly as she looked past him.

There they went again. Demeaning him, mocking, taunting...Kaze really didn't want to put up with any of it if he could, blocking her words out as he returned her glare. Then the look on her face changed, quickly. That was unsettling, just what was it? Wondering what she was looking at, the gun summoner turned. Then he froze, as rigid as a statue and his hand twitched feverishly.

Standing just three feet from Black Wind was White Cloud. Suddenly, Black Wind wasn't feeling so anxious to see White Cloud...as everything went red before his eyes.

End of chapter 4