Introduction

Out of the whole group, Fai is the one who smiles the most. But just because he smiles, that doesn't mean he's happy.

As he travels through the various dimensions, Fai hides behind a false smile, carefully concealing how he really feels under layers of pretence. But when Ashura returns, those layers are torn away, leaving him exposed to the world.

As he tries desperately to cope with the new pain and fear in his life, Fai finds himself thinking back to a time long ago…when smiles were real.

When the mask cracks, what will lie beneath?

Chapter Five; Memories Sleeping

"Will he be ok?" Syaoran asked in concern, gazing seriously at the doctor as he packed away his things. The other man turned to face him, brow furrowed, and lips pursed in what could only be described as an unsure expression.

"In all my years as a doctor, I can honestly say that I've never seen anything like it. Landing with such force as the injury on his head suggests…by all rights, this man should be dead by now." He murmured, glancing down at his new patient.

"Never mind that! Will he be ok!" Kurogane snarled angrily, not caring how strange it was that Fai had managed to survive – the point was, he had. It was the future that was unclear right now.

"I'm afraid that I can't say one way or the other. Surviving such an accident…it makes me hopeful of a full recovery eventually." The doctor said slowly. Syaoran gritted his teeth in sorrow as he heard the unspoken 'but' in the doctor's words…the physician was clearly trying to cushion the blow of his next words.

"However, head trauma, especially in cases like these, is never good. Some people suffer from side effects once awake, such as migraines or memory loss. Some even lose some mobility in their limbs, depending on whether their motor functions remained undamaged."

"Fai-san…" Sakura whispered miserably. The doctor sighed uneasily, shooting a wary glance at the already tense man in black.

"And…" He began softly.

"And?" Kurogane looked up, a sick feeling in his stomach at the tone of the doctor's voice.

"It could be that your friend…won't wake up at all. Although he is alive and breathing, it may be that the impact on his skull caused too much damage. He may remain in a coma forever."

Sakura let out a small sob, covering her mouth with a hand, and Syaoran gently pulled her into his arms, his own brown eyes wide in disbelief and horror. Next to them, Mokona visibly deflated, his small form slumping as his ears drooped down by his sides.

"No…damnit, no!" Kurogane hissed, turning to look down at the still form of his lover. Fai lay there, unmoving and pale as the snow from the world he'd escaped from. For once, his face was devoid of expression, and Kurogane bit his lip before softly moving a strand of blonde hair from the unconscious mage's eye.

Grabbing Fai's hand and holding it tight between his own, Kurogane stared fiercely down at the silent figure on the bed, willing the wizard to wake up.

"He'll wake up…I know he will. Fai would never let himself turn into a vegetable like that…he will wake up…" He muttered hoarsely to himself, rocking back and forth on his heels as he crouched at his boyfriend's side.

Smiling sadly, the doctor picked up his bag and made for the exit of their lodgings.

"I wish that I was as confident as you, sir. Good day to you." And with that he was gone, leaving a silent house of mourning behind him.

Hours passed and night fell, but still Kurogane never left Fai's side. Holding onto the mage's hand, he had been praying for the wizard to tighten his grip, to twitch, anything…but so far Fai had just lain there, unresponsive.

Kurogane seriously hoped that the Seresuan would wake up soon. Although the kid and princess had put their quest for the feathers on hold, more than happy to allow Fai to rest in a world with no feather present, Kurogane knew that they couldn't stay there indefinitely. Even if there had been no risk of the feathers being used for evil purposes, there was always the danger of Ashura following them into this world.

A short call to Yuuko had reassured the group that it would be unlikely that Ashura would be able to follow for at least a good week, possibly even longer. And even then, the king would have to rest up for a while after the journey. The only thing allowing him to skip dimensions socarelessly before had been the feather, and since he no longer had it, they could afford to take a breather.

>But still…we can't stay here forever. And every day that you lie asleep will lessen your chance of waking up. Asleep. I can't even admit to myself that you're in a coma.> Kurogane thought bitterly.

Bringing Fai's hand to his mouth, Kurogane pressed his lips against the cold flesh, silently begging the gods to heal his injured comrade. >Wake up Fai…please.>

As one man knelt praying for his love's health to be restored, another lay comatose, lost in a flood of memories from times gone by. As he lay dreaming, a single tear welled up beneath his closed eyelid, before spilling down his cheek in a silvery stream.

Somewhere deep inside he knew that there were people desperate for him to wake up. But for some reason, he couldn't find the strength to do so – it felt like something was forcing him to remain in the darkness. And that terrified him.

But his flash of wakening knowledge quickly faded away, leaving only the memories, and sending him deeper into the unconsciousness that was his prison. And he remembered…

Flashback

Partially hidden by the shadows of the alley, a small boy dug through the pile of thrown out food that he'd found there. Catching his hand on a rusty nail hidden underneath a slice of bread, the boy winced and looked down at the small trickle of blood that was escaping from his wound.

Almost immediately, the skin surrounding the injury began to tingle, and the boy watched in fascination as the cut began to close up, until his hand was pale and flawless once again. No matter how many times he watched himself heal, it never failed to amaze him how quickly it happened.

Beginning to dig through the leftovers once again, the boy froze as he heard footsteps growing closer, and retreated back into the shadows until he was completely hidden from sight. There, he waited warily for the new arrival to come into view, prepared to launch a surprise attack if it turned out to be one of the rival street urchins after the food.

To his astonishment, it was not another waif who ran round the corner and leaned against the wall, panting. Instead, it was a boy who was wearing cream silken robes, with five delicate pink jewels stuck to his forehead. The street urchin gaped at the rich costume, knowing that he would never be able to even touch an outfit like that, let alone wear one.

Feeling suddenly self-conscious in his own tattered tunic, the urchin tried to pull back further into the darkness, but instead bumped into the wall, knocking over a stack of glass bottles that had been balanced there.

The other boy instantly whipped his head around, long dark hair whirling to frame his face as he stared wide eyed at the shadows at the end of the alley.

"Who's there? Show yourself!" He demanded, voice clearly trembling in slight fear. There was the faint sound of a gasp from the darkness, then the shadows shifted as a figure slowly got up and moved into the light.

The dark haired boy gazed silently at the urchin, eyes taking in every little detail about the other child. So, what he had first thought was a threat had turned out to be nothing more than a street urchin who appeared to be around his own age.

He frowned as he realised the condition that the other was in. Wearing a dusty ragged tunic, the urchin's hands and face were smeared with dirt, and had hair that looked like it would have been blonde if it hadn't been covered in so much filth. The urchin's head was bowed, clearly showing how ashamed he was to be seen in this condition by someone so much better off.

"I apologise for disturbing you, sir. I didn't mean to knock those bottles over." The urchin murmured, still not looking up. The dark haired boy bit his lip and strode over, before using a perfectly manicured hand to lift the urchin's grubby head, gently forcing him to look him in the face.

"Why should you apologise? By all rights, I shouldn't even be here." He said, his breath catching at the sight of the urchin's eyes. A beautiful shining blue, they contrasted wonderfully with the overall dirtiness of the urchin's face, making them seem even more piercing than they would have been anyway.

"What's your name, anyway?" The dark haired boy inquired, removing his hand from the other's chin and smiling as the urchin didn't bow his head again.

"Fai, sir." The urchin whispered.

"Fai…?"

"Fai D. Flowright."

"That's a long name." The dark haired boy commented, grinning. The urchin blushed, and shrugged his shoulders.

"Everyone just calls me Fai, sir." He explained. The other youngster frowned, and put his hands on his hips.

"You don't have to call me sir, you know. I'm no older than you are!" He exclaimed. Fai blinked, flushing a deep red.

"But you're of a much higher status than me, s…" He said in confusion. The other boy sighed in exasperation, and shook his head.

"I don't care about that! Being called sir makes me feel like an old man."

"Then what should I call you?" Fai asked. The other boy tossed his long hair over his shoulder, and beamed at him.

"Just call me Ashura!"

Fai gasped loudly and stumbled backwards, before dropping into a deep bow.

"Ashura-sama! Your highness, I didn't realise…" He babbled in shock. Ashura shook his head and moved forwards to take Fai's chin in his hand again, making the blonde stand up straight.

"I told you, just call me Ashura. Ashura. Not sir, not Ashura-sama, just Ashura. It doesn't matter if I'm of a higher status than you, I'm just a kid." He murmured. Fai stared at him with wide eyes, trembling slightly at being so close to royalty. For someone who was used to hiding in the shadows when well off people came along, being so near to someone so important was nerve wracking.

"You don't have to be so respectful towards me, as…whoa!" Ashura had stepped backwards to try and give the shaking boy some space, but had found himself tripping over one of the fallen bottles. Giving a small squeak of surprise, he landed on the floor.

And then he heard what had to be the most beautiful sound in the world.

Fai had tried to stifle a laugh at the way Ashura had fallen, but had been unable to do so. The laughter had simply bubbled out of him, growing stronger and stronger until he was holding his stomach and leaning against the wall, tears of mirth spilling down his cheeks.

Part way through, he realised exactly who it was that he was laughing at, but to his surprise, he found Ashura smiling at him as he looked down at the fallen prince. The dark haired boy held up a hand, and Fai took it, pulling the other to his feet.

"That's better!" Ashura announced, brushing the dirt off his robes. Fai stared at the young prince, not quite knowing what to think. The future ruler of Seresu was standing right there in front of him, and yet the other boy seemed to be so laid back and relaxed…he was treating Fai like an equal.

"And to think that all I had to do to make you laugh was fall over! Maybe I should do it more often!" Ashura chuckled. Fai's head shot up.

"No, Ashura-sa…Ashura. You'll be hurt if you do that!" He exclaimed. Ashura's smile widened.

"I like you. You're nice. Do you want to play with me whilst Father's talking to the mayor?" He asked. Fai hung back, unsure of what to do. Ashura seemed so friendly, there was nothing more he wanted to do than play with him. But he was so filthy…he'd be ashamed to let Ashura touch him anymore.

"I...I want to, Ashura, but I'm horribly dirty. I wouldn't want you to get in trouble with your father for going home in such a bad condition." He said honestly. Ashura frowned.

"But Fai, I'm already in trouble, so it doesn't matter anyway!" He pleaded. Fai's mouth quirked up, and he raised an eyebrow at the prince.

"You're not meant to be wandering round town, are you? You just got bored and ran off because your father was taking a long time, and you wanted to have an adventure, right?" Fai guessed.

At Ashura's taken aback expression, Fai let out another laugh.

"For some reason, my intuition has always been better than everyone else's. It's sort of like a sixth sense." He explained. Ashura nodded in understanding, and took his hand, pulling him out of the alley and back into the street.

"Come on Fai! I don't know how long I've got left, and I want to spend as much time with you as possible!" He called over his shoulder. Fai started at the words, then relaxed, a warm smile spreading over his face.

>I think I actually have another…friend.>

"Ashura! Ashura! Where are you?" Fai's ears perked up at the sound of his new friend's name being called, and he tugged on Ashura's sleeve.

"Ashura! Ashura! Someone's calling you!" He whispered loudly. Ashura stopped what he was doing and paused to listen, grinning softly as he recognised the voice.

"It's Father! He must have finished talking to the mayor!" He exclaimed, pushing through a hole in the hedge and running out into the street.

"Father! I'm here!" He called. A man just as richly dressed as he was, with matching long dark hair spilling down his back turned at Ashura's voice, and made his way over, smiling admonishingly.

"Ashura, you know you're not meant to go wondering off down here, let alone without telling someone where you're going." He chided gently. Ashura just shrugged, smiling.

"But if I hadn't, I wouldn't have met Fai!" He giggled.

The king raised an eyebrow.

"Fai? Who's that?" He questioned. Ashura glanced around, then frowned as he realised that his blonde friend had not followed him out.

"Hang on, Father, he must still be in the public gardens. I'll go and get him."

Ashura ran back into the village garden, and hurried over to where Fai was sitting alone. Grabbing his friend's wrist in a gently yet firm grip, he began to tug Fai along after him out of the garden.

"Come on Fai! Father wants to know who you are!"

Fai stiffened and began to tug at his hand, trying to get loose.

"Ashura, I'm a street urchin! The king doesn't want to have to look at someone as ill bred as me!" He pleaded. Ashura, however, kept his grip firm, and dragged his friend mercilessly out into the road and across to his father.

"Here he is, Father! This is Fai!" He announced. The king raked his eyes over his son's new friend, taking in the ragged clothing and filthy face. Fai kept his head bowed, too ashamed to even look at Ashura's father.

Silently, the king strode over to the urchin, keeping his steps slow and deliberate. Fai waited for the inevitable blow that surely was to come, the accusations that someone like him shouldn't have been with the prince in the first place.

Instead, the king crouched down in front of him until he was eye level with the blonde, and smiled softly at him.

"Thankyou, young man, for taking care of Ashura for me. He can be quite a handful, and to be honest I'm glad he had someone to keep an eye on him whilst he was exploring." The king murmured.

Fai gasped, blinking uncomprehendingly at the monarch, his mouth moving silently in the effort to find something to say. Ashura laughed at his expression.

"See, Fai, you had nothing to worry about! Father's not like some of our ancestors were – he has a much more open mind when it comes to people who aren't royalty or aristocrats!"

The king smiled gently at his son's comment and nodded.

"That's right, Fai. You thought I would be angry at a commoner playing with my son, didn't you? Well, the truth is I'm very happy that you two are friends. Ashura normally has to spend his time up in the castle playing with the noble's children, and they're far too selfish for my tastes. So I'm glad that Ashura was able to have fun with someone like you."

Fai flushed a deep red, totally embarrassed by the king's complimentary words. Chuckling, the king reached forward and ruffled his hair, before standing up.

"We have to go now, but I hope that my son will be able to play with you again if we come down into the town another time. Come on, Ashura." The prince nodded, and gave Fai a quick hug before running after his father.

"I'll see you around, Fai! I had a lot of fun today!" He called.

Fai stood watching him for a moment, before allowing a wide grin to appear on his face.

"So did I, Ashura. So did I…"

New Flashback

"Fai! Fai!" Fai paused in the middle of searching through a thrown out bag of old clothing, certain that he had heard someone calling his name.

"Fai!" There it was again! And it sounded very much like…

"Fai! I've found you!" The next thing he knew, Fai was flattened as a dark haired thing leapt on him, laughing as they tumbled to the ground.

"A…Ashura? What are you doing here?" Fai choked out, still not quite over the shock of seeing his friend again.

"You make it sound as if you don't want me to be here! It's been three weeks! Haven't you missed me at all? I've missed you!" Ashura exclaimed in indignation. Fai smiled.

"Of course I missed you. But what are you doing here?" He frowned as an idea crossed his mind.

"You didn't sneak out without permission, did you?" He asked suspiciously. Laughing, Ashura shook his head and finally got off Fai, allowing the other boy to climb to his feet.

"Nope! Father's here talking to the mayor again, so he said it was alright if I came to look for you!" Ashura explained, practically bouncing up and down in his excitement.

"Again? Are they good friends or something?" Fai guessed. Ashura shook his head.

"Nope. Mahouda was able to foresee that the next High Wizard will be found in this town." Ashura explained.

"High Wizard? What's that?" Fai inquired, gazing at his friend in confusion. Seeing how curious his friend was, Ashura decided to take the time to give a proper description of the job.

"The High Wizard is the person who has the most magic in the kingdom, so they're usually even stronger than the ruling monarch – by the way we have magic too. I forgot to tell you that." Ashura began.

Fai simply nodded. From the moment he'd seen the prince he'd sensed the flow of magic in his veins, but had refrained from saying so in case he scared the other boy – a lot of people found Fai's uncanny knack for sensing certain things unnerving.

"Anyway, the High Wizard has many jobs. In case of war, he or she is the kingdom's main weapon, devoted to defending both the royal family and the commoners. They supervise the minor wizards who work in the palace, and are normally called to serve as the healer for the royal family as well. On top of that, they often act as advisors for the family as well. Understand?" Ashura finished.

Fai nodded again, mind replaying all the information he had been given.

"So…I guess having the next High Wizard in your town would be a big thing for a mayor." He said slowly. Ashura shrugged, concentrating on fixing one of his jewels back into proper position on his forehead.

"Most mayors see it like that, yes. And since the High Wizard is only replaced when he dies, it means that only one person per generation will receive the job – so everyone wants that person to be them. Mahouda is pretty old, so he decided that it would be for the best if he found the next High Wizard now, and trained him before he died."

"So who would you want as the next High Wizard? After all, they would probably be serving under you, wouldn't they?" Fai asked softly. Ashura nodded, absentmindedly combing his long hair with his fingers.

"Yeah…and I don't know what I'd want them to be like. I'm kinda not allowing myself to think about it, as it will be the strongest person selected, not the person I want. I just hope that I'll be able to get on with them alright."

Fai smiled, and fondly ruffled the hair of his royal friend, purposely messing it up after all Ashura's careful preening of himself.

"Don't worry, I'm sure that you'll be able to be friends with them. After all, everyone loves you, Ashura!" He chirped.

"Hey, mind the hair!" Ashura yelped, although he was blushing from Fai's previous comment. Taking Fai's hand, he stared into his friend's shining cerulean eyes.

"Fai, what were you doing when I found you? It looked like you were trying to decide if there was anything worth having from that bag."

Fai flushed, and pulled his hand away from Ashura, bowing his head in shame.

"I was. The only way to get new clothes is to look through the things people throw out. The same goes for food and other stuff too." He admitted.

"Oh…" Ashura murmured, frowning. He hadn't realised how bad things were for Fai.

"Couldn't you sell that necklace you wear? You would have enough money to keep you fed and clothed for ages if you did – it looks like it's made out of silver!" Ashura commented, staring at the small silvery glint of a chain he could see hidden underneath Fai's clothes.

Fai stiffened, his right hand coming up to clasp at the piece of jewellery as he violently shook his head.

"No! I could never do that!" He exclaimed.

Ashura backed up slightly, worried at how distraught Fai had just become.

"Ok, ok! I'm sorry…I didn't realise it was so special to you, that's all." He soothed. Fai smiled sadly, and pulled the necklace into full view, allowing Ashura to see the decoration hanging off the chain.

Ashura gasped.

"Fai…what's it made of? It's beautiful…" He whispered.

"It's a small crystal my father made…he used to experiment with various substances he found whilst at work – he used to be a jeweller." Fai explained, cradling the necklace to him.

"You can't sell it because it's all you have left of your parents, right?" Ashura realised. Fai nodded, blue eyes filling with tears.

"It's not actually worth anything – the chain isn't really silver, it just looks like it is. But I can't give it up anyway, not for anything."

"I'm sorry, Fai. I didn't mean to make you cry. Let's go play, alright?" Ashura suggested. Fai nodded, slowly slipping his necklace back under the collar of his tunic.

"Ok, Ashura. And…thanks."

End Flashback

Trapped in dreams of happier times, Fai slipped even deeper into his unconscious state, unknowingly fading further away from the world he belonged in. Beside him, Kurogane lay sleeping, his face serene as he dreamt of Fai being awake again..

Unaware of the fact that his loved one was slipping further and further away from him with each passing hour.

Another update! Please do the usual and read and review! Coming up next...will Fai wake up?