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?

Ending 1; Soul's Destruction

"That was when I snapped. I sealed you away, and left that place. But the question is this, Ashura-ou…if you showed no mercy to those poor villagers…why should I show you any mercy now?"

Silence fell over the area as Fai's words hung heavy on the air, echoing slightly with the power contained in his slender body. Trembling, Fai refused to break eye contact with his former king, sparks of power dancing around his hands as his face set into a determined expression.

And Ashura laughed.

"Do you really think you can beat me, Fai? Without your tattoo? Against my superior skills? You were never strong enough to overpower me, and you never will be. Today will be your last, and you will die by my hand, along with that pathetic…gah!" Ashura's words were cut off as Fai suddenly glowed a soft blue, emitting a wave of pure power that sent Ashura crashing back into a tree, smashing it to the ground.

"No, Ashura-ou. I was always the stronger of the two of us. You were scared of my power, because it far surpassed your own – you were afraid that one day I'd come to my senses and rise up against you. The days that I believed your poison words are history…no more will I allow you to weaken my resolve. No more will you tell me what to do." Fai stated calmly, a strangely serene expression washing over his determined features.

Ashura snorted and tried to get up, only to yelp as another blast of magic forced him painfully back down, crushing him back against the trunk of the fallen tree. Snarling, he tensed his fingers, summoning flames that flickered around himself, sending wisps of smoke into the air wherever they brushed against the tree. But one wave of Fai's hand, and they were doused in an instant, vanishing as though they'd never existed in the first place.

"The time has come, Ashura-ou. Your past acts against the whole of Seresu will be avenged." Fai announced, the light around him beginning to grow stronger as he slowly raised a hand to stretch towards Ashura.

From his position on the ground, Kurogane's eyes widened as he saw the tears that were beginning to silently trickle down the blonde's cheeks, and he suddenly recognised the tranquil expression Fai was wearing as one of great distress, the full of impact of what he was doing crushing the white wizard.

"No! Stop it! Just send him back to your world! Stop it, Fai!" Kurogane bellowed desperately, seeing the way that Fai rapidly seemed to be stretching himself too far, moving towards a place where there would be no coming back from. >Stop it! You won't be Fai anymore…you'll break, damnit! You'll break…>

Dimly, Fai heard the ninja's yells, but he did not pause in his actions, instead beginning to summon a pulsing ball of energy into his hands, the tears flowing more freely now.

"If I send you back, you'll only come after me again, won't you? And you'll destroy everything that gets in your way…" He murmured, blue eyes locking with Ashura's dark ones.

Ashura glared hatefully up at him, lips curling in anger as his pet broke free of his control, knowing that there was nothing he could do to take back the reins of power now. Pouring his remaining energy into one final attack, he snarled as it was once more thwarted, the last tendrils of his power melting away.

"Congratulations, Fai. You've won. You can kill me and be free of my shadow." He snarled. Watching Fai expectantly for the final blow, he was surprised when Fai held back from releasing his attack, merely shaking his head.

"No, Ashura-ou. Yes, I can kill you – but the one that will be freed is you. You never wanted to turn out like this, did you? You wanted to grow up to be Seresu's greatest king, and bring happiness to the people. You wanted to touch your subjects' hearts so that they would mourn your inevitable passing, and cry at your death. Somewhere along the way, you lost yourself in the power struggles, and you forgot that dream. But I am still a subject of Seresu…and I will still weep for you." Fai whispered brokenly, his eyes fluttering closed in a pained expression as he finally released his attack.

Ashura started at Fai's words, the realisation of what he had always had crashing down upon him as the ball of energy sped towards him. >You always loved me, didn't you Fai? And you carried on loving me despite my cruelty to you. Even now, you think only of me. >

Shadowed walls falling to release a heart long forgotten, Ashura smiled as he finally understood, showing the world a grin free of malice for the first time in years. >I was a fool… >

"Forgive me, Fai." He prayed, dark eyes closing in acceptance of what was to come.

And he was swallowed up by Fai's attack.

Kurogane struggled to his feet as Fai suddenly dropped to his knees, body shuddering with the force of his sobs as he screamed his grief for the whole world to hear, the last remnants of his mask lying shattered on the floor. And Kurogane finally saw the Fai who, although he'd been able to peel back enough layers to understand slightly, he had never been truly able to see.

Limping towards his fallen partner, he fell to the ground beside him, gathering the blonde into his arms and holding tight, rocking Fai back and forth as he murmured reassuring words in his ear.

"It's ok…it's ok, Fai. Come back to me…don't you dare leave me alone…" He pleaded in a hushed voice, sending up a prayer to the gods that his lover hadn't reached the point of no return, that Fai hadn't finally tipped over the edge he'd been walking along for so long, finally succumbing to insanity.

Gradually, Fai's sobs grew less and less violent, until he was just whimpering against Kurogane's chest, gripping the dark armour tightly. Shuddering as he got a grip on himself, Fai wrapped his arms tightly around the ninja, pulling himself as close to Kurogane as he could get.

"K…Kuro-muu…" He whispered, burying his face in Kurogane's chest. The Japanese swordsman breathed a sigh of relief, and pulled back slightly, just enough to be able to see Fai properly without squinting.

"Fai…are you alright?" He asked anxiously, crimson eyes scanning the man before him for signs of injury.

Fai nodded, his distressed expression melting into one of tired relief, eyes shining a bright blue.

"I think…I think he was able to be Ashura-ouji again…if only for a little while." Fai murmured, smiling softly at Kurogane. Slowly, he reached up to cup Kurogane's face, and the warrior leaned into the touch, never taking his eyes off Fai. The last time Fai had done this, he'd been about to return to Ashura's clutches. This time, it was Kurogane's embrace that he had chosen.

Leaning up, Fai gently kissed Kurogane, relishing the feel of those rough lips against his own once again. Pulling back, he bit his lip nervously, gazing at the man he loved.

"Kuro-rin…I made a mistake. I thought that Ashura-ou was the one that I loved. But I was wrong. When it came down to it, I knew that I had to choose you. I can't ask for your forgiveness, but…"

"It's yours." Kurogane suddenly interrupted, gazing seriously at Fai.

"Wha…what?" Fai gasped, blinking in shock.

"I forgive you, if there's actually anything to forgive. As long as you stay with me, then I don't care. Plus, I won't have to defend you all the time anymore, because you can use your magic, so that's a point in your favour." Kurogane joked, cracking a small grin. Then he paused, a frown marring his features.

"Come to think of it, I still don't know why you didn't use your powers before. I mean, nothing happened, so…"

"Ahhh!" Fai cut Kurogane off with a pained cry, doubling over and gripping his stomach tightly, face screwed up in agony.

"Fai? Fai, what's wrong!" Kurogane said urgently, reaching to touch Fai reassuringly. Instead, Fai jerked back as if burned and quickly retreated until he was a few metres away from Kurogane. Hissing as a sharp bolt of pain sliced through him, Fai looked up at Kurogane with a thin smile, sweat beginning to bead on his forehead.

"Th…this is why I don't use magic, Kuro-chan. Without my tattoo, I can't control my magic…it's too strong for me to stop naturally." Fai choked out, gasping as another wave of agony passed through him. "It doesn't stop…it just turns into a destructive force…and that force needs an escape outlet, so it just explodes out of me…."

Fai's voice died away, and he cried out again, sinking to the floor. Kurogane made to run to him, and Fai shook his head frantically, biting his lip hard as tried to suppress the power long enough for Kurogane to get to safety.

"Don't you get it, Kuro-pii! In a few seconds, I won't be able to hold it in any longer! Magic will shoot out of me, and it will drain the life energy of anything it touches – this area will become a wasteland."

"Fai…" Kurogane whispered, his hand helplessly going to the handle of Ginryuu, even though he knew that a sword could do nothing in this situation.

"Run, Kuro-tan! Before it's too late! I….ahhhh!" Fai's begging suddenly turned into a scream of suffering, and Kurogane was forced to duck as a red beam of light shot out of the blonde, sailing over the ninja to hit a tree behind him. Glancing over his shoulder, Kurogane's eyes widened as he saw the tree visibly wilt, turning black as if burned by invisible fire.

Fai shuddered as his body was wracked by torturous waves of energies, feeling them continuously build up inside of him until they exploded out of him, again and again.

And yet, Kurogane didn't run. Instead, he simply dodged the beams, refusing to leave Fai's side. And for the first time in his life, Fai felt like he was the one who had the right to call Kurogane a fool.

"Don't be stupid, Kuro-woof! Get out of here! Please! For me!" He pleaded, letting out a choked cry as yet another beam of light shot from inside of him.

"No!" Kurogane bellowed, using Ginryuu to reflect one of the beams away from him. "I won't leave you, Fai!"

"Kurogane! Please!" Fai screamed. Kurogane pulled up short, recognising the rare use of his real name and finally nodded, agreeing. He didn't want to leave Fai like this, but if Fai was so serious about this, then…

Turning to run, Kurogane was forced to jump back as dead trees, unable to support their own weights anymore, crashed down, blocking his way. Another tree fell and slammed into another one, and Kurogane cursed as it provoked a domino effect, causing trees to fall all around the clearing until he was blocked in.

Sliding Ginryuu back into its sheath, he leapt up onto one of the fallen trees and began to climb the barrier, only to hear Fai's howl of warning from behind him. Whirling round, Kurogane gasped as he saw numerous beams shooting in his direction, too many for him to avoid from his current position.

>Well, witch. Looks like I won't be getting my wish after all, hmm? This is my last stop…>

As the beams of power sped towards Kurogane, Fai cried out a warning, already knowing that it would be too late. >No! Unless I can stop my magic, Kurogane will die! I always put him in danger like this…I have to stop myself! I have to…I have to…> But even though Fai wanted to control his power, he knew it was impossible. He couldn't control the energy created, and that energy had to go somewhere, or it would simply implode inside of him…wait.

Smiling sadly, Fai shut his eyes and breathed in deeply, drawing on the magic he had left to pull the beams back inside of him. Shuddering, he staggered to his feet as he felt the energy levels within him rise, lifting his head to grin reassuringly at Kurogane.

"This is going to make you mad at me…but it's the only way I can make things right. I'm sorry, Kuro-wan." He whispered, before gathering his magic to the soles of his feet and pushing off, rising into the air like he had once done in Hanshin with the help of his kudan.

Shooting up as far as he could go, Fai suddenly stopped, hovering as he felt the power inside of him reach critical level. Letting out a small laugh, he spread his arms to the wind and threw his head back, allowing the breeze to ruffle his clothing even as he felt a distant rumbling inside himself beginning to get louder and louder.

And the magic imploded.

Back at the house, Sakura let out a small cry, the dish she'd been drying slipping from her fingers to smash to the floor.

"Hime!" Syaoran gasped, moving to catch her as she fell backwards, her emerald eyes closed. Then slowly, a single tear slipped from beneath a lid to trickle down her cheek, shining against her skin.

"Fai-san…"

Upstairs, Mokona suddenly tensed, conversation with Yuuko stopping as an almost painful tingle shot through its body. On the other end of the line, Yuuko bowed her head in respect, dark hair falling about her face.

"You are no longer the passageway for four, Mokona. One of the group has fallen." She said quietly.

Hearing the thunderous sound of the explosion in the sky above, Kurogane roared in denial, slamming a fist against the dead tree as he saw the sudden clouds of smoke appear up above. Squinting against the Sun's light, Kurogane's eyes widened as he saw a limp figure plummeting towards the ground, and he raced forward to catch it, almost knocked down by the force of the body landing in his arms.

Breath catching in his throat, Kurogane gently shook Fai's unresponsive form, chest tightening when Fai didn't stir. Quickly dropping to the ground and lying Fai down next to him, Kurogane felt for a pulse, gasping hoarsely as he felt none. And when he heard no sign of breathing after laying his ear next to Fai's mouth, Kurogane was forced to admit the truth to himself.

Fai was dead.

"No…oh Kami-sama, no…" He whispered, laying a gentle hand on Fais' cheek and caressing the rapidly cooling skin, feeling none of the warmth that Fai had had in life. Letting out a choked sob, he pulled the corpse into his arms and held it, weeping, as he clutched at the shell of the one person he had loved above all others.

"No, damn you, no!" He bellowed, his voice rising until the birds took flight around him, leaving him alone in his grief.

"FAAAIIIII!"

Oh my God! I did what I never wanted to do! I killed off Fai! (Grabs box of Kleenex tissues for herself) Funny thing was, in order to write the sad scenes, I had to keep playing Sleepless Beuty from the Gravitation soundtrack

Oh, and I feel like I need to explain two of the scenes from that. First of all, Ashura's almost-redemption. I always thought that Ashura would either be totally evil, or maybe a good guy, with Fai in the wrong. But as I chose to combine the two and make him a good guy that had lost his way, I thought it would be nice for him to find redemption in death. That's why I had him asking for Fai's forgiveness at the end.

Secondly, I'm not sure whether Sakura would feel Fai's death or not...she's always so in tune to the people around her. Plus, in the anime she seems to have been given all sorts of powers that she didn't have in the manga, such as being drawn by her feathers...so I decided to play off that.

Sorry that that wasn't that sad...I'm no good at those kind of endings. Next up, we'll have the Sad But Happy one...don't be alarmed if the first few paragraphs are the same - it won't be me uploading the wrong file. It'll just be the alternate ending.

So...read and review please!