Disclaimer: We don't own Tsubasa Chronicle. Also, the lyrics featured at the beginning are from a translation of the song Rakuen (Paradise) by the fabulous Do As Infinity. The translators at Mognet(dot)net have generously given us permission to include their translation. Thank you, Mognet!

This fic takes place directly after episode 26 of the anime, so at the end of season 1.

Blindly We Step Forward
By: Hane no Miko (link no miko + Koorino Megumi)

Aim for a paradise that you can't yet see
Somewhere in this endlessly expanding world
We'll walk there
No matter how far away

Don't turn away, look ahead
Until your body falls apart
You'll live on
Toward the future

Chapter 2: What was Lost

Water was dribbling into his eyes. Syaoran put a hand up in alarm, trying to ward off the wetness, but to his surprise, he found an arm above him, holding a wet cloth to his forehead.

"Oi, kid," Kurogane said, drawing his attention. The samurai sat beside him, arms folded across his chest, his sword and Syaoran's being used as makeshift poles to suspend the dark cloak over them as shelter. Sakura was on his other side, still holding the damp cloth over his head.

"Kurogane-san...?"

"Next time you pull a stunt like that," the gruff man said, expression never changing, "don't."

Syaoran tried to smile but couldn't, the skin of his face burned and raw. "I won't."

"Syaoran-kun..." Sakura began, and he turned to face her, still trying to smile. "Are you okay...? Fye-san said you'd be okay, but..."

The boy nodded. "Yes, I'm fine. The heat must have gotten to me, that's all." He blinked and pointed at the hand holding the cloth. "But where did you find water...?"

"Mokona did!" the white creature declared happily, jumping up from his place behind Sakura. "Mokona saw Syaoran fall down and whoooom, Mokona found some water while Kuromyuu made a tent with his cloak!"

"Kurogane, you damn white manjuu bun!"

"Kuromyuu, Kuromyuu!"

"Come here, you little-"

"As you can see, the water and shelter have given us all a chance to rest," Fye stated, smiling as he moved over toward Syaoran, ignoring the chase that had broken out between the samurai and the white creature. "How are you feeling? You've given your body quite a beating."

Syaoran frowned, trying to sit up. "I'm fine," he repeated, though his body protested his movements.

Sakura kept the cloth firmly on his forehead. "You need to rest, Syaoran-kun," she commented, softly but sadly, "You'll make yourself sick if you just keep going like this."

The sadness in her voice, more than the weakness in his limbs, convinced him to relax against the sand, basking in the cloth's coolness. "Is everyone else feeling okay?" he asked.

The princess nodded. "We're fine," she assured him, "Would you like a drink?" It was only then, with her beside him, taking care of him, that he realized that the worry she'd been showing on the walk hadn't been about the lack of civilization. She'd been worrying about him all along.

"Princess..."

She looked away, getting him a drink from the canteen by her side, and his hand started to lift to touch her face before he stopped himself. It wasn't proper, it wasn't allowed, it wasn't--

--the arm lined in red tattoos resumed its ascent.

He recoiled, clutching his hand to his chest as she turned to face him, a smile as fake as Fye's on her face.

"Here...this will help."

Syaoran licked his lips and nodded, sitting up to sip from the canteen that she placed to his lips, the water cool against his parched throat. She pulled it away a few moments later, and he smiled at her, feeling refreshed from just that.

"Thank you."

"So," Fye said, making himself more comfortable, "we decided to stay here for the rest of the day and head out when the sun goes down. Rest up until then, and if you're still not well, we'll just have to stay longer." He grinned. "Kuromyuu won't mind, I'm sure."

"I really am fine," the boy started, but Fye reached out and pushed him back. Syaoran's head touched something soft, and it was only after the older man had removed his hand that he realized his head was rested on his princess's lap.

"I'm sorry," he apologized instinctively, but at the look on the girl's face, he quickly changed it to a soft, "Thank you."

Sakura smiled for him again, dabbing at his forehead with the cloth. "Just get some rest. Syaoran-kun always fights so hard...he never leaves any time to take care of himself."

Syaoran frowned at her expression. "I'll be sure to rest up, so we can leave again soon," he assured her.

His princess's smile widened. "Good."

So Syaoran attempted to relax, unable to help but feel his princess's soft dress against his hair and gentle fingertips brushing his forehead. He tried to tell himself that this was okay, that he was sick and she was only doing this because there was nothing else for him to rest on but sand. And he thought about protesting. She needed to be able to get up, and she shouldn't have to stay with him the whole time he was sleeping... But he didn't open his mouth, enjoying the feeling too much to argue against it.

And, slowly, he drifted back to sleep, his right eye still twinging.

Syaoran opened his eyes to pale, ambient light. He stood in a large room, dark but for the many hundreds of mirrors around him, reflecting and refracting the strange, sourceless glow. The boy spun in a circle slowly, trying to take in his surroundings, to find some way out or some clue as to where he was and why, please why, but all he saw was himself, front and back and side and every angle.

And then he saw him, frozen in the mirrors even as Syaoran spun, face placid as he watched his double.

The young archaeologist stopped, taking a defensive position before he fully realized what he was doing. His double simply watched him, clothing moving slowly, fluidly, as though suspended in something.

"Who...?"

The sound shattered the stillness, thousands of shards of glass simultaneously breaking away and showering him in glinting light, and when he could see again, only a few mirrors remained.

His double stood in all of them.

Syaoran started running, eyes darting every which way to find an opening, an exit, anything, but all he found was glass and his own placid expression facing him.

And then they were there, too. Lying broken and bloody at his own--never his own, not his--feet. First Kurogane, his sword unrecognizable from the heap of flesh. Then Fye, white coat stained irreparably red. Mokona, Masayoshi, Chunyang, Ryuuou...the sick parade continued on until Syaoran slid to a halt, a mirror blocking his path.

And in this one, the one standing above Sakura, smiling insanely, was him.

Syaoran fell to the ground, head clutched in his hands, sobs wracking his frame as his double emerged from the mirror, lunging forward and into Syaoran before the boy could move to defend himself.

He could feel something inside of him then, something cold. It held him still again, his tears frozen on his face. Or so he thought, until he realized the wetness he felt was not just on his cheeks.

There was water all around him, engulfing him. Was he drowning again? But his lungs didn't cry for air, and the water was gentle around his limbs, soothing him, suspending him. All he felt was calm. This was where he belonged, wasn't it? Inside the water. After all, there wasn't that much, just enough for him. The air was right there, on the other side, but it wasn't for him.

At the thought, Syaoran opened his eye--Was that his right? But why wasn't the left working?--and peered out before him, seeing the sheet of glass, the image on the other side obscured by the water. He raised a hand, forgetting that he couldn't move, only to find that he could now reach out toward that blurry image.

There was a sudden cry--wasn't that his own voice?--and broken mirrors were all around him again, the water gone. But as Syaoran watched in horror, his reaching hand continued to move, on its own now, completely out of his control. And it reached down to pick up a piece of glass, immediately swinging it up toward his face...

When he woke the others were all around him, their faces nearly lost in the shadow of Kurogane's cloak. He sat up slowly, a hand flying to his eye on instinct as the pain wracked his head, and even Sakura's hands on his arms barely made any impact on his senses.

He only paused when a rock dropped from his nearly-senseless fingers.

"Syaoran-kun...?"

He waved her concern away, forcing a smile to his face as he let his hands drop and ignored the rock. He couldn't ignore the warm blood he felt trailing down his cheek. "I'm fine, princess, please don't worry about me."

"How can you say that...?"

"Sakura-chan is right," Fye said, his soft voice echoing in the stillness. "You gave us quite a scare, Syaoran-kun. Sakura-chan's been by your side since you passed out." The boy wasn't sure whether to be grateful or not that the older man didn't mention what they could all see.

Syaoran looked more closely at the princess, a real smile finding its way to his eyes. "Thank you, princess. But really, I'm--"

"If you value your health, you won't finish that sentence," Kurogane growled, and Mokona made a quip about "Scary Kurowan!" from his place on the samurai's shoulder. When the boy went to reply, the older man just shrugged and started walking off.

Fye smiled quietly and stood. "I'll leave you two be. Dinner will be ready soon. I'm making my specialty." And with a wink, the magician was gone, following after Kurogane. Sakura and Syaoran watched them go, both trying to smile at the way the two constantly fought. Neither of them really managed to.

"It's fun to see them be so carefree," Syaoran said when the adults were out of earshot.

"It's fun to see Syaoran-kun be carefree, too," Sakura replied, the smile gone from her face as she watched him intently, hands lifted to touch his cheek. He hissed in pain and pulled away. "Syaoran-kun, what happened?"

The boy shook his head and fought to smile. "Nothing, princess. Please don't worry."

"But I do worry! When you yelled and collapsed, I worried so much! And now your eye! You..."

Syaoran watched her, eyes narrowing sadly, and he surprised himself as well as her when his hand lifted to brush the hair away from her face. "Shh, it's ok, I promise. I..." His hand fell to his side, and he smiled. "I promise you, I'm okay now."

He could tell she didn't fully believe him, but she nodded anyway. She left him for a moment and returned with the canteen of water and some clean strips of cloth. He would have asked where they came from, except that he noticed the edge of her skirt as she kneeled beside him. "If anything ever happens, if you're ever hurt, please tell me. Don't hide your pain from me."

Memories of nearly those exact words echoed through his head, and he fought to keep the smile in place, to hold onto the broken expression he'd long been clinging to for support, as she wrapped his wound in soft white silk.

"Yes, princess." Always, for you.

Farther away, Fye watched the two tiny specks huddled beneath the makeshift lean-to and smiled to himself. Kurogane just growled from his place a few feet away, Mokona still perched happily on his head.

"What're you smiling about?"

"Hmm? Oh, nothing Kurotan. You wouldn't understand it, anyway."

"Like hell I wouldn't! You know something, don't you?"

Fye turned around and made his way over to the irate samurai, sitting down opposite the other man. "What makes you say that?"

"You're a loon, but you're not an idiot. You noticed something wrong with the boy just as well as I did. And I'm not," he added, glaring, "just talking about him trying to stab his own eye out."

"Mmmm, that might be true." Kurogane growled, and Mokona huddled close. Fye just chuckled faintly. "I think that our little Syaoran-kun saw something he wasn't expecting."

Kurogane arched an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

The magician smiled again, as he always did. "Sometimes things we see are so devastating, we'd do anything to forget." The samurai frowned, and then his eyes widened as he realized what Fye meant. "I thought Syaoran-kun was stronger than that, though."

"Tch."

"Aww, Kurowanwan doesn't believe in Syaoran-kun?"

"Shut the hell up with those damn pet names!"

Fye leaned over and patted the samurai's hair down flat against his head. "You're just embarrassed because you like them."

"DAMMIT, DIE!"

"Waaah, Kuromimi is trying to kiiiilll meee!"

"Kurotan is chasing Fye! Mokona wants to chase Fye, too!"

Fye laughed, continuing to run in circles through the sand, despite the fact that he seemed completely unconcerned by his sword-wielding pursuer. "I have another job for you, Mokona."

The white creature's ears perked up. "Mokona likes jobs!"

Fye smiled, stopping abruptly and stepping to the side, Kurogane just barely overtaking him before he stopped and glared. "I can't make dinner if I don't have anything to cook with. Do you think you could help us get dinner tonight?"

Mokona positively beamed. "Mokona can help!" he cheered. Then he abruptly began to breathe in a large gust of air. The sand around them was swept off the ground, flowing into his mouth, and Fye and Kurogane's clothing was ruffled by the stream. Then Mokona closed his mouth, immediately reopening it again to produce a full meal.

"Hyuu hyuu!" Fye sang, clapping.

"It's one of Mokona's 108 special techniques," the white manjuu declared proudly.

Kurogane just scowled, so Mokona grabbed a slice of bread and jumped over onto his head, nibbling at it furiously so that crumbs ran down onto his support.

For the samurai's part, he just flicked the white creature off his head and plopped down onto the ground.

"This still doesn't help us about the kid."

Fye paused in the act of eating a sandwich, eyeing the dark-clad man before him. "No, it doesn't. But there's not much we can do, either." He lowered the food and grinned. "So I say we eat!"

Kurogane glared, meeting Fye's gaze, and finally gave a nasty-sounding "Tch!" before standing and walking away.

"I'm scouting. I'll be back later."

"Biee Kurotan! Don't get looost!"

Mokona bounced over to Fye as the blond man waved amiably and tugged on his sleeve. "Ne, Fye."

The man looked down, expression reserved as he scooped their traveling companion up. "I don't know, Mokona. I really don't." Although I wish I did.

Mokona frowned, but then he looked up at Fye. "Then we should invite Syaoran and Sakura to eat with us!"

Fye smiled, standing. "You're right. Let's go get them."

They were walking again, the same as before. The only difference now was that, not only was the princess holding the archaeologist's hand and watching him, but both the dark-clad samurai and the cheerful magician were keeping an eye on him as well, albeit more discreetly. Syaoran just continued forward, uncomfortable under their gazes. His right eye still throbbed, but the food and water had made him feel much more energized, and the rest had probably helped. And somehow he felt more comfortable now that his eye was covered. The bandage had been tied very carefully. He fingered it now and then, but his princess usually gave him a look when he did, not wanting him to accidentally undo it. Syaoran hated to see her and the others worry so much, especially over him. So he tried his best to look like it was any other time they'd been traveling, hoping that maybe, if he stayed well enough, they would forget about what had happened.

Or maybe if he pretended it hadn't happened, he could forget. And it wouldn't happen again...

For hours they saw nothing but sand, but suddenly, from his accustomed perch on Kurogane's head, Mokona jumped into the air, letting out an excited cry. "Look, look! A city! Mokona sees a city!"

The party stopped, all eyes turning to their little friend. "Really? That's wonderful!" Sakura declared happily, clapping her hands together once. Fye made his hyuu noise and Kurogane grunted.

"Where, Mokona?" Syaoran asked, kneeling by the small creature. "How far away?"

"Mokona sees it that way!" He pointed ahead and to the left, bouncing happy. "And it's not far, not far at all! If we hurry we'll make it before the sun can get buuuuurning hot again!"

Syaoran stood, turning to his princess and smiling--for real, this time. "We-- You're almost home, princess. By noon, surely." Please let there be a family to return to...

Sakura beamed at him, and tears pricked her eyes as she leaned forward and caught him in a loose embrace. His face turned scarlet, but he hugged her back, arms wrapping around her shoulders. At the contact, however, pain surged through him, and he cried out, his eye burning as he pulled away from the startled girl, Fye and Kurogane instantly on alert.

"Syaoran-kun...!"

"Stay back!" he yelled, hand clutching at his face. "Something...something's wrong...!"

"Syaoran-kun..." his princess repeated, stepping toward him in concern, "What is it? Are you hurt?"

"Stay away!" he cried again, flailing an arm in her direction, not wanting to hurt her but knowing the most important thing right now was to keep her away from him.

He would not let the visions he had seen come true.

Pain continued to surge through his body, and Syaoran fell to his knees, his hand tearing at his face, ruining the bandage Sakura had so carefully placed over his eye. "Stay away from me..."

He knew there was something behind the pain. He could feel something--someone--inside him, and it was fighting to get out. And he knew that if it had to, it would tear him apart to do so.

Who are you? Leave me alone!

For an instant, he saw it all again--first falling into the water, tumbling into the reflection that was him but was not at the same time. Then the mirrors, and the being that had merged with him. Reality returned after that, but the pain only intensified, and Syaoran felt the world growing distant around him. It was not the sensation he felt when he was passing out. The world was not hazy, just distant, as if he could no longer reach it or affect it.

No...

And as he watched in horror from inside, his body slowly stood, reaching up to remove the bandage from around his eye.

"Syaoran-kun?" Sakura asked immediately, looking at him in worry. And as Syaoran continued to watch, she began to approach him.

No, princess! Don't!

But Sakura didn't hear him, couldn't, and continued to take small steps until Kurogane was there, an arm held before her as he unsheathed his sword. Fye also looked ready for battle, amiable expression gone as his eyes never left Syaoran's.

"Back, girl," Kurogane growled at her, and Syaoran felt a jolt of anger that he would treat her in such a way. The being inside him felt it too, and Syaoran watched as his hands dropped to his sides, bandage half-removed, his body falling into an easy stance.

He cried out at the same time his body moved, rushing towards Kurogane and his princess with a feeling swelling in him that Syaoran had never felt before.

He wanted to hurt Kurogane.

No. Kill.

His left leg swung up with a speed Syaoran didn't know he possessed, aimed right at the samurai's head, and all the boy could do was watch.

Surprise flashed through Kurogane's eyes at the move, but the man's own skills were by no means average. He moved his head to the side to avoid a full blow, simultaneously drawing his sword, the kick connecting directly with the blade. Kurogane took a quick step back, pushing Sakura with him and narrowly avoiding the loss of his sword from the weight of Syaoran's blow. But Syaoran was not done. His moves were nimble and fluid as he pivoted and gave a small jump, coming at Kurogane again.

What am I doing? Why can't I stop this?

"Get back!" Kurogane snapped at Sakura as he continued to deflect and dodge the blows, struggling to draw Syaoran away from the girl. His sword connected with Syaoran's ankle, and the boy let out a cry, faltering just barely.

"Syaoran-kun!"

"I said get back!"

But the princess seemed rooted to the spot, staring in shock and horror into Syaoran's face, as if he were the only one there.

Syaoran watched her desperately, wanting nothing more than to get her out of harm's way. Princess, please listen to Kurogane. You could get hurt!

But he had no voice to tell her any such thing.

"You really shouldn't stand so close, Sakura-chan."

Both Syaoran and the princess were momentarily distracted from the battle as Fye suddenly came up behind her, wrapping his arms around the girl and easily lifting her, jumping back to a safe distance. Syaoran felt a surge of relief at the sight, but something else welled up inside him at the same time.

Where had Fye gotten the idea that he could touch her like that? How dare he!

Syaoran instantly switched his objective, pivoting mid-attack to instead charge at the magician, eyes narrowed dangerously, dead and empty. Fye only smiled as he quickly released the princess and jumped before her, charging straight at the younger man.

Deep inside his soul, Syaoran was screaming.

And then Kurogane was there, his arms hooking around Syaoran's and lifting, pulling the boy up and twisting his arms in a painful way. He cried out, the sound foreign to Syaoran's ears, and Fye kept coming, a sad smile on his face. The magician dodged the poorly aimed kick, and Syaoran hissed in pain as his arms twisted even more to a popping sound.

"I'm very sorry, Syaoran-kun," Fye's soft voice said, right beside his ear, and Syaoran had the time to turn and snarl at him before a hand punched into his gut and up, towards his diaphragm, and the world went black.

He was in front of the mirror again, his body unresponsive despite his attempts to pull it away from it. His hands were plastered against the glass, as if they wanted to reach through it, ignoring his inner cries that it was the last thing he wanted to do.

And the other him--the one who had attacked Fye and Kurogane; his own reflection?--was on the other side, hands pressed up right against his. It watched him, face blank.

Let me go!

"No."

Syaoran blinked, startled by the voice that had come when his own body still refused to produce a sound. The other's expression didn't change, but his mouth was moving, the words clearly coming from him.

"You want her."

There was no emotion in the voice; the words were not an accusation. They simply were. And Syaoran could not bring himself to reply.

"I'll take her from you."

Syaoran gasped, though no sound emerged from his body. He fought harder against whatever held him, but still to no avail. Leave her alone!

And for the first time, an expression began to enter the other's face. He began to smirk.

"What do you think will happen?"

"We'll have to wait and see, Sakura-chan."

"But Syaoran-kun..."

"What do you think will happen?"

Princess...