A/N: Holy crap! This turned out waaaaay longer than I had intended it to be ;

Arrgh, I fail at life. Sorry it took so long, guys. I hope you enjoy it.

Chapter 1

Never Let Go

It was a very restless night for Fai. He tossed and turned and kept sitting up to look at the clock every few minutes; it was really very agonizing. His anticipation could only be accurately compared to that which is felt by a seven-year-old child as he waits for Santa Claus on Christmas Eve. The blond had every reason to be excited; after all, now that he had Sumomo at his disposal, virtually every possibility in Kurochan-Land was open to him. The prospects of what he could do with his newfound powers sent his mind reeling. If he wanted to become Princess Tomoyo's look-alike, thereby receiving Kurogane's immediate and complete obedience, then poof! it was done. If he decided that he fancied taking the ninja to a deserted tropical island where they would be guaranteed absolute uninterrupted solitude, then poof! there they would be. If Fai's whim happened to include turning Kurogane into a giant ice cream cone so that he could lick him all over, then poof! Japan's most feared ninja would be transformed into a spectacular display of chocolaty-goodness (though Fai was fond of all the ideas he had come up with so far, this one was by far his favorite and sent him into a fit of irrepressible giggles every time he envisioned it).

Although the wizard was tempted to blow all his wishes in one day, he realized that the smart thing to do was to save them, think about each one carefully, making sure he had truly come up with something ingenious, before spending even one. But Fai had always been a hardcore follower of the instant gratification way of life and dismissed that idea almost the second it crossed his mind. Careful planning. Pfft. Right. What good had careful planning ever done anyone? Was there even one example in the history of ever where someone had actually benefited from careful planning?

Actually, yes, the annoying little voice of reason said peevishly from the back of his mind. I can think of a whole butt-load off the top of my head. Would you like to hear them? No, Fai told his voice of reason, but kindly do me a favor and shut up, please. That would be just fabulous. Too bad, the voice of reason sneered, I'll tell you anyway. Fai stuffed his fingers in his ears and hummed loudly in his head to block out the voice's babbling. La la la la, I'm not listening! he thought loudly.

Then a thought hit him. It was an amazing thought. Sheer brilliance, now that he pondered it some more. He sat up excitedly as his brain began forming a plan as to how he might spend his first wish. Fai twirled a lock of his blond hair around one of his long, slender fingers while his mind raced forward, calculating the possible consequences of such an action. All of them were delicious. In a frenzy of poorly-contained anticipation, the blond burrowed down under his covers, hugging his knees to his chest in an attempt to stifle his own attack of sinister giggles.

Yes, that idea would work beautifully. No doubt it would piss off the ninja to no end. The very thought of Kurogane's horrified reaction caused a shiver of glee to shoot through Fai's body. And best of all, there would be nothing that the warrior could do to free himself from this impending aggravation; as strong as Kurogane was, his strength would be completely useless in the face of Fai's new powers. Feeling deeply satisfied with himself, Fai stretched out once more and closed his eyes. Thank you, he told his voice of reason, you've been an unexpectedly large help. Fuck you, it snarled back. I love you too, the wizard thought sleepily as he finally let go of consciousness.

When Fai next awoke, the sun outside was shining beautifully, its cheerful, innocent disposition acting as a complete paradox to the impending doom that loomed in Kurogane's near future. The blond stretched in a leisurely manner before picking up a pile of clothing that the group's hostess had lent him and heading for the shower. If one were to press their ear against Fai's bedroom door, they would probably hear the wizard attempting to whistle a joyful tune, failing miserably and eventually resorting to humming instead.

Fai skipped down the stairs, two at a time, and bounded into the kitchen, a smile that even shamed his usual grin spread across his face. Radiating a truly disgustingly-upbeat mood, the mage took a seat at the kitchen table next to the unsuspecting ninja, who was scanning the newspaper with a bored expression.

"Good morning, Kurotan!" Fai sang, pulling a bowl, a box of cereal and the pitcher of milk closer to where he was sitting.

Kurogane looked up from the newspaper at the wizard, looking thoroughly annoyed.

"What's so damn good about it?" he grumbled. "And wipe that stupid grin off your face. It makes me want to hurt you."

"Oh, Kurorin is a little hostile this morning, mm?" Fai giggled. "What's the matter, big puppy? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed?"

With a furious growl and a sinister gleam in his eyes, Kurogane snatched the closest thing he could find (which happened to be a spoon) and hurled it at Fai's head. The blond ducked just in time so that the spoon missed him and got stuck in the wall on the other side of the room. Fai's eyes widened as they took in the damage.

"Hyuu! That was an amazing throw, Kuromuu! It's a good thing you missed me, ne? That would have really hurt."

"That's what I was going for, you stupid bastard!" Kurogane snapped.

"It's ok, daddy," Fai grinned, reaching out and taking the ninja's hand. "I know you didn't mean anything by it."

"Like hell I didn't. And get your damn hands off me, magician!" the warrior snarled, trying to jerk his hand out of Fai's grip. Kurogane blinked. What…? He tried again to jerk his hand away but to no avail. A look of horror coming over his face, he shook his arm violently, trying frantically to free himself. Still, Fai's grip didn't relinquish even in the slightest.

"Bastard! What the hell did you do? Let go of my hand, dammit!" Kurogane demanded fearfully.

"Mmm?" Fai said, feigning an innocent expression of surprise as he looked down at their interlaced fingers. He pulled weakly a few times before flashing the ninja a defeated smile. "I can't get it… We seem to be stuck, Kuropin."

"Oh, hell no!" Kurogane growled, shaking his hand furiously. He kept up this desperate motion for about two minutes until his arm got tired. Gritting his teeth, the warrior glared at Fai, who simply smiled back.

"Guess we're in a pinch, eh?" he said easily.

Kurogane opened his mouth, no doubt to give a harsh reply, but was interrupted by Sakura entering the room.

"Good morning Fai san, Kurogane san," she said brightly as she joined them at the table.

His face turning beet-red, the ninja quickly hid his and Fai's joined hands under the table so that Sakura wouldn't see. But the young princess didn't seem to notice the extreme tension in the air and simply poured herself a bowl of cereal.

"Did you both sleep well?" she asked cheerfully, tilting her head to the side.

"Of course, Sakura chan!" Fai lied. "And how about you?"

"Yes, I slept wonderfully!" Sakura replied. "Do you know if Syaoran kun is up yet? I was hoping we could go into town and see what information we could find on my feather…"

She trailed off as her eyes fell on Kurogane, who was shoveling cereal in his mouth at top speed in a pathetic attempt to pretend that everything was alright though his face was still burning brightly.

"Erm… Kurogane san?" Sakura said timidly. "Are…are you alright?"

"Yes!" he snapped through a mouthful of cereal. "Why wouldn't I be?"

"Ah… It's just that… your face is awfully red," the princess stammered, frightened by the ninja's outburst at her simple question. "You don't… have a fever, do you?"

"No! It's fine! I'm fine! Everything's fine! Quit asking so many damn questions!"

"I'm…I'm sorry!" she squeaked, bending down over her cereal bowl so as not to provoke the ninja further.

"Now, now Kurochu," Fai scolded, though he was still grinning widely. "That's no way to talk to Sakura chan. She was just trying to make sure you were ok."

"Well, tell her to mind her own damn business and then I won't have to talk to her like that!" Kurogane replied hotly. Mentally, he was kicking himself. Way to go, you tart, his brain said. So much for not drawing attention to yourself. Luckily for the flustered warrior, Syaoran and Mokona entered the kitchen at that moment, breaking the awkward silence.

As soon as the younger boy sat down, Kurogane got up, jerking Fai to his feet as well. He hurriedly hid their joined hands behind his back, knocking over his chair in his desperation to keep them out of sight.

Syaoran and Sakura stared nervously at their older companions, wondering what exactly was going on, though they were afraid to say anything.

"Hey kid," Kurogane said loudly in an attempt to dispel some of the tension. "Where's your sword? I need it."

"It… it's in my room," Syaoran answered quickly. "But why…?"

"Don't ask about things that aren't any of your business!" the warrior snarled, stomping out of the kitchen and dragging Fai with him.

"Kuromyu, you were awfully rude to Syaoran kun and Sakura chan," Fai pointed out. "Why didn't you just tell them what had happened?"

"Because, you dumb ass, they wouldn't have believed us! There isn't any magic in this world and they know you've refused to use yours! What if they thought we were doing this because we wanted to? They already suspect that there's something going on between us!" Kurogane blushed again, though he was trying desperately to control the color in his cheeks. "And that's entirely your fault, you bastard!"

Fai giggled as he slid his arms around the ninja's waist. "Well, if there isn't anything going on between us, then why are you getting so embarrassed? And you're talking a bit loud for someone who wants to keep this whole ordeal a secret."

Kurogane opened and closed his mouth several times like a fish out of water as he tried to think of a snappy reply but words were failing him. Eventually, he just spun around and stomped up the stairs towards Syaoran's room to fetch the sword, dragging Fai along behind him. The blond watched curiously as the ninja unsheathed the sword with a determined expression on his face.

"What are you planning to use that for, Kuropun?" he asked lightly.

"I'll tell you what I'm gonna use it for: I'm gonna cut our hands apart!" Kurogane hissed.

Fai stopped him by grabbing the hilt of the weapon.

"Do you really think that's the best course of action? I mean, if you were to injure your hand, I imagine your fighting skills would never be quite the same," he pointed out, though he sounded completely unconcerned with his dilemma.

Kurogane ground his teeth in frustration, feeling very annoyed with himself. Of course Fai was right. But he certainly couldn't just leave their hands stuck together like this… He sighed heavily as he put the sword back in its scabbard.

"Alright," he said in a voice that shook with suppressed rage, "what do you suggest, then?"

"Kurotan is asking my opinion?" Fai asked cheerfully, tilting his head to the side in a manner that made him look absolutely adorable.

"Don't rub it in, mage!" Kurogane snapped. "Just tell me what you think we should do!"

"Well, personally…" the wizard said slowly, a mischievous grin playing across his lips, "I say we just leave it. If it's a spell that's causing this to happen, it won't last forever. Besides… it's an excellent excuse for me to hold Kurorin's hand!"

"Bastard!" he snarled, swinging the still-covered covered sword right at the wizard's face. "This isn't funny, dammit! Quit screwing around!"

"Mmm, screwing around…?" Fai said thoughtfully. "Not a bad idea…"

The blond laughed, bending backwards to miss the sword that the ninja swung at him once more. This was turning out just as great as he had imagined it.

"Psst! Hey! Manjuu!" Kurogane hissed, peeking cautiously into the kitchen where the two younger travelers and their small white guide were busily plotting out the route they would take when they went to search for information.

Mokona's ear twitched and he turned around, looking for the one who had called his name. "Hmm? Is someone looking for Mokona?"

"Shhh! Keep it down!" the ninja spat, waving his hand frantically. "Just get your little white ass over here!"

The rodent hopped down off the counter and bounced over to where the wizard and swordsman were waiting for him.

"Did Kurogane kun want something?" Mokona asked with a smirk.

Kurogane grabbed the white creature by the ears, being careful to squeeze them as hard as he could in the process. "Keep your mouth shut, manjuu!" he growled as he stuffed Mokona into his shirt pocket and made his way quickly to a room where they could talk without being overheard.

Once the door was securely shut behind them, the ninja jerked the white thing out of his pocket and dropped him on the ground.

"Ouchy! Fai-kaasan! Kurogane-tousan is being meeeean!" he whined.

"Kuronro, be a little more careful with Mokona," Fai implored. "He is doing us a favor, after all."

"You! Manjuu! We need you to call the dimensional bitch!" Kurogane ordered impatiently.

"Why?" Mokona asked.

The ninja's face turned bright red again. "None of your damn business! Just do it!"

The rodent ignored this demand and instead turned to Fai, waiting expectantly to be filled in on the situation. The blond smiled as he swung his and Kurogane's joined hands into the air for Mokona to see.

"We seem to be stuck like this," he trilled. "Kurochi was hoping Yuuko san could help us out of this situation."

"Oh, how cute!" Mokona sang, clasping his paws. "Kurogane and Fai are holding hands! It's love-loooove!"

"Shut the hell up!" Kurogane shouted, stomping his foot, his cheeks blazing. "Call the witch already!"

Still sniggering to himself, Mokona turned to face the wall so that the others could see the projection as they spoke to Yuuko. For a moment, the projection was dark and empty but then it became light and the witch's pale face with smug, gleaming eyes filled the screen.

"Ah, Mokona. What a pleasant surprise!" she sang, folding her hands under her chin and leaning forward eagerly on the table she was seated at. "To what do I owe the pleasure of this call?"

"Fai and Kurogane would like to ask you something," Mokona said, grinning in anticipation of the explanation that Kurogane would offer about the call.

Yuuko turned her attention to the wizard and ninja, an expectant smile on her lips. Kurogane hated it when she wore that smile; it made her look as though she was plotting something or that she knew way more than she should. The warrior glared at Fai, waiting for him to jump in with the preamble as he usually did. Fai simply continued to grin as widely and vacantly as ever, acting clueless so as to force Kurogane to explain their predicament.

Realizing that the mage was not going to be of any help whatsoever, Kurogane threw Syaoran's sword at the ground as hard as he could with a snarl of frustration, making sure that it was clear to everyone that he most certainly was not enjoying himself. His teeth gritted in resignation, he held up his and Fai's stubbornly joined hands.

"Can you fix this?" he growled without bothering to justify the situation. As far as he was concerned, it didn't matter how they had gotten that way just as long as the process could be reversed.

Yuuko blinked several times as her eyes focused on the source of her clients' problem. She moved her fist in front of her mouth as she tried to figure out what exactly it was that they were attempting to show her. Then she shook her head, frowning slightly.

"I'm afraid you've lost me," she said. "What seems to be the problem?"

"We're stuck like this, dumb ass!" he snapped, shaking his arm as hard as he could to illustrate his point. "You've gotta help un-stick us!"

The dimensional witch raised an eyebrow and slid her gaze over to Fai, who was still just standing there, a patient smile upon his face. It was a well-known fact to those who knew it well that whatever the rest of Fai's face was saying, you could almost always look to his eyes to be told what he was really thinking. Sometimes, this was a hassle for the blond but other times, it proved quite useful. At the moment, Fai was grateful for the fact that his eyes could relay messages almost more reliably than his voice could and he was using them to implore Yuuko to ignore the swordsman's request. The dimensional witch, despite all her qualities that drove other people crazy, could never be accused of ignorance and therefore noticed Fai's plea. She gave him a small smile and a slight nod to show that she understood him.

Yuuko turned her smug eyes over to the ninja once more.

"No can do," she said lightly.

Kurogane's head jerked upwards in shock. "WHAT?"

"Normally it would be no problem, but under the circumstances…" She trailed off.

"WHAT CIRCUMSTANCES?" he shouted, stamping his foot like a spoiled child. "SCREW CIRCUMSTANCES! JUST UNDO THE GODDAMN SPELL! IF YOU CAN SEND US ALL AROUND THE DAMN UNIVERSE, YOU CAN SURE AS HELL BREAK THIS LITTLE CURSE!"

"My, my, we are feisty, aren't we?" Yuuko laughed. "But I'm afraid that no amount of yelling and stomping can change my answer. No matter how simple a spell is required, I still can't reverse the effects of someone else's wish."

Kurogane narrowed his eyes at her. "'The effects of someone else's wish…?' What the hell do you mean by…?"

"I'm sorry that I'm not able to help you but I'm rather busy at the moment. So, Kurogane san, Fai san, Mokona… I bid you farewell."

Yuuko stood up, turned on her heel and vanished from the screen with a swish of her long black hair.

The ninja stared absentmindedly at the spot where the projection had been, his mind racing. According to the witch, the reason that he and Fai were stuck like this was because someone had wished it to be so. Of course, his immediate thought was that this was Fai's doing. After all, who would want their hands to be stuck together, aside from that slippery magician? But when Kurogane had showed her their conjoined hands, she had seemed genuinely confused. That most likely meant that this wasn't the result of a request made by Fai of Yuuko. Then again, maybe she, like Fai, was simply a very good actor and was in fact behind this mischief 100 percent.

The ninja moved his searing glare onto Mokona.

"Oi, Manjuu," he grunted, "when was the last time you talked to that witch, aside from just now?"

"Umm… Mokona hasn't talked to Yuuko in a long time," Mokona said. "Mokona doesn't remember exactly…"

Kurogane sighed and ran a hand backwards through his spiky raven hair before turning his suspicious gaze on Fai once more. He didn't know how he had done it but he was almost positive that the mage was the one behind this.

"Kurogane san! Fai san!" Sakura called from the bottom of the stairs. "Dinner is ready!"

Once the girl heard her traveling companions' reply, she went back to the kitchen and began helping Syaoran dish a portion of noodles into a bowl for each person.

"I hope Fai san won't have too much difficulty with the chopsticks," Sakura commented as she set some at his spot. "But I couldn't find any forks in the house…"

"I'm sure he'll be fine," Syaoran replied. "I think he's starting to get the hang of them since Kurogane san taught him to use them in the last country we visited."

"Kurogane san and Fai san sure have been acting strange today, haven't they?" the princess pointed out with a small frown. "They've been upstairs by themselves all day long… I wonder what they're up to…"

"You're right," Syaoran agreed. "I haven't seen them since breakfast this morning. Kurogane san did ask to borrow my sword… I wonder if he's teaching Fai san how to use one?"

The younger travelers ended their musings as Kurogane and Fai entered the room together, Fai looking almost unnaturally cheerful, his cheeks brilliantly pink, his blond hair looking even messier than usual while Kurogane looked both deeply annoyed and deeply disturbed, his appearance much the same as Fai's with the exception that a vein was throbbing angrily on his forehead.

Syaoran and Sakura couldn't help but stare as their older friends simultaneously sat down in perfect silence and picked up their chopsticks in unison. Kurogane began eating, his glare nearly burning a hole in the wall over Syaoran's shoulder. Fai attempted to start eating his noodles as well but as usual, he was having a rather hard time with his chopsticks. Syaoran and Sakura quickly slurped down their noodles and left the room, not noticing the blond's predicament in their hurry to escape the tension-filled atmosphere of the kitchen.

"Nngh! Kurochan" Fai whined after a moment, "I can't pick up anything with these chopsticks"

"Too damn bad! I taught you how to use them in the last country! If you can't remember then it's your loss!" Kurogane grumbled as he slurped down his last noodle.

"I remember how but I have to use my left hand because my right one is stuck," the blond explained. "I'm no good at using my left hand for things like this…"

Kurogane watched as Fai tried again in vain to pick up some of his noodles. The mage let out a frustrated moan as he dropped them for the thousandth time in a row.

The ninja let a slow breath out through his clenched teeth before snatching Fai's chopsticks out of his hand, picking up some noodles and holding them up for the wizard.

Fai looked at Kurogane, his eyes wide with astonishment. "Kurorin?"

"Are you going to eat or what?" the warrior asked shortly.

Cautiously, Fai leaned forward and relieved the chopsticks of their burden, his crystal-blue eyes studying Kurogane all the while. The swordsman carefully avoided making eye-contact with him, blushing slightly as he picked up more noodles and allowed Fai to eat them off again. As soon as Fai had finished off the last bit of pasta, his usual smile returned to his lips and he giggled.

"How cute! Kurowanko cares about me!"

"Dammit! I do not!" Kurogane insisted angrily. "I just didn't want to listen to you whine all night that you were hungry; that's all!"

"Ah, I see," the blond nodded. "Well, whatever your reason was…I appreciate it."

"Hmph!" Kurogane said before turning on his heel and stalking out of the kitchen, dragging Fai behind him.

Syaoran came out of the bathroom, drying his hair with a towel. He sighed with contentment; it felt nice, taking a bath after a long day in the heat. The boy started when angry shouts and mad giggling erupted from the room down the hall. Syaoran clutched at his thumping heart, realizing that it was just one of Kurogane and Fai's routine fights. He made his way to the loud room at the end of the room and poked his head in.

"Kurogane san, Fai san, the bath is free now if either of you wants to take one."

He blinked at the scene before him; Kurogane had his sword drawn and had obviously been chasing the slim blond but had frozen mid-stride when Syaoran had suddenly walked in. Fai was standing a few feet ahead, trying to catch his breath while the ninja was distracted. The sight wouldn't have been so unusual if not for the fact that the two of them were holding hands.

Once the initial shock of Syaoran's intrusion had worn off, Kurogane's face burned brightly and he quickly jerked the wizard closer so that he could hide their joined hands behind his back.

"R-right," he replied stiffly, not looking at the younger boy.

"We'll be in in just a moment," Fai trilled.

Syaoran broke into a cold sweat. "W-w-we?" he repeated nervously, praying with every particle of his being that he had misheard his fellow traveler.

"He means himself, of course," Kurogane cut in hurriedly to cover up Fai's mistake. "He'll be in in just a moment."

"Whoops," the wizard said lightly, "yes, that's what I meant."

Syaoran stared at the two of them for a moment longer before quickly departing from the room. It was clear to him that something weird was going on but he didn't want any part of it.

As soon as the boy was gone, Kurogane and Fai looked at each other.

"Now what?" the ninja muttered.

"What do you mean?" Fai asked, smiling and tilting his head to one side.

"We can't take a bath like this!" he hissed, gesturing at their interlaced fingers.

"I don't see why not," the blond giggled. "I can help you wash your back, Kurotan!"

"Quit screwing around bastard!" Kurogane snarled, color rising in his face. "This isn't some damn game!"

The dark-haired man then sighed wearily. "I guess we could skip it for tonight…"

"Aww, but it was so hot out today," Fai said. "A nice cool bath would feel so good right now…"

The mage was right, of course. After spending the day in the blazing heat of the desert country, a bath would be absolutely heavenly. Heaving another sigh of frustration, Kurogane got to his feet, jerking Fai up with him.

"Mmm? Kurorin?"

"Fine. Whatever. I don't care. Let's just go."

"What? You…you mean…" Fai's eyes lit up with excitement, "I get to take a bath with Kuropun!"

"Shut up, dumb ass! You want the brats to hear you?" the ninja snapped, blushing furiously at the thought of taking a bath with the wizard. "Just come on and keep your damn mouth shut!"

The two of them had only taken one step when a slight popping sound made them stop in their tracks and look curiously at each other.

"What was that?" Fai asked. "Did you hear it, Kuronyan?"

"Yeah…" Kurogane replied, scanning the room cautiously. His hands balled themselves into fists, preparing to take action if the need should arise. "It sounded close by."

Then the swordsman blinked and looked down at his hands. Both of them were curled into fists. Both of them were free.

"Hey…" he said slowly. "The spell wore off!"

"Ahh, so it did," Fai nodded. Then he put on a pouty face. "Waai, talk about bad timing, huh, Kuromyu?"

"Hell no! This is perfect timing!" Kurogane disagreed. He pushed Fai down on the couch and sprinted to the bathroom to occupy the bath before the blond could try to join him, locking the door with a loud click.

Fai listened to the bath water running in silence. It had been a good day and Sumomo had done a fine job of keeping her word about his wish lasting ten hours. The mage sighed and leaned back into the couch cushions. Although Sumomo had kept her word, he was a little disappointed. If only his powers had lasted just five minutes longer…

A/N: Hmm… again, I am feeling plagued with uncertainty... Argh! And stupid eats puntuation! You fail Anyway...tell me what you thought, nyaa?