Just Kidding Chapter 4, a tsubasa chronicle fanfic

Just Kidding, Chapter Four

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Notes:

The new season of Tsubasa Chronicle just started!

And Faye is now Fai. Enjoy.

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"P-Princess Sakura?" Syaoran repeated.

"M-hm!" Sakura affirmed from outside his door. There was a brief pause. "Did you take a bath yet, Syaoran-kun?"

He let his shoulders slump after hearing his title, and he sighed before answering, "No, Princess Sakura, I decided to wait until later to take a bath." With that, he sat down on the floor of his room, waiting for Sakura to finish asking him whatever she wanted to ask him before trying the bathroom again.

"Oh? Well, the baths here are a lot bigger than the ones back home! Or…well, I know they're bigger than the ones in the palace. Have you ever seen the baths in the palace in Clow, Syaoran-kun?"

He had, in fact, seen them many times. When he and Sakura were younger, they had been able to spend much of their free time together, and the king (and later, Touya) often allowed him to use the bathroom in the palace to clean up before returning home.

Syaoran closed his eyes for a moment. I wish that the Princess could remember these things…things that happened, over and over again, that we were both a part of.

"Syaoran-kun?"

He gave a start, then sat up stiffly and replied, "Yes, Princess Sakura, I have seen the baths in your home before."

She laughed. "Why?"

Why? He had no idea of how to answer that question.

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After his bath, Fai changed into the white-and-blue kimono he'd been given and began to wander about the castle in an aimless fashion. There were guards stationed everywhere, and many of them stared at him in wonder.

Fai had realized that his coloring was unusual in this country, and that this was most likely the reason for most of the stares.

It might also be because they saw me arrive here with Kuro-chin, too.

He came upon a hall whose walls were lined in glass, and behind the glass were dolls and toys of various natures. Princess Sakura seemed to have found the hall as well, and she was currently sitting on the ground, on her knees, staring at a stuffed bear in wonder.

Upon seeing the blonde mage, Sakura smiled and pointed at the bear. "It's cute, isn't it?" she asked him.

Fai knelt beside her. The bear was an ordinary stuffed animal, brown in color, with a dopey expression on its face. This kind of thing suits Sakura very well.

He smiled back at the princess, who had turned her attention back to the bear. "I think it would look a little cuter if it had a grumpy expression on its face."

"Really?" Sakura asked him in a puzzled voice. "I don't like grumpy things. I like cute things, like Mr. Bear." She blushed after realizing that she had named a stuffed animal.

"I like Mr. Bear too."

The travelers turned around to see Princess Tomoyo standing behind them in all of her decoration and glory. They both stood, not wanting to act rudely towards Kurogane's princess.

Tomoyo's blue eyes turned to the bear, and she said, "I received Mr. Bear from an old nanny. She made him for me herself, and he was one of my favorite toys." Sighing, she added, "As I grew, though, I found that Mr. Bear was becoming rather worn. I did not like what the castle was doing to him, so I had him put away, hoping that, while he was away from me and away from the dangers of the castle, that some of his old tears would begin to heal."

Fai watched as the regal young woman knelt down, much as Sakura had earlier, and studied the used toy. "But Mr. Bear is made from fabric. He can't heal himself as a human could. It's just my dream that he would be able to go back to the way he was before he met me…that what I have done to him will be undone, and that he will forget the things he was exposed to and become a softer Mr. Bear."

Sakura laughed. "That's so sweet, Princess Tomoyo!"

"Is that a true story?" Fai asked casually.

The Japanese princess turned her blue eyes towards his, and answered, "Yes, it is, Fai-san." She smiled at him, and asked, "Do you think that there is any chance that Mr. Bear can heal himself while I lock him away?"

He studied her young face for a moment, before smiling and turning away.

"Of course not, Princess Tomoyo. He is only a cute toy, after all."

Tomoyo shook her head as Sakura knelt by her again. "I wonder if you mean that, Fai-san," she said softly.

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Kurogane stomped around the castle as he searched for Princess Tomoyo. She wasn't in the throne room, or in the garden…Where'd that annoying brat Princess go?

What made matters worse was that his…acquaintances…were nowhere in sight. He'd seen that sneaky mage walking back to the bathing room when he'd left, but he didn't know where the brats were, and most of the maids cowered when he approached them.

He growled. "Where'd those bastards go?"

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"Princess."

Tomoyo turned away from the glass to see one of her attendants standing at the entrance to the hall.

"What is it?" she asked him with a smile.

The man knelt before her before answering. "The Great Kiiragazawa Eriol has arrived, Princess Tomoyo. He is waiting in the--"

As if to prove the attendant wrong, a young man with black hair and glasses walked right past the kneeling man to join Princess Tomoyo and her companions. The Princess stood and allowed the young man to take one of her hands and kiss it.

"Princess Tomoyo, I must apologize," he said. "I could not wait another moment to see you."

"Oh, Eriol," she replied in a fawning tone. "Don't you know that impatient men are annoyances?"

They broke out in laughter together, leaving Sakura to give Fai a questioning look. He smiled back and shrugged.

"It really is a pleasure to see you," Eriol said, not letting go of her hand.

"Have you brought anyone with you?"

"Just Yamazaki." He looked over her shoulder and asked, "Who might these wonderful people be?"

Tomoyo smiled, and he let go of her hand as they turned to Fai and Sakura. "This young woman is Princess Sakura," Tomoyo said, "though now that I think about it, Kurogane never told me what land she is the Princess of."

Eriol's brow lifted elegantly. "Sir Kurogane is back from his travels?"

"You are as surprised as I am," Tomoyo admitted. She turned back to Sakura. "Sakura, this is Prince Eriol, from one of the Western lands."

Sakura curtsied, and Eriol said, "It is a pleasure to meet you, Princess from a foreign land."

Tomoyo held out a hand in Fai's direction. "And this is Fai-san, a man that Kurogane met while he was traveling."

Fai held out a hand and, to his surprise, Eriol shook it. "It is a pleasure to meet you as well, Fai-san," Eriol said. "I take it that you are not from a land like Japan?"

The mage withdrew his hand and shook his head. "No, I am not."

"I see. In our world, hand-shaking is a custom that is particular to people of the Far West," Eriol explained.

Fai smiled a concealing smile. "How did you know that I was from another world?" he asked softly.

"Tomoyo has told me of the punishment she inflicted on Sir Kurogane," Eriol said. He smiled at his new acquaintances, and, as if a wonderful idea had fallen from the Heavens directly into his brain, he turned back to his fiancée and asked, "Tomoyo, dear, would you like to have a little fun with your ninja?"

Tomoyo, accustomed to Eriol's plotting, smiled back at him and asked, "What kind of fun would that be?"

Fai's eyes widened, and he felt his mouth curl into a genuine smile, as the foreign prince explained his plan. Meanwhile, Sakura brought her hands up to her mouth and giggled in anticipation of her part in this plan.

As if it had been able to understand the events to come, Mr. Bear slumped and fell onto its side behind its glass protection, revealing dirt, stains, and tears on its underside.

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Syaoran sighed as he changed into his green kimono. He retightened the sash a few times before leaving his room. After a brief consideration, he decided to leave his sword in his room. He did not want to insult the palace's guards by showing them that he felt the need to arm himself.

Syaoran had always been blessed with a good memory, so it was quite easy for him to find his way back to the throne room. As he neared the room, he heard shouting and he tried to fumble for his sword.

No!

His brown eyes darted back and forth between the room and the hallway he'd come from, and he decided to rush into the throne room, unarmed. He would not let Princess Sakura be hurt.

Surely enough, when he entered the throne room, he found Princess Tomoyo on the floor before her throne, under attack from a young man with black hair, blue eyes, and glasses. Sakura was in a similar state, being held in place by a another young man with black hair and squinty eyes. Both of the princesses were screaming at their captors.

"Go away!"

"Leave us alone!"

The squinty-eyed young man laughed. "We will take over this kingdom! Bwa hah hah!" He winked at Sakura. "Did you know that there are countries on this world in which the normal wedding ceremony for nobles goes like this?"

Sakura blinked. "What?"

The young man roared in laughter again. "Bwa hah hah!" He threw Sakura to the floor and drew his sword.

Adrenaline flooded Syaoran's veins, and he dashed towards the man attacking Sakura. "Get away from Princess Sakura!" he shouted hoarsely. The attacker was caught off-guard for a second, but he recovered quickly and met Syaoran's kick with the sheath of his sword, which he held in his left hand as a 'shield'.

"Is this him?" the attacker whispered to Sakura.

Sakura shook her head.

The squinty-eyed young man looked exasperated then, and Syaoran was entirely confused, but he knew that Sakura was in danger and that was all that he cared about.

"Kurogane!" Tomoyo shouted. "Come save me, Kurogane!"

Syaoran stared at the Japanese princess. She has other guards, doesn't she?

His good eye caught the magical staff that the other attacker was holding then, and its owner smirked at him. "Do you think you can save that girl?" he asked as he aimed his staff at Sakura.

Syaoran glared at him and was about to attack him when Kurogane crashed into the room, wielding his sword and wearing clothing similar to what he'd worn in Outo Country.

"Unhand the Princess…'s…right now!" he shouted, branding his katana and glaring at Eriol. The foreign magician smiled back at him, and replied, "No man in this country can defeat me. I shall take the Princess and rule this country with an iron fist."

"No!" Tomoyo shouted. Sakura hid her giggles behind her hand.

As if on cue, Fai rushed into the room. "Kuro-pipi! What's the matter?" Fai shouted, alarmed at the situation before him.

Enough with the damn names! "I don't know who these guys are, but it's time that I show them that no one dares to harm Princess Tomoyo!" Kurogane shouted. Fai's blue eyes flicked to his face, and he felt sad, for some reason, when he saw the devoted, passionate look that had overtaken Kurogane's strong face, but he smiled back.

"I'm heading in first, Kuro-wanwan!" he shouted happily as he ran at Eriol.

Kurogane could only stare at his back as the blacked-haired young man turned towards Fai, and his staff began to glow. Syaoran took this opportunity to attack the squinty-eyed kid again, and, to his surprise, his opponent had forgotten about him and fell easily. He took no time to think about this as he lifted Sakura into his arms and began to dash away from the thrones.

Syaoran's conscience caught him at the same time as he heard Fai scream in pain. He spun around to see the blonde mage fall to the floor unconscious, the result of a magical attack dealt by the glasses-wearing attacker. He clutched Sakura to his chest, and she tried to say something to him, but his attention was caught in what was now Kurogane's battle.

Kurogane stared at Fai's incapacitated body before charging at the black-haired mage, who deflected his first sword strike with the shaft of his staff. The ninja easily changed his stance and attacked him again, to find that his opponent had somehow moved entirely out of the range of his long sword and was preparing to use a spell on him.

"Hell no!" Kurogane shouted as he closed the distance between them. Eriol smiled as the ninja approached him, and he quickly spun his staff around.

Kurogane nearly vomited when he ran into the end of Eriol's staff, and he slumped to the floor, cursing himself for falling to a child.

Eriol set his staff to the side and offered Kurogane a helping hand.

"Hello, Sir Kurogane," he said with a smile. "My name is Kiiragazawa Eriol, heir to the throne of China, and Princess Tomoyo's fiancé."

Kurogane stared at him in shock as Fai sat up from his position on the floor. Syaoran stared, too, as the scene around him changed drastically—Princess Tomoyo stood up and walked over to Kurogane, and the squinty-eyed young man he had knocked over stood up as well, rubbing his face where Syaoran had kicked him.

"You can put me down, Syaoran-kun," Princess Sakura said as he clutched her to his chest. He nearly jumped in surprise—he had forgotten that he was holding her—and he set her down.

"I'm sorry, Princess Sakura," he said, lowering his head, "but what is it that happened here?"

She smiled. "We decided to play a little game on Kurogane. I didn't know that you would come too, though."

He stared at her in wonder, and his eyes found Kurogane, who had not moved from his place on the floor.

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