A/N: Well, here's the next chapter, finally. Sorry it took so long! Sadly I don't have a good excuse besides plain laziness. I hope you like this next chapter!

Chapter Three: Kurogane's Story

"The kid wasn't always bad. Or at least I don't think he was. Years ago he came into town. Her Highness – well, she wasn't a princess back then. But she adored him. He was everything she wanted. Sincere, kind, strong. She was his first friend here.

"Then the war came. Her Highness' magic was stronger than anyone's back then. She was the king's secret weapon, and we were charged with her safety. The kid most of all; he never left her side.

"That was when the trouble started. Syaoran started reading in the king's private library. He uncovered an ancient bloodline chart. He said that it proved the rebel leader was actually the true king.

"He'd always supported Her Highness in whatever she did. He expected the same in return. Fair enough, I guess. But Her Highness had met the leader during the failed peace negotiations. She said that it didn't matter who was the rightful king. The rebel leader was a jerk, and didn't deserve to rule."

Here Sakura nodded vehemently. Her brother could be mean sometimes, but he always ruled fairly. If he hadn't, she would have been one of the first to support his stepping down from the thrown.

"Syaoran was always caught up in the history of things." Continued Kurogane, "He hadn't met the rebel leader, and assumed Sakura was exaggerating her stories of things. He was certain that the right bloodline would make sure the king was a good one. So he convinced Her Highness to give the leader another chance. Another peace negotiation was set up. But there must have been spies among us, and the leader found out about the true reason for the meeting; to see if he would make a good king. We all accompanied Her Highness, and the rebels put on an amazing show of gallantry. Syaoran was convinced that Her Highness had been wrong, and offered the Rebels his services. The rest of us could tell it was an act. Sakura pleaded with Syaoran not to do it, but in his mind the rebels were in the right of things. He refused to withdraw his promise of help. From then on he and the princes were unwilling enemies, torn apart by the war.

"The war continued for several years. When it was over, Sakura stood victorious alone, the king she had supported dead in battle. The people of the country asked her to ascend the throne, but she refused. Instead she was made a princess; kind of a backup ruler in case anything happened to the real one. After things settled down she went searching for Syaoran, with our help. Syaoran had not been seen during the last year or so of battle, and she hoped he had realized the cruelty of the rebels and escaped. She was able to find him, but he had changed. The rebel leader had taught him magic, but it was a different kind than Her Highness' or Fai-chan's. It polluted him. When we found him, he was ruling over a small town at the edge of the country by banishing anyone who opposed him to the OtherRealm. Her Highness was devastated to see his ruthlessness, his cruelty. She used up all of her magic to defeat Syaoran and bring back those he had banished. In their place she sent Syaoran and those who were working with him."

Lily left the newcomer in one of the guest suits. She hoped the Master would invite her to hear his story. Someone who looked exactly like Master Syaoran must have a lot of interesting things to say. But yet . . . he was nothing like Master Syaoran. She wasn't certain exactly what it was, but there was something very different about this new boy. Something intriguing, that drew her in a different way than she was drawn to Master Syaoran.

Syaoran found himself pacing the length of the room he was in. He was missing something, something crucial. He ran over the facts again in his head. The Sakura of this world had looked upon him – upon Master Syaoran – with hate, and Fai had looked with regret and a cold anger. Yet Master Syaoran had offered him a place to stay, and his friendship. Something wasn't adding up! What had this seemingly nice kid done to upset the princess and the mage so thoroughly?

Syaoran came to a halt as his host walked in, accompanied by the girl, Lily.

Master Syaoran gestured for the other two to take a seat around the burning fireplace and pulled up a chair himself. "Now, I am anxious to hear how exactly you came to be in my humble domain." He said with a smile.

Syaoran had originally planned on leaving out that he was traveling between worlds instead of just countries. However, as he looked upon Master Syaoran's smile he found himself instinctively trusting his duplicate. Before he knew it he had told the entire story.

Master Syaoran nodded understandingly. "I'm sure you have many questions. I will be delighted to answer all of them in time. However, the night is late, and I am sure you must be very tired from you're trip." Syaoran realized that he was pretty exhausted and nodded tiredly. "I'll come again in the morning, then" said his host, and the two visitors left.

As Syaoran lay trying to fall asleep, doubts about his host came creeping back. Added to the ones of before was a new one: Syaoran had been exhausted, but had recovered immediately after his host left. It was only then that he realized how quickly he had gotten tired. That had never happened before.

Lily lay trying to sleep in her own room. Something was bothering her. She had seen Master Syaoran work his magic on people many times before. He probably even used it regularly on her. She'd never been bothered about it. But seeing this other Syaoran fall so easily into her Master's spell-trap had unsettled her for some reason. She did her best to push aside her thoughts. Such treasonous ideas were the last things she needed right now, with Master Syaoran so close to getting them all home at last.

A/N: What did you think? You know what to do next! Review, please!

I've decided to start answering reviews in the actual story, so everybody can see my answers. Here are my replies for chapter two reviews. If I forgot you, please feel free to yell at me for it!

LiLover131 and Ama Lamia: That's part of what's to come, is it not? If you want to find out, you'll have to keep reading!

Insanity Team: Don't worry, you didn't spoil anything. There is no tube who is blind in his left eye in this story!

SeaLover456 and Hikari Naito: Thank you so much! I will eventually make up code names, when the two groups of people entirely meat. For now I'm just going to stick with "Native so and so" and "Master Syaoran".

Renumerate: Thank you for the review! It's so nice to have one that actually critics my writing, not just the plot. Not that I'll ever turn away any kind of review!

Thank you so much to everyone who reviewed, and everyon who read my story (but especially to those who reviewed!)

Ueste