Maybe
A/N- I was hit with the idea for this what-if type fic out of the blue, and it was so damn loveable - if admittedly impossible - that I picked up my pen and immediately started writing it. It's under 'General', because there's no genre labeled 'Complete and Utter Cuteness'. It is also with Dream of Smiles for reasons that should become obvious later. Plus, I needed to update. This is slightly longer than the others, but I do hope it is still enjoyable. Oh, how I wish this would actually happen at some point in the manga… even though, as I've said, it's… highly unlikely? Yeah, let's go with that. But oh, how I wish….
Don't kill me, I know this is probably wildly inaccurate, but sometimes I get these urges to write something unlikely.
(No pairings stated, some mild, mild KxT. Also had to make up… someone's… name. Which pisses me off, because I want to know what it really is. Not that anyone does, I think. So sorry.)
Disclaimer - Don't own, would probably screw it up if I did.
-
For a moment there was the throne-room, silent, ornate, empty but for a lone black-haired girl in a complicated purple and white kimono who sat there, neat, composed… waiting, waiting with the patient, expectant air of one who knows with certainty that this would happen and that it was only a matter of waiting quietly for this inevitable thing to occur. Looking at her, one would never have guessed that she had waited like this, every day at the same time for three solid hours, for a week and a half - with no results.
And in the next the very material of space and time seemed to bend in the most eye-wrenching way possible, and like a droplet of water - or, the way it stretched down as though the ceiling was melting, perhaps a giant inter-dimensional loogie - it dropped, stretched, and broke, releasing from its innards a group of astonished people.
They were astonished, because the moment they could see where they had landed, the tall, black-clothed ninja had stood abruptly, face stunned beyond all belief, and said, "Tomoyo-hime!"
And then they knew where they were.
The girl smiled, rose gracefully to her feet. "I dreamt you would be returning today, Kurogane." There was no one there to mention that her dream had been specific only to the time of day and the approximate time of the month, not the precise day. And there was no need to tell him that she had been waiting like this for eleven days. She walked with measured, dignified stride over to the group. "Welcome home. And welcome, also, to the friends that you are traveling with."
Then, losing all trace of her dignified posture, she flung her arms tightly around her ninja. "I missed you so much! I'm so glad that you were able to return safely!" she said with all the warmth and glad honesty of a child, or a young girl to her beau.
Someone giggled - probably Fai, Kurogane thought furiously, turning bright red. He had been planning a long and furious rant about how stupid it was to send off your strongest ninja, leaving yourself unprotected - but in the face of this sort of welcome, and his companions' reactions, he decided it was best not to say it at all.
Kurogane found himself sputtering. "Get off me. Where's your dignity, Tomoyo? If you were going to miss me that much, then why in the world did you send me away in the first place? What the hell has been going on? Who took over in my place? Soma? She better have done a good job!"
"Oh!" Tomoyo's eyes danced as she released Kurogane, and she covered her impish smile with one hand. "Oh, yes, that's right - you were gone when we gained our newest ninja. Soma's not Lead Ninja - she resigned when he came in and showed us what he could do. He's simply marvelous, Kurogane. I couldn't be happier to have found such a good replacement for you. In fact, I'm not entirely sure that I want to give him up. I shall have to introduce the two of you and let you work out who gets the position together."
"What?" Kurogane's eye started to twitch. "You mean, you don't even need me any more?"
"Poor Kurogane!" Mokona cried, leaping onto the ninja's head and hugging him. "He's not wanted!"
"Shut up!"
"Well, no, Kurogane. It's not that you're not wanted." Tomoyo smiled sweetly. "It's simply that there are pros and cons for both sides of the issue. For example - our current Lead Ninja is an older man. His age counts against him, but his experience, wit and wisdom does not. And he has a diplomacy that you often lack, Kurogane. In addition, he is left-handed, which has never failed to throw his opponents off. Unfortunately, the reason he is left-handed is a disability - he lacks a right.
"Whereas you, Kurogane - you are stronger than he, I think, and you yourself are very experienced, very observant - but you still let your anger control you, you have always had a problem with giving mercy… and you have a tendency to be far too blunt. But you are always as determined as a boulder rolling down a hill. And, I am fond of you. We have known each other since we were young, have we not? I know how to deal with you. In my eyes, you are on equal footing with him. That is why I will leave it up to you two to decide. Soma?" she called.
A familiar person entered the throne room. "Princess?" Soma asked, bowing… then drawing in a sharp breath and stepping back as she saw who else was there. "Kurogane!"
"Oy," Kurogane said, sounding annoyed that she sounded so surprised that he should have returned.
"Soma, will you go and find Kameda-san and tell him that his presence is required in the throne room?
"Yes, Princess." Soma's eyes went again to Kurogane. "He has been waiting to hear from you. I am sure he will come with all haste."
"Thank you, Soma."
"Kameda?" Kurogane frowned as Soma left the room. "Who the hell is he?"
"My Lead Ninja," Tomoyo said cheerfully. "Now, while we are waiting, won't you introduce me to your friends, Kurogane? They have been standing there so patiently for quite some time. I do not wish to be rude any longer."
"They're not my friends," muttered the ninja.
"Oh, never mind Kuro-pii's manners!" Fai waved a hand cheerily and dismissively. "If I might have the honour? This young man is Syaoran-kun… and our lovely princess goes by the name of Sakura-chan."
"Oh! How do you do?" Sakura smiled sweetly, in a friendly manner. Tomoyo smiled back, eyes shining.
"Oh! You're both so cute! Sakura-chan, your dress is beautiful. I do hope you will let me look at the patterns on it later. If you want, you may call me just Tomoyo-chan, or Tomoyo, seeing as we're both of royal status. I just know we'll be friends!"
"Oh! O- Of course!" Sakura blushed. Tomoyo smiled at her again, and then returned to Fai.
"And your name?"
"I am Fai D. Flowright," Fai added with an elegant bow.
"And Mokona!" shouted Mokona, bouncing up and down on Fai's shoulder. "Don't forget Mokona!"
"Oh, you're so cute!" Tomoyo smiled at wizard and white creature.
"It is a pleasure to meet you at last, Princess. Kuro-tan has told us so much about you." Fai grinned.
"Kuro…tan?" The princess blinked.
"You bastard -"
"He doesn't call me by my proper name, so I don't use his," Fai explained cheerfully. "Plus, it just makes him sound so much cuter! And Kuro-muu needs all the help he can get in that area."
"I ought to kill you!" snarled Kurogane, hand twitching towards Sohi.
"K - Kurogane-san!" squeaked Syaoran, almost breathlessly, eyes huge.
"Kyaaa!" cried Mokona, diving into Fai's hood. "Scary!"
"Syaoran-kun? What's wrong?" Sakura's eyes were concerned as she regarded Syaoran. His gaze went past the others, to something else by the door. She followed it until it found the object of Syaoran's astonishment.
"Eheheh…" Fai backed off a step, smiling as though it was the world's best joke, even though he stood in the face of the ninja's glare of doom.
"Oh! Oh! Kurogane-san!" Sakura's cry startled them.
Tomoyo said sharply, "Kurogane. Mind your manners… we have a guest."
"It can wait… I want to kill this bastard first!"
"I thought I taught you better than that, Kurogane."
The voice was unfamiliar, harsh in this moment, unknown, but with a note of something very familiar in it, a note like…
"You've changed. But tell me… is it for the best?"
Kurogane froze. Fai, facing him, saw the stunned disbelief flashing across his face like lightning, a sudden, scared, awful sort of hope. The ninja's eyes widened, staring wildly into space, grew larger still. Fai could not keep some of his own look of shock off his face; such a look on the ninja was unbelievable. Syaoran would have recognized Kurogane's expression, however; not only was he wearing it himself, he had seen it before… in a memory.
Fai and Sakura didn't know that, of course, but they could see the newcomer, and that was enough to tell them why the ninja looked so stunned.
As tall as the black-cloaked ninja, Kameda was perhaps twenty-odd years older; the temples of his pitch-black hair had silvered slightly. Scarred, deeply tan, he wore light armour over a sleeveless shirt that showed off well-muscled arms, and the curling tattoo of what might have once been a dragon winding its way down his entire right arm. It was difficult to tell for sure now; that forearm was gone, the wounded end wrapped in neat bandages. The bandages seemed to indicate that unsightly scar tissue was concealed beneath, rather than a bleeding, fresh wound. Kameda's mouth was hard, but his eyes could not hide a certain dancing, mischievous joy that flickered deep in crimson depths.
It was impossible for any of them not to know who he must be.
Kurogane turned slowly away from Fai, as though trying to hold on to some mental hope, but fearing that it would be shattered completely if he dared to look. He stared at the other man, an impossible to read expression - complex, flickering - on his face… cracking the stony coldness behind his eyes.
The man stared back, one eyebrow partially raised. "Well?"
"Ch - Chichi-ue….?" Kurogane croaked at last.
Almost a smile. "Who else?"
"But -"
"But what?" Kameda's expression darkened. "I want no buts from you, Kurogane. You do not understand the anger you have kindled within me."
"I'm sorry -"
"Sorry? That's all you have to say?"
"Father -"
"No. No. I will not listen. No true son of mine would ever do such a thing. For years and years, Kurogane, there was no word of you, no sign, and then suddenly you're known throughout Japan as the strongest ninja in the land? I headed out for Shirasaki castle, expecting to find you here, and then when I get here I find out that you're gone. You let yourself get sent away by Tomoyo-hime! That is my anger. You ungrateful little monkey!"
"Monkey!" Kurogane looked half-startled, half-insulted.
"Yes! Monkey!" Kameda folded his arms. "I've been looking and looking for you for ages - I thought you were dead - I finally think I've found you - and you're gone! Cursed! Once again out of my reach! Impatient tree-swinging creature! Why didn't you at least wait for me?"
"Wait for -?" Kurogane blinked, suddenly realizing that Kameda's rant was actually just… teasing. But he could sense that some of it was also in deadly earnest. "I didn't have a goddamn choice!"
"He really didn't," Tomoyo added.
"Anyways, I thought you were dead!" Kurogane was turning red. "You're angry? What the hell do you think I am? All these years I thought you were slain in Suwa, overcome and - and eaten by some damn monster - I had to watch that thing swallow - and Ginryuu -"
"I know what you saw," Kameda said quietly, stepping forward slightly. "Tomoyo-hime told me everything that you told her."
"I don't get it," Fai whispered to Syaoran. "Do you know what they're talking about?"
"Fai-san, I'll explain later. I want to hear -"
There was a sudden easing of tension, but instead of anger, Kurogane's eyes were now unhappy and upset. "But if you made it - why didn't you come back, Father? Why?"
"I had little choice in the matter." Kameda's eyes were shadowed. "I was weak from loss of blood, and there were still monsters left that I could barely defend myself from. I took a sword from a dead man, tried to use it with my left, but I was clumsy and exhausted. It took… a long time to bandage my arm well enough to keep from bleeding to death. By the time I made it back to the village, it was too late.
"You were gone. Everything was destroyed, and you were gone."
"Father -" Kurogane hesitated, looking as though he wanted to step forward and go to this man who was remembering a past pain too harsh to contemplate for long.
Kameda's eyes were grave… sad. "I saw no bodies anywhere. I searched the area for days, looking for you, for your mother, for any sign of any survivors at all. Any that had survived had already left, bound for other villages, and I knew they would never be back. I could not blame them. The only bodies I found were those of the monsters who had destroyed Suwa, slain by powerful attacks that I knew must have come from you - but you were nowhere to be found. And I knew by the fact that the barrier had gone down that your mother was dead. Eventually I had to admit that my search was hopeless. That Suwa was dead… that I would likely never see my son again. That you were probably dead. That I had failed to keep the two I loved most safe."
Kurogane flinched… acutely reminded of his own failure. It had not been Kameda there when his mother had been murdered. If it had been, she would not have died; he was sure that Kameda would have found a way to protect her, to protect the villagers.
But it had not been Kameda who had been there. It had been Kurogane, and he had been helpless to stop any of it.
It wasn't Kameda who should be feeling guilty.
The others could only stare as Kurogane stepped forward, something in his eyes blurring, softening, changing his ingrained harsh expression into something that only Syaoran truly recognized. "Father," he said. His voice cracked ever so slightly, but that sign of weakness was stunning to the others. "Father. I never blamed you for what happened. I swear. Not ever."
Kameda's eyes went very bright, but he was smiling. "Kurogane?…"
"Yeah?" The younger ninja seemed to have regained control of himself after that one frightening moment of uncertainty.
Kameda was extremely fast for someone on the verge of fifty.
"I missed you so damn much!" he cried, glomping on to Kurogane.
"Eh!"
Laughing almost maniacally, Kameda had managed to put Kurogane into something like a headlock, despite lacking one arm, and positioned so that he could joyfully continue his long-interrupted habit of noogieing his son until Kurogane yelled for mercy.
"Ow! Geez! Stop!" yelled Kurogane, struggling to escape, but failing miserably. He was turning bright red.
"No! I haven't gotten to do this for twelve whole years! I have a lot of catching up to do!" laughed his father, not letting up for a second.
"Fatheerrr….!"
"I'm not stopping until you get yourself free! Ha! You can't! I knew you'd let yourself go soft!"
"Soft! Why, you -"
"Ahhh… I'm so glad this worked out so well," Tomoyo sighed, looking quite pleased with herself. "Do you understand what is going on now, Fai-san?"
"Ahahaha!" Fai's own grin was infectious and enormous. "Yes. I see it now."
"Mokona will help!" Mokona shouted, leaping towards father and son. No one could really decide who he meant to help, as he seemed to be impeding both equally.
Watching the pair trading insults and struggling together happily, Sakura was sure she had caught a glimpse of… a smile?… on the ninja's face.
"I'm so glad for Kurogane-san," Syaoran said. "This must all seem just like a dream. But this time… it's real."
Sakura's smile was almost a little wistful. "He's always seemed somehow… sad… hasn't he, Syaoran-kun? Like there was something that happened once, that changed him for life. But I felt the hope - the amazement - rising in him like spring when he heard Kameda-san's voice. And… joy. He still can't show it very well, but maybe someday… we'll get to see him really smile. Wouldn't that be nice?"
Syaoran thought of a boy, happy, energetic, a child with an infectiously sweet smile; a family, so strong and happy together; thought of a time when that was real. Looking at Kurogane now, reunited with the father he'd thought had been killed so long ago… he was finally beginning to see the traces of that time in him.
"Yes, Princess," he agreed with another smile. "Maybe someday; maybe soon."