Thank you to everyone who is reading! I've cross-posted to Ao3 but am unfamiliar with the formatting there. If anyone has advice, I would love to hear it.
They hurried through the park and came out to a large dirt lot. A few small, streamlined vehicles were scattered across vaguely marked spots. Though their designs were similar to that of Piffle's flying machines, each of these would stay solidly on the ground if the wheels were anything to go by.
Briina led him toward one of the smaller cars, light blue and wider than most of the others.
Unease flared in Syaoran's chest. He could fight. He was strong when he needed to be, but honestly, he did not want to fight the only people who were offering him help. The problem was just that he did not want to get in any kind of enclosed vehicle unless he was the one in control of it. Which was obviously not going to be the case here. Syaoran never wanted to be at someone else's mercy again.
He also had no idea of where they would be taking him.
The boy tugged his hand out of Briina's, his steps faltering.
He needed their help.
He didn't want to get in the car.
Briina paused and looked back at him, confused by his reluctance. He eyed the car and shook his head resolutely, hoping he wasn't being incredibly rude.
She blinked at him, then her green eyes widened and she waved her hands dismissively. The woman gestured that he could stay where he was, her and Wrennen then rummaging through their car. What they were looking for, Syaoran had no idea.
He was getting frustrated already. How on earth had Kurogane and Fai endured six months of this in Yama? At least they had had each other. Even if they couldn't talk, he would feel much better with one of them around.
Briina popped back out of the back seat, two bundles of cloth in her arms. She came over and tucked one to her side with her elbow, holding the first up for display. It was a hooded shirt, the fabric thick and fuzzy. The color was brighter than Syaoran had seen in a while, green with swirls of white on the sleeves.
The other was larger, probably Wrennen's. It was almost entirely black and Syaoran found himself thinking of Kurogane, homesickness for his companions swirling in his belly.
Briina offered both, apparently asking him to choose.
Their generosity heartened him. He slowly reached out and took the green one, biting back a sigh at how warm it was. Sitting in a sunbaked car all afternoon had toasted it.
Briina smiled happily and tossed the black shirt back through the still open door of the car. It almost landed on Wrennen's bent head and Briina giggled at his indignant shout. Syaoran felt his mouth twitch, not quite smiling at their antics.
The woman reached out and gestured to Syaoran's damp shirt and cloak, miming taking them off and pointing to the car.
Syaoran squirmed slightly. He wished, not for the first time, that there were some kind of pamphlet that came with each country they visited. Then they could know the customs, proper manners, what not to do… Syaoran had bowed to a man a few countries back and he had been beyond offended. If Briina was offering for him to change his shirt out here in what was a rather public place, then it couldn't be inappropriate, right? It seemed slightly indecent to strip in front of a woman he barely knew, even if it was just his shirt. It was probably Briina's shirt too. Was it okay for him to wear women's clothing here? The styles had appeared almost identical, the coloring being the main difference.
Briina seemed to take his hesitance for bashfulness and snickered, making a show at covering her eyes and looking away.
Blushing, the boy quickly peeled off his sticky shirt and wrapped his cloak around it. He held the bundle between his knees and pulled the hoodie over his head. It fit decently well overall. The sleeves fell to his fingertips, but he found he didn't mind. The heated fabric was heaven against his chilled skin and he couldn't resist hugging his arms to himself for a moment, relishing the feel.
The material was strange. Not quite like anything they had seen so far in their travels. He had felt incredible silks and satins, but this was different. It was undoubtedly the softest piece of clothing he had ever worn, fluffy and light. Like everything he had seen people wearing here so far, it was loose and flowing.
"Hanarh ma?" Briina asked, peeking through her fingers.
"Yeah, I'm all done," He replied.
She took the roll of wet clothes from his hands and put them on the back seat. Briina eyed him curiously, giving Syaoran a thumbs-up with an inquisitive sound.
"It's wonderful, thanks," He found talking made him feel less awkward, even if Briina wouldn't know what his individual words meant.
He added a thumbs-up of his own, grateful that the gesture was familiar.
Briina was clearly delighted.
Wrennen joined them, satisfied with whatever he had rearranged in the car. He passed Briina a clear bottle with water in it. The man also held out a small colorful box, offering it to Syaoran.
He had been so preoccupied with being cold that he hadn't realized how thirsty he was. The saltwater had left his mouth dry and his throat parched.
Syaoran turned the box over in his hands. It was clearly a drink, but he didn't recognize the lumpy pink fruit depicted on the front. It was completely sealed, which, while that was great and he knew it hadn't been tampered with, meant he had no inkling of how to get it open.
Glancing up through his bangs, he snuck a peek at the couple. They were chattering between themselves again, leaning against the car. That was fine. He didn't need people staring at him when he tried to figure out something that a child probably open easily. There was a little triangle printed on a slightly raised tab on the right edge of the box. He gave it a tug, surprised when the tab peeled open a hole and a straw popped out on its own.
It was good. Oh wow, was it good.
Sweet, refreshing juice flooded his mouth, satisfying even if it was warm. He drank with gusto, disappointed when the box emptied quickly and the straw sucked loudly at air. Embarrassed at the noise, Syaoran looked up quickly, but Briina and Wrennen hadn't moved.
They did look at him, however, when his stomach proceeded to give a ridiculously garish grumble.
He flushed tomato red at their amused faces.
Syaoran sat patiently on his side of the booth as Wrennen ordered for them. Briina was off at the front desk for something, but the boy had no clue what. When the two of them had heard how hungry he was, they'd whisked him out of the park (walking, they had left the car behind in the lot) and guided him through a bustling downtown to a restaurant. He had protested lightly, turning out his pockets and showing them that he had no money to pay with. Their response had been to look confused, and they had gestured that he was small and they were big. Syaoran wondered if children didn't often carry money in this world. He was also slightly irked at being labeled as "small". He didn't feel like a child after everything he'd been through, and it was odd to be treated as such.
Syaoran had been shocked to see that the park was in the middle of such a busy area, the trees blocked the sounds of the cars and rushing people amazingly efficiently. Colorful, squat buildings lined the streets, and flags with countless different symbols flapped everywhere. The restaurant they'd picked was only a five or so minute walk from the park, mouthwatering smells wafting out onto the sidewalk. The staff had been able to seat them immediately, despite the number of customers crowded inside.
Wrennen nodded to their server, smiling when Briina pushed her way through the congested dining room. She dropped onto the bench and excitedly placed some items on the table.
Paper, Syaoran realized. And a couple stubby writing tools. They were most likely for entertaining children while they waited for their food to be delivered. Before he could raise his eyebrows at this, (okay, he knew he was short, but how old did these people think he was?) Briina pushed a paper and writing thing towards him. She gestured to the empty seat beside him like she had in the park, and then tapped the paper.
Draw your companions.
Okay, that was actually super helpful.
Unbidden, Fai's drawings from Outo popped into his mind. Big and Little Puppy. Big and Little Kitty. Syaoran laughed a little at the memory of Kurogane's outrage, even if he'd only seen it secondhand.
He picked up a black thing and started drawing his tallest companion. The crayon like writing tool was softer than he expected, and a little greasy.
Briina and Wrennen watched in interest as he colored in Kruogane's cloak, his red eyes being the only spot of color in his portrait. Fai was blue and yellow, a big smile on his face to contradict Kurogane's scowl. It felt wrong to outline Mokona in black, so he picked a pink and lightly sketched her round body. Who knew if her drawing would alarm or confuse them, but Mokona was pretty distinctive, and they might be able to pick her out of a crowd faster than his human friends.
Briina's eyes widened and she pointed urgently to Mokona's image when he put his crayon down. She seemed emphatic, making gestures Syaoran couldn't place. Startled, Syaoran looked to Wrennen for help. The man reverently picked up the paper, gazing back and forth from little Mokona to Syaoran, eyes intense. Briina must have been talking to herself, or otherwise Wrennen was ignoring her nonstop chatter.
Unsettled by their reaction, the teen leaned away slightly. He hadn't been sure about what they would think of Mokona, but if anything, they seemed to recognize her. That had never happened before.
Wait.
If they recognized Mokona, maybe Fai and Kurogane had arrived in this world before him! Had they been around, trying to find him for a while?
Hope seared in Syaoran's chest, a bright smile gracing his face at the thought of reuniting so quickly. He nearly bounced out of his seat to point at Mokona, to his eyes, then out to the town beyond the wide windows.
Have you seen Mokona?
Both of them stilled. Wrennen repeated the series of movements followed by a shake of his head.
Syaoran frowned, hope fading.
Briina reached out and patted his hand gently, concerned by his apparent disappointment. She picked out a yellow crayon and took the drawing from her partner. The woman hesitated then, pausing and looking at Syaoran instead. She pointed at him, then with a quiet, serious face, turned her finger upwards.
Taken literally, Syaoran supposed she was asking if he was from the sky. Which technically was the truth. He had a feeling that wasn't quite what she meant.
The boy bit his lip, unsure of exactly how to answer.
Briina shrugged, turning her attention to the drawing. Wrennen muttered something to her, but she shook her head distractedly.
When she handed the picture back to the boy, she had added two things to the drawing. For one, he was there, a smile on his face and a little cape flowing behind him. Two, all four figures now had bird like wings.
Did they think he was an angel? Were there creatures that looked similar to Mokona here?
He crossed out the wings on each of the people, but left them on Mokona. After all, she did grow wings when they moved worlds. It felt like a lie to say they weren't right.
They both hummed at his changes, not seeming surprised that he had left the wings on the funny little creature. The table was quiet for a few minutes, all of them deep in thought.
Wrennen was the one who moved first, doodling a quick version of himself on a corner of a paper. Next to it, he started putting tally marks. Pointed to Briina and did more. Twenty-nine for himself. Twenty-eight for Briina. He pushed the paper to Syaoran.
The teen looked at the paper. Why was everything so difficult to answer? He was… he was… Well, he'd existed for twenty-one years. At least. Maybe twenty-two. It was really hard to tell when time flowed differently in every world. If it was late spring here then it was possible he was technically twenty-two.
Except he was sort of fourteen. Or fifteen. Maybe.
Did living seven years of your life twice make you older? He'd had his body magically altered to be younger again, (he tried to repress a shudder) but he retained all his memories from that in between time.
Tentatively, Syaoran marked down fourteen tallies. Thought about it some more… cautiously added one more. They would never believe he was in his twenties even if he could explain it to them. Which he did not want to do.
Briina looked appropriately worried at how long it took him to figure out his own age. Wrennen didn't react much at all. She took the paper back and drew two quick figures, a man and a woman, and added a little heart between them. Under the heart, she drew a figure with a cape. Him. She pointed to the man and the woman and gestured around questioningly.
She was asking where his parents were and he felt like dying.
Wrennen hissed something and Briina sounded incredibly apologetic, but Syaoran couldn't rip his eyes away from the small drawing. His eyes were thankfully dry, but his throat was tight. Their little smiling faces were burning into his brain. When was the last time they had been together and smiling as a family? Before Fai and Kurogane. Before all of this… Before Sakura. He had the uncontrollable desire to go home. Except that was impossible. Impossible for so many reasons, but he wanted it and it hurt.
A hand removed the paper from his sight.
He stared at the wood grain of the table until Wrennen made a soft, inquisitive sound. Slowly, Syaoran swallowed and looked up, meeting the older man's eyes. Wrennen circled the doodle that was Syaoran, and drew an arrow over to point to between Fai and Kurogane. He drew Syaoran there instead and circled the three of them in one big loop.
Syaoran was pretty damn sure the man was asking if Fai and Kurogane had adopted him.
A fierce fondness for his travelling companions flared through his body. He grabbed a red crayon and encircled all of them, including Mokona, in a large heart shape. The boy nodded purposefully.
Wrennen nodded back, smiling just a bit. Briina was bright red, horrified tears brimming in her eyes at having upset him. It seemed to Syaoran to be somewhat of an overreaction seeing as they had only known each other an hour. Her partner just looked at her and sighed, patting her arm as she bowed her head and apologized again.
They were saved from any more conversation when the food arrived.
It was nothing short of delicious, and Syaoran felt just a little bit better.
Briina and Wrennen were… well, arguing wasn't quite the right word… discussing… something with the town officials. The police, or whatever this country' law enforcement was called. They had been at the police station for over an hour now. Syaoran had done more detailed drawings of his three companions, had his picture taken, (which both weirded him out and amazed him) a little grey ball had taken an electronic scan of his hand, and he'd been talked at by three different people.
He didn't understand a word of what they said.
So he sat on a bench while the adults talked everything out. An uncomfortable bench. He wiggled his toes in his cold shoes. Everything was mildly uncomfortable. His hair and pants were dry, but were gritty and stiff. Briina's shirt was fantastic, but he had nothing on under it and this office was abnormally cool. His shoes still somehow squelched when he walked, and he was going to get blisters soon for sure. Nothing life threatening. Just irritating.
He had no idea what was going to happen now and he hated the anxiety that sat heavy in his stomach. It was almost enough to make him regret eating so much at dinner.
"Lamme hurafa moa?" Briina exclaimed suddenly. She sounded astonished. And not in a good way.
The officer they were talking to was getting frustrated. He brandished a piece of paper and a pen at them. Whatever he was saying sounded like an ultimatum. Syaoran tried not to notice how often he heard his name.
He picked absently at his nails until silence rang through the building.
Looking up in concern, he saw Briina and Wrennen staring at each other, stunned. He really didn't like any of this. What was going on? The two turned and approached him uncertainly. Syaoran found himself standing to meet them, his heart thumping in a sickening manner.
"Syaoran," Briina got his attention, then gestured to the floor, and mimed sleeping. Gestured to herself and Wrennen and pointed at the door.
Were they going to leave him here?
"Syaoran," Wrennen gestured to all three of them, pointed out the door and mimed sleeping.
They both put their hands up in a questioning gesture.
Syaoran looked between them, and then back to the unamused looking officer at the counter. If they were letting him choose, it was an easy choice. This place felt a whole lot like jail. He took a step towards Wrennen.
"I want to go with you two," He said, hoping they'd understand.
Briina nodded, huffing out a loud breath. She went back to the desk and spent the next few minutes filling out paperwork. Wrennen stood by Syaoran the whole time, a hand on his shoulder.
Looked like he would be getting in their car after all.
Tsubasa gives me all the feelings. I'm emotionally exhausted just trying to write Syaoran's POV. Things will lighten up CONCIDERABLY next chapter.