Disclaimer; Nope, I still don't own Tsubasa. Sorry.

Freedom!

"Hey Fai, why's Kurogane keeping guard outside?"

The mage smiled at Seth and gave him a quick hug.

"He's protecting us from the big bad wolf," he joked. Seth grinned and climbed into the bed next to him and looked around to make sure no one was around before leaning forward and whispering, "Is the treasure safe, private?"

The wizard nodded solemnly.

"Yes sir, Cap'n!" he said in a mock serious voice.

"Good! Then hurry outta bed so we can go and reclaim what is ours!" he cried dramatically, scurrying under the bed and emerging with a set of clothes. "We only have a short time to prepare before the commander arrives to break out!"

The wizard grinned as the boy tried to help him change, forcing the shirt down over his head and shoving a pair of socks on his feet once he had jeans on. The magus grinned at him as he finished dressing and examined himself in the window's reflection. He was wearing a light blue V-neck t-shirt and a pair of dark blue denim jeans.

"Thank you very much, Cap'n!" he said, turning toward the small boy, who jumped on him, nearly knocking over and causing the monitors behind him to hit the wall. Giggling, Seth scurried under the bed as Kurogane came in to see what had happened and found the magician completely dressed.

"Where the hell do you think you're going?" he snapped, eyes narrowing dangerously. Fai smiled brightly up at him.

"Seth and I were going to go for a walk," he said cheerfully. "Would Kuro-rin like to come?"

The ninja growled.

"Hell no I wouldn't like to come!" he shouted. "And you're insane if you think you're leaving this room!"

The magician fake pouted, trying to get the ninja to let him through.

"Pleeeeeeease, Kuro-sama?" he begged. "I'm never gonna get better if I'm stuck inside all the time."

"Not a chance," the ninja replied immediately, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, back in bed."

The mage looked down at the floor, letting fake tears gather in his eyes.

"Kuro-meanie won't let s go, Seth!" he whined as the child crawled out from under the bed and hugged his leg.

"What?" he cried, looking up at Kurogane, who was biting his lip and glaring at Fai. "Please Kurogane? Just for a few minutes?"

He mage looked up hopefully as the swordsman groaned and picked up Sohi, who was leaning against a wall nearby.

"Fine!" he caved. "But you better not do anything stupid or else I'll drag you both back here by your ears."

The magician grinned up at him.

"Thank you, Kuro-tan!" he cried, hugging him. He felt the ninja tense slightly and backed up, dropping his hands and staring at the floor. An awkward silence filled the room before Seth climbed onto Fai's bed and jumped at the ninja, who caught him without thinking. The four year old grinned and climbed onto his shoulders.

"Onward, to victory!" he cried, pointing forward. The ninja growled and tried to grab him.

"Hey, get off me!" he shouted, trying to catch the squirming four year old. Fai laughed as he boy ducked under his hands and slid his arms around the ninja's throat, giving him a hug before jumping down and running over to the magician. Flushing, he ninja stalked off, followed closely by the magician, who was smiling softly, and Seth, who had a huge grin painted on his face.

--

"FREEEEEEEEEEEEEEDOOOOOOOOOOOOOOMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!"

Kurogane covered his ears as the mage ran around the parking lot, shouting at he top of his not-completely-healed lungs. For a minute the ninja considered hauling him back to his room just for the volume of his screams, but decided against it. After all, this was better for him than sitting around all day complaining about how bored he was.

The swordsman smiled slightly when Seth jumped on him and began singing, "Work work work all week long, punchin' that clock from dusk til dawn, countin' the days til Friday night, that's when all the conditions are right, for good time!"

He wasn't very good, but apparently that view wasn't shared by the magician, who immediately asked him to repeat it a few more times before they were singing the damn thing together as loudly as they could while they walked, causing people passing by to turn and stare at them. The swordsman could hear a few girls whispering about "that cute blonde boy", though for some reason they all shut up when they caught sight of the ninja following them.

"Kuro-woof!" the mage called back to him. "Can we get some ice cream?"

The ninja's eyes narrowed.

"Who'd be paying?" he asked suspiciously. Seth grinned from his position on the magician's shoulders and pulled out a black and pink wallet.

"My mommy gave me some money!" he cried cheerfully, waving it around frantically until he lost his grip on the wizard and tumbled off. Kurogane caught him quickly and replaced the energetic four year old and grabbing the wallet from him.

"Be careful, squirt," he growled as the four year old wrapped his arms firmly around the magician's neck and nodded vigorously. The ninja glanced down at the mage and was startled by how pale he was. Shaking his head, the swordsman lifted Seth from his shoulders and put him down. The boy smiled widely and used a nearby bench to leap onto the ninja's back and from there climb to his shoulders.

"Ice cream, then," he said, cutting off the mage before he could complain and poking Seth in the gut. "It'll be good for you, I suppose. Let's go."

The magician smiled at the swordsman's retreating back.

--

"Makayla!"

The writer growled as she turned to Kaylee.

"Ah, great timing," she muttered. "I need your help with something. In the sentence 'He wanted to glide through the air, feel the cool wind rustling through his feathers,' would it be better if 'glide' was changed to 'soar'?"

The psychiatrist sighed.

"We have a problem," she said, completely ignoring the question. Makayla narrowed her eyes.

"Answer me first and I'll listen," she snapped. Kaylee sighed again.

"Soar would fit better, in my opinion," she replied. Makayla smiled and turned back to her computer, making the necessary corrections before turning back to her friend.

"What's wrong?" she asked calmly, not wanting to panic the girl any further.

"Fai's gone!"

Makayla stared at her for a moment as this sank in.

"WHAT?!" she hollered after a moment. "Where the fuck is he? Crapcrapcrapcrapcrap Dad wanted to meet him today, too oh crap!"

The author hit her head against a nearby bookshelf before something dawned on her and she turned to the psychiatrist.

"Was Kurogane-sama guarding the door?" she asked, regaining her composure as the older girl shook her head. "Then we have nothing to worry about. They'll be back soon."

The psychiatrist raised one eyebrow.

"They're with Seth getting ice cream and fresh air."

"Oh. Why?"

The writer grinned at her.

"Because I spoils my son rotted, and he begged me for some money so he could take Fai to an ice cream stand nearby," she explained, leaning back and picking up a picture on the desk. "He's so like Jason, don't you think?"

She turned back to Kaylee. The psychiatrist nodded sadly, taking the picture from her.

"Yeah…" she muttered, running her fingers along he image of a tall brunette with jade eyes waving toward the camera, his other hand supporting a two year old Seth. "I wonder what he'd say if he'd survived?"

The writer shrugged.

"He'd probably tell you to stop moping and then apologize for hurting your feeling," she muttered, smiling fondly. "Your brother was a good man, Kaylee."

The psychiatrist nodded.

"I know."

--

"Mage!"

Fai grinned up at the ninja as he was lifted up off the ground. He had fallen again, and it was obvious that the swordsman was worried about him.

"I'm fine, Kuro-puu," he insisted, pulling away from him. "I promise. Here I'll prove it."

Ignoring the ninja's protests, he threw his head back and hollered at the top of his lungs, "I'm freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee-"

He was cut off by a violent coughing fit that threw him forward again. Seth climbed off Kurogane's shoulders and patted him on the back, looking worried.

"Are you okay, Fai?" he asked, tears forming in his eyes as the magician continued to cough. The wizard forced a smile as the fit passed, giving him a quick hug.

"I'm fine," he insisted, straightening and taking a few steps before falling forward again. Kurogane caught him and lifted him onto his back.

"You are not fine," he muttered. "We're going back."

"But I want ice cream!" the mage protested. "And Seth said it's not that far-"

"Can't you get it through your thick skull?" the ninja snapped. "I don't care."

Seth nodded in agreement.

"We can get ice cream later," he promised, jogging to keep up with the swordsman's long strides. Sighing, the swordsman scooped him up as well and ran toward the hospital as Fai started coughing again.

They were there in a few minutes. Seth slid off the swordsman's back and tried to help support the mage back to his room, but Kurogane stopped him and handed him Makayla's wallet.

"Wait here, I'll be back soon," he promised. Fai laughed to himself.

"Thank you, Kuro-sama," he muttered, leaning on the ninja for support as he successfully made it to his room and collapsed on the bed. "But you shouldn't worry about me."

"But I should," the swordsman snapped, "because you don't."

The magician laughed to himself as the swordsman stalked out of the room and growled something at a nearby nurse, who nodded frantically. The ninja re-entered the room.

"That nurse," he said, pointing, "is going to stand outside. If you something or that Evron guy comes by, she's going to take care of you, okay? I'll be back in a few minutes with your stupid ice cream."

The magician sighed as he rested back on his pillows, still in the civilian clothing Seth had brought him. First he had had to be carried all the way back to the hospital along with Seth, and now the ninja was going back to the stand with the child to get him ice cream, because he'd asked for some.

What did I do to deserve this?

--

Kurogane was seriously going to kill someone if they screwed up his order again.

"For god's sake, it's vanilla, chocolate, and mint!" he shouted at the server. "How hard could this possibly be you fu-"

"Kurogane, aren't you gonna get one?" Seth asked cheerfully. The ninja glared at him.

"No," he snapped. "I'm not."

"Then can I have four scoops?" the boy asked, tugging on his jeans. The ninja closed his eyes and counted to ten before forcing a smile at the four year old.

"What else do you want?" he snapped, still smiling. The boy eyed the choices a moment.

"Cookie dough!" he said after a moment, grinning. The ninja sighed and turned toward the server.

"And a scoop of cookie dough, too," he muttered. The worker handed him the cone, which he thrust at Seth before turning back to the cart.

"Right, I also need a bowl of mint with enough whipped cream to rot your teeth and raspberries on top," he ordered. It was a few minutes before the idiot handed him the bowl and spoon and the irritated ninja dropped a five dollar bill on the counter and waited a moment until Seth climbed on his back before finally hading back toward the hospital.

"Thank you very much Kurogane!" the child said happily as he dug into his ice cream. The ninja nodded once before walking slightly faster.

That damn mage better be grateful, he thought darkly. if he isn't I'm never doing anything for him again.

He jumped as he felt something cold run down his shirt and travel toward his jeans. Seth inhaled sharply.

"I'm sorry Kurogane it was an accident you're going too fast!" he cried frantically. The ninja shivered as the ice cream traveled even further down his spine.

"Just stop it, already!" he snapped. A shudder ran down his spine as the boy's knee squished the ice cream against his back, but it stopped it's downward plunge… for now. "Thanks."

"Your welcome!"

--

"Mage!"

Fai woke with a start and blinked as Kurogane came into focus, Seth climbing down his back. He grinned at them.

"Hello, Kuro-pyon," he greeted, sitting up. "What brings you here?"

The ninja's eyes narrowed as he came in and thrust a bowl of ice cream at him.

"Here," he snapped. "Don't tell me you forgot."

As a matter of fact, he had. Not that the mage would admit that.

"Of course not!" he cried happily, taking the treat from him. "Thank you, Kuro-rin!"

The ninja turned away, blushing slightly, and growled at the nurse keeping guard on the door, "Leave."

Fai grinned at Seth.

"Did Kuro-muu pick on you?" he asked seriously. The four year old shook his head.

"Nope," he said cheerfully. "I gotta go, though, I promised my mommy I'd go with her to visit Grandpa and Daddy later, and I still hafta finish the paper flowers for their graves 'cause Daddy was allergic to real flowers and he's right next to Grandpa, so we can't give them real flowers. So I'll se you tomorrow, 'kay?"

The mage nodded and gave the boy a quick hug before leaning back and smiling after him. He second he was gone, however, he let his mask drop and sighed. It was exhausting, acting like everything was normal even when he felt like screaming.

After his nightmare, he had firmly decided to forget about it, and avoid discussing anything with anyone and, more importantly, to act like he always did.

The door opened and Makayla entered, looking worried.

"Hi, Kayla!" he greeted, grinning. She smiled in return.

"Hello, Fai," she replied. "I just came to warn you that my dad wants to meet you all and that he'll be here soon, and not to be shocked by his appearance."

The mage raised an eyebrow as Sakura and Syaoran came in. He smiled at them. Makayla growled.

"What's wrong?" Fai asked, glancing up at her. She scowled at the door before turning toward him.

"I should warn you that my dad can tell when people are lying to him," she lectured. "So no one try lying about anything or you'll be thoroughly embarrassed."

"By your father?" Sakura asked, alarmed. Makayla grinned.

"No, by me," she corrected. "Dad lies a lot himself, so I'll just call you on your lies, 'kay? And him, too."

A low growl sounded from outside as the door slid open and Kurogane walked in, followed by… Fai.

Everyone stared at Makayla. She smiled at them.

"Everyone, this is my dad."

A/N; There. Less angsty, and Makayla's daddy appears! Next chapter will have her story, I promise… and Fai will have a nice little chat with Fai at the end of it.

Reviews give me courage to… well, let's just say, I'M A COMMITOPHOBE!!