Disclaimer: I do not own Tsubasa CLAMP owns them
Pairings: Ashura x Fai
Note: Time to move a pairing for a chapter. Once again Fai is not going to die.

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Fai paused briefly and turned his gaze to the floor. Sakura and Mokona watched the thin man who had started to shift uncomfortably.

"Fai-san…you don't need to tell us…" Sakura spoke up after a few moments causing all eyes to turn to her.

"If I don't you won't have any chance." Fai replied, his voice was cold and serious.

The ninja watched as the small bird hopped onto the blonde's head and looked down. If this wasn't such a serious moment he would of laughed at the look on Fai's face.

"If…if I may ask…where did you get the bird?" The ice blue eyes now turned to Kurogane.

"I got it from Yuuko." He said simply.

"I take it you don't know where she got it from." Fai turned back to stare at the floor.

"I don't…" The raven haired man turned to glance outside the window, the world was so quiet, nothing was moving.

Fai took a deep breathe before continuing.

The blonde held out the apple core for the small bird to eat from, the two were currently in an alley.

The weather had taken a turn for the worst and snow had started falling rapidly. The village had unpredictable weather but nothing like this.

Fai wished that he'd had time to atleast say goodbye to some people in the village, he'd grown up with them and now he'd ran off without a word. The male sighed before slumping against one of the walls. The bird began chirping merrily away after eating its fill.

"I guess we're stuck here…stuck between a rock and a hard place." The teen smiled slightly, he could have sworn the bird has smiled too. Nothing was surprising after what he'd grown up with.

This place was almost like another world. People dressed differently these people were dressed in high class clothes. The language was also slightly different from the village. Even the food tasted different, this place was full of modified and corrupted things.

"Stealing is wrong you know." A voice cut through the air from the end of the alley. A teen, maybe a few years older than Fai, was standing there. He had a hood to cover his head but a few strands of long black hair hung loose.

"It's a dog eat dog world. We eat the food or we get eaten ourselves." Fai mused. The boy standing at the end of the alley looked familiar yet the blonde had never met him or seen him.

"I guess…shouldn't you be at home?" The male asked taking a few steps into the alley.

"Home? Home is far away and I don't plan on walking through those mountains again." The smaller teen smiled at the other male.

"You don't seem the type to be out here and living on the streets." The raven haired said absent mindedly.

"How so?" Fai turned to watch the small bird now hopping on his finger and couldn't help but smile.

The raven haired boy watched as the other teen smiled, so pure, he wasn't from the big city parts.

"You're too pure, too beautiful to be from here." He replied smiling slightly at the blonde.

Fai blushed slightly and tried to hide it under his hair.

"I don't even know your name." Fai managed to glance up at the other male as he spoke.

"It's Ashura and yours?" The raven haired male held out a hand to help the other to his feet.

Fai accepted and let himself be pulled up.

"Fai." The blonde tilted his head slightly as he smiled.

"Well then Fai I think you ought to stay at a hotel. Not on the streets." Ashura saw a look cross the other's face briefly, "I'll pay for you to stay there so you don't need to worry."

Fai smiled again and the bird started singing its song again.

Syaoran stood up and stretched before turning to the kitchen. Mokona and Sakura soon followed.

"So…you were close to Ashura?" Kurogane muttered.

"You'll see…just give it time…" The mage leaned slightly towards the grumpy ninja, "It didn't last…nothing ever does around me." The male added sadly.

Sakura and Mokona soon returned with drinks for the two older travellers. Syaoran followed holding a tray of cookies, which Mokona had picked out, he lay them on the table in the center of the room.

"Sorry for interrupting Fai-san…its just…I thought you might need a break…" The brunette said nervously.

"Don't worry about it." Fai smiled and took a sip of his drink.

"Are you going to carry on?" The ninja asked as he swatted the white bun away from his drink.

Fai nodded.

"So magicians have a common weakness?" Fai asked as the two walked up along the streets.

"You didn't know?" Ashura looked surprised at the question.

"Should I know?" The blonde asked back.

"You are a magician. It's in your blood. It's in your energy. Anyway all magicians have a common weakness, they have to have something to rely on something to protect. Without it the magic has no purpose." The raven haired male explained.

"Magician? Protect? I always got told that magician's are human…they bleed as everyone else does but…I guess if you take out what's dear to them they too take an emotional hit." Fai was talking to himself more than the male walking next to him.

"That's the place." Ashura pointed out a high class hotel in the middle of the city square. The building itself looked expensive let along how much food and a bed would cost.

"Isn't that a little expensive? I mean you just met me so why are you offering to pay for my room?" Fai asked still a little in shock. Chirp had hopping into the warm pocket of the blonde's coat.

"It's nothing really." Ashura waved it off and dragged Fai by the hand into the hotel. The inside of the building looked exactly as the teen had imagined, very expensive with gold colours.

Fai glanced around the ground floor whole his new friend was sorting out the room arrangements. He spotted a few pictures on the walls and looked over each one carefully.

The blonde didn't realise the dark haired male had arrived until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"You like pictures then?" The taller male asked.

"Not really but we didn't have a lot of pictures in the village." Fai said quietly, he wasn't ashamed of the village he had lived in but it seemed to keep him distant from people in the city.

"I see…well I got you a room for the night I'll show you it." Ashura smiled down at the smaller male.

Fai nodded and followed the other male up the stairs.

They soon reached a large room, Ashura handed Fai the keys and turned to leave, until he felt something grab the back of his coat.

"Will I see you tomorrow?" Fai asked still clutching the coat and blushing.

"Of course." The raven haired man turned round to the smaller male. "You're in touch with your feminine side aren't you?" He slipped his index finger under the blonde's chin.

Fai leaned towards the other male slightly before whispering, "You shouldn't fall for people so easily."

With that he brushed lips with the taller male before breaking off and going into the hotel room.

Kurogane was up to his feet and grabbed the mage by his shirt collar looking really pissed off.

"Not in front of the children Kurogane." Fai muttered his eyes were for once in the same region as his face, both were cold and uncaring.

"That's why you wanted to tell them isn't it you knew I'd kill you if they weren't here!" The ninja shouted.

"Not true. If he does awaken you all know how to defeat him. You have to get rid of me." Fai turned his gaze from the crimson eyed man holding him from the ground.

The ninja dropped the light man and took few deep breaths trying to calm himself.

Sakura was at a loss for words and Syaoran made no attempt to interfere.

Fai took a few steps away from the group and soon heard the raven haired ninja follow him.

The mage sighed and turned around expecting to be yelled at again but instead had a fist make contact with his cheek bone. He could have sworn there was a cracking sound. Fai fell to the floor clutching a hand to his cheek as he watched the pissed off male storm out of the house.

"I knew you couldn't handle the truth Kurogane…but I thought you'd be better than that…"