"This is amazing" Ayame whispered, mesmerized.

Never had she in her entire life seen something as marvellous as the dazzling lights of Hanshin Republic. Even the grandest festivals of Clow did not have half the glamour of the city that she was gazing upon. She would have continued staring if the small tickle in her nose hadn't distracted her. Soon the small tickle built up and she sneezed softly. 'I need to be careful not to catch a cold' she thought, sniffing.

"Well, you haven't got the rain off you yet. What do you expect?" a voice said gruffly, as if reading her mind.

Ayame turned around with a small gasp. Kurogane was standing a little away from her, watching her with a small smile, which vanished the moment she faced him.

"Here," he held out a towel, "Staring out of the window ain't gonna help you get dry"

An embarrassed flush spread across Ayame's face when she realised that he had seen her gaping out of the window. She mentally slapped herself for behaving like a child.

"Umm… thanks" she said sheepishly, taking the towel from the ninja's hands.

When she turned her attention back to the Kurogane, she couldn't help but inhale sharply, startled by what she saw. The man seemed to be surrounded by a light red mist, which danced and swirled around him in sync with every small move he made – expect for near his forehead, where the mist was a soft shade of purple. However she saw this just for a fraction of a second; Ayame blinked once and the scene in front of her returned to normal, as if the whole thing was just a figment of her imagination. But a nagging feeling in the back of her head told her it wasn't.

"What's with the funny look?" Kurogane asked, his red eyes narrowing.

Ayame pleaded her pounding heart to quiet down as all the gears in her brain whirred to find a way out of this spot.

"Nothing" she managed with a small smile, "I was just wondering why you were being so nice all of a sudden" When Kurogane's nose crinkled just slightly in irritation, she continued more confidently, "I thought you wanted nothing to do with us all"

Kurogane just grunted in response and turned to reclaim his spot in the corner of the room, muttering as he sat down heavily. Ayame couldn't help but giggle at little at the man's reaction, she could see why the wizard kept coming up with silly nicknames for him – irritating Kurogane was both easy and fun.

Ayame's mind quickly went back to her little problem as she went to join Syaoran and the others, who were listening to Sorata explain the history of Hanshin Republic with the help of a small hand puppet. 'It was definitely his aura that I saw swirling around him, there is absolutely no doubt.' But she didn't understand how it was possible. The last time she had seen somebody's aura was… well a long time ago. A lot of things had happened after that and she had lost her magic, though she had still retained her ability to sense it. Or so her father had told her. Was it possible that he had gotten it all wrong?

Various thoughts and possibilities jumped around in her head as she stared at her now empty left wrist. Back in Yuuko's shop, when the bracelet left her hand, she had felt something stir inside her – as if something was waking up from a long, deep slumber. But that would mean… no… her father had given her that bracelet, to remember her mother. 'That's absolutely ridiculous. There has to be another logical explanation' she told herself, shaking the thought out.

"Pay attention!" Sorata yelled suddenly, pointing a finger at Kurogane.

Ayame jumped just in time to see something hit the tanned man right on the top of his head. Her battle instincts kicked in immediately without a second thought. Her hands moved to her belt on their own to draw out her scimitars, but she felt nothing. She let out a small groan, of course they were not on her belt. She had left them back in Clow, buried in the chest of one of those black armoured bastards. Meanwhile Fai and Kurogane were alert as well, looking around to find the source of the attack while Syaoran immediately jumped protectively in front of the still sleeping Sakura.

"I did not sense anything," Kurogane growled, rubbing the victimised spot on his head. "Did you throw something at me?" he yelled at Sorata.

"If he did the angle of shock would be different. It was from the top" Fai said and Ayame knew he was right. She pushed all her questions about magic and seals to the back of her mind; she could ponder over them later. What was happening right now needed her full attention.

Sorata just stared at them, his eyebrows raised in confusion "What are you guys getting so worked up about? I just used my Kudan…"

"Kudan?" Ayame, Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane asked in unison.

"Oh yeah! You guys are from a different dimension, so you don't know about it" Sorata exclaimed, more to himself than everyone around him. He then cleared his throat and continued in a very school-teacher manner "Everything in this world is haunted by a Kudan."

"What do you mean by haunted?" Ayame asked.

"Kudans are like guardian spirits, everybody has one watching over them" Arashi replied, "Even if you are from another dimension, you will still have a Kudan"

Ayame couldn't help but feel amazed. The sheer amount of power this world must have to give not only every person, but also travellers like them a personal spirit was simply astounding. But then again, power like that could create problems as well.

"Searching for Sakura's feathers can bring conflict" Ayame said quietly.

Syaoran's brow furrowed with worry, "Ayame-san… what do you mean?"

"Fragments of a soul have a certain power" she explained, "If someone has managed to take possession of a feather, there is no guarantee they will just give it to us. We may have to fight to get it back"

"You needn't worry about getting into a fight" Arashi said reassuringly, "Kudans can be used as weapons"

"How can you use a spirit in battle?" Kurogane asked the question which was on Ayame's mind as well.

"What it is, and how to use it, that's something you have to see for yourself," Sorata said with a cryptic smile, "To understand a Kudan, you have to see it with your own eyes"

"But you know, all this talk about fighting is pointless without asking the golden question" Ayame said, giving Syaoran a knowing look.

Syaoran caught on. He gently picked Mokona and asked, "Is the princess' feather in this country, Mokona-chan"

Mokona took a deep breath and closed her eyes to concentrate. "There is a feather in this country" she said softly, "It's somewhere far away… but it's there"

Ayame breathed a sigh of relief. She was one step closer to getting her sister back, even if it was just one tiny step.

"So it's settled then, we'll take care of you guys till you find the feather" Sorata said cheerfully.

"Is it really ok to stay here?" Sorata and Arashi seemed like really nice people. Ayame didn't want to inconvenience them in anyway.

"Oh don't worry about it" Sorata said, "We are in Yuuko-san's debt. This is our hotel. You guys can stay here till you go to another world"

Ayame had this feeling that the Dimensional Witch sent them all to this world on purpose. It was all too easy – this world seemed devoid of wars, they had almost immediately found people who had taken them in and given them shelter, and a feather was present in this world; but still it was not similar to any of their home worlds. It was as if Yuuko was breaking in the concept of dimensional travelling to them slowly.

"Alright guys it's almost midnight, time to sleep!" Sorata announced, "The boys can move to the other room while the girls can use this one!"

"Okay!" Fai chimed while Kurogane yelled in annoyance, "Why do I have to share a room with him!"

Out of the corner of her eye Ayame saw Syaoran nod half-heartedly, his eyes lingering on Sakura. It was obvious that he wanted to stay near her – he was just too shy to say it. But Ayame knew how to solve that.

"Sorata-san" she called out, "I'll share a room with Kurogane-san and Fai-san. Syaoran can stay here in this room with Sakura."

Her announcement shocked everyone.

Sorata was the first one to recover "Firstly call me Sorata-chan. And secondly, are you sure?" He then cast a worrying glance over Kurogane and added, "I don't trust this big black guy!"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT SUPPOSED TO MEAN!" Kurogane roared.

"I'm completely capable of taking care of myself Sorata-chan" Ayame beamed, "Besides, I'll clonk Kuro-tan on his head if he tries something funny"

"MY NAME IS KUROGANE!"

Ayame giggled as the ninja continued to mutter and grumble under his breath. It was a lot of fun.

"Also Sorata-chan, I'll be there, I will be protecting the beautiful princess!" Fai winked at Ayame, making her flush with embarrassment a second time.

"You're doing this for me, aren't you Ayame-san?" Syaoran hung his head slightly, his amber eyes filled with guilt.

"Don't be like that" Ayame affectionately ruffled his hair, "I know you want to be with her Syaoran. But remember, you need to get some rest. We will have a long day tomorrow. Okay?"

"Okay" Syaoran replied with a grateful smile.

Sorata lead Ayame, Kurogane and Fai to another room which was almost identical to the first. Ayame picked a spot near the windows while the other two picked spots hear the walls of the room. They all laid their futons in silence… well except for Fai, who hummed some tune which felt vaguely familiar to Ayame.

"I'm about to turn the lights off, so don't do something naughty Kuro-ne" Fai teased, which sent Kurogane into another one of his raging fits. Ayame and Fai just burst out laughing

"Alright boys, I think that's enough" Ayame said, wiping tears from her eyes.

"As you say, my lovely princess" Fai sang as he turned off the lights.

In the darkness, no one saw Ayame flush for the third time that night. She really wished he would stop doing that. Ayame didn't really know how to handle flirting well.

As she lay in the darkness, the question from before, the one about her supposedly lost magic loomed in front of her. But before she could address it, a sudden wave of exhaustion crashed over her, washing away everything. The fatigue from her battle with the black armoured attackers back in Clow had finally begun to set in. Clow… her mind wandered off to her home country, to the sands of the desert, then to the palace, to her army, to her best friend Yukito… and then finally came to a stop at her brother.

The image of Touya, lying on the ground, pale with sickness swam in front of her eyes without warning. Another torrent of questions filled her mind now – how was he, did he survive… was she ever going to see him again? A lump formed in her throat as all the emotions she had willed herself not to feel ever since she landed in Yuuko's shop flooded her – fear, desperation, anxiety, hopelessness… the impending sense of doom. She could feel tears forming in her eyes, but she took a deep breath and swallowed the lump; she had no time for crying. More like she couldn't afford to, she was afraid that if they started, the tears wouldn't stop. Ayame steeled her mind and sent out a small prayer to the gods to protect her brother, as sleep gently enveloped her and gave her the peace and quiet she needed.

XXX

Fai rolled around, dragging his blanket with him to try to find a more comfortable position. An hour had already passed since he turned the lights out, but sleep kept eluding him. Possibly because his mind kept re-playing everything that happened in the past few hours. Since landing in Yuuko's shop, things had worked out more or less as he had expected them to. Almost everything had been exactly as that man told him all those years ago – the boy, the princess who had lost her soul and the person he had referred to as the witch's pawn.

But what he had not told him about was her.

His eyes moved across the room and settled on Ayame who was fast asleep, snoring softly, her long black hair spread out in a tangled mess. Even as he looked, she tossed about, twisting the already twisted blanket around her body in the process, and mumbled something which sounded like "Stop kicking me, Touya" Fai mentally chuckled at that.

The young woman had intrigued Fai the moment he had set his eyes on her. The fact that the man had failed to mention her was a clear indication that he didn't expect Ayame to be there. Fai had also noticed that back in the shop, Yuuko had also seemed just a little reluctant to take her payment, meaning Yuuko wasn't expecting her presence either. She had managed to stump two of the most powerful magicians in the world.

But that was not it. He didn't know whether it was her voice or the way she held herself or whether it was the way she stared out into the lights of Hanshin like a child or whether it was that gentle, comforting energy which vibrated around her since the moment the bracelet came off her wrist in the shop… something about Ayame tugged at his brain. As if he was forgetting something very, very important.

'It's going to be long journey… I have plenty of time to find out…' he thought as he finally drifted off into a dreamless sleep.

XXX

Ayame kept checking and rechecking her reflection in the mirror. Nope. She can't go out looking like this.

Syaoran and the others had decided to take a look around the city to try and locate the feather. Sorata and Arashi had lent them a few clothes so that they don't stand out in the crowd… but Ayame preferred sticking out rather than feel uncomfortable in her own skin.

"You worry too much" Arashi smiled, "I think these clothes suit you really well.

Ayame just hummed in response, not convinced. She was wearing a 3/4th sleeved, lavender crop top paired a black skater skirt with reached her just below her mid-thigh. There were two problems she had with her clothes, one being that she disliked skirts and two being… well… it showed off a little more skin than she was used to.

"Aya-chan! We are waiting for you!"

Ayame sighed, she had told the mage earlier that day to not call her that, but of course he didn't listen.

'Well it can't be helped' she shrugged and made her way downstairs, where the rest of them were waiting.

"Don't worry, no one will suspect Mokona…" Sorata was telling Syaoran but he stopped mid-sentence when she joined them, "Wah… Ayame-chan, you look great! Honey is so good with picking clothes"

Ayame laughed awkwardly in response, looking at the others to change the topic. However, Syaoran, Kurogane and Fai were staring at her as well, which made Ayame blush slightly.

"You do look good Ayame-san" Syaoran finally said.

"Aya-chan looks so cute that I can't take my eyes off her!" Fai sang.

"Stop with the flirting already!" Ayame yelled, blushing even more.

"Guys, I'll be leaving now" Sorata said, checking the time. But before he left, Sorata handed Ayame a frog-shaped wallet "Here keep this, Ayame-chan. There's some money in there so you guys can have lunch some place nice"

"Why give it to her?" Kurogane asked, eyeing the wallet in her hand.

"Because she looks the most trustworthy" Sorata beamed.

Ayame and Fai burst out laughing while Kurogane roared, "WHAT IS THE MEANING OF THIS!?"

"It is understandable" Fai said winking at Ayame, "Aya-chan is so pretty, everyone is bound to trust her"

Ayame could feel her blood beginning to boil just a bit. That was the last straw. She couldn't keep her irritation hidden anymore.

"I told you to stop the flirting!" Ayame smacked Fai hard on the head.

She expected Fai to get offended but instead, he just made a mock sad face and raced ahead to join Syaoran, who had begun walking towards the city, singing, "Aya-chan is such a meanie"

Ayame let out a long breath as her temper cooled down. She wished she hadn't done that. Now Fai was going to keep making flirtatious remarks just to annoy her. There was no doubt about it.

"Why did it have to be 'Aya-chan'?" she muttered under her breath, thinking about the field day her soldiers would have if they ever heard someone address her that way.

"Not so fun on the other side, huh?" Kurogane asked, smirking.

"Yeah, you and I are on the same boat… Blackie"

Ayame giggled, following Kurogane as he stomped off after Fai and Syaoran grumbling in irritation. Looks like today will be peaceful.

XXX

"SYAORAN!" Ayame screamed, her heart threatening to burst out of her chest in panic. Of course the day was not going to be peaceful.

When the Kudan battle between warring street gangs had interrupted their relaxing outing, Ayame had expected to get involved in the fight. What she didn't expect was Syaoran jumping to the rescue to protect a couple of innocent bystanders from getting hit by a water beam from one of the powerful Kudans.

Ayame was just about to run to Syaoran's help, but a sudden build of energy around the chocolate haired boy stopped her dead in her tracks. She gasped when she realised that the power was rushing out of Syaoran himself. A wall of flame erupted in front of Syaoran vaporising the water beam instantly. The fire then began to twist and swirl, as if it had a mind of its own, and took the form of a beautiful wolf. As Syaoran stood up to face his attacker, the flaming wolf moved and stood protectively in front of him. There was absolutely no doubt about it – the wolf was Syaoran's Kudan. And it was very strong.

The man, from whose stingray Kudan the water beam had originated, seemed to think so too. "Looks like you have a high level Kudan too"

But the rest of the conversation between Syaoran and the other guy was drowned out by a sharp ringing in Ayame's ears. Her senses picked up another build-up of energy, but this time it was from somewhere high up above. She looked up at the sky, but she couldn't see anybody with a Kudan. On the other hand, she could feel the power moving and rising and her gut told her that whoever was up there was aiming their attack on Syaoran.

Ayame clenched her fists in frustration, no one had noticed the other Kudan and she couldn't risk yelling out in alarm. Syaoran was busy deflecting water attacks and if he lost his focus, there was a good chance he would get hit. 'There has to be something I can do!'

'Do you want to protect him?' a voice boomed in her head without warning. The voice sounded impossibly old and powerful, full of infinite wisdom which made her shiver just a little. Ayame didn't know how, but she knew she could trust the voice.

'I do' she replied firmly, 'I want to keep everyone I hold dear safe and happy'

The voice chuckled, as if amused by her answer, 'Safe and happy. That is an answer I don't hear every day'

'Will you help me?'

'You have a fierce, yet gentle heart, something I deeply admire' came the reply, 'My powers are yours to command child'

Almost as if on cue, Ayame felt every single muscle and bone in her body thrum and vibrate, as if lightning had passed through her. 'So this is what it feels like' she thought as she saw electricity cackle just a little at her palms. She concentrated at the area around Syaoran and his Kudan and quickly wove a shield around them without a second thought. Just as she finished, a massive orb of invisible energy rammed against her shield. It didn't bounce back however, the invisible orb pushed, trying to find an opening. In response, Ayame increased the power she had been channeling to the shield by a fraction, sending the orb flying away.

Then suddenly, the presence of the Kudan she had been silently fighting vanished. Out of the corner of her eye Ayame saw the man Syaoran had been fighting with leave as well, along with the rest of his crew. 'So they were on the same team'

Ayame cast a quick glance at everyone else – no one had noticed the little duel between her and the Kudan from above… and she was thankful for it. Because she knew they would ask a lot of questions and she didn't have the answers to them. Heck she would like some answers to all the questions dancing away in her head, the most important one being how the hell did she know how to construct a shield?

"You were great Syaoran-kun!" Fai sang, bringing Ayame out of her head.

Ayame dumped her latest pot of problems into the already huge heap of unanswered questions in the back of her mind as she ran towards Syaoran and pulled him into a hug. She breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe and out of danger, that's all that mattered.

"I'm okay, Ayame-san" Syaoran reassured her, hugging back.

Ayame broke the hug but she didn't let go of his shoulders, "Don't you ever scare me like that ever again, you hear me young man?"

Syaoran nodded with a smile while Fai cooed, "Aya-chan is so adorable when she gets worried"

"Oh shut up"

XXX

High up above, even above the clouds which dotted the skies of Hanshin, a bespectacled man stood on the back of his falcon Kudan, wearing an amused smile. Someone had not only sensed his stealth attack, but had also reacted quickly enough to deflect it. That was a first for him, no one, not even Shougo Asagi, had managed to do that.

"Well… well… well… looks like I finally found a worthy opponent"

XXX

A/N: Chapter number 3 done! Yeah I know, it was a little shorter than the previous two. But I felt that this was a good place to end it. So, what do you guys think? Do review to let me know okay?

Until the next time ;)