Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline.

Author's Note:I want to apologize in advance. . This chapter is exceptionally short and the next few are going to be the same. That's because I'm kind of going to do a stages-of-grief sort of thing. Except, you know, Kurogane-ized. xD The good part about all this is that I know what I'm going to write and I'll therefore update faster! :D

Anyway, I wrote this very quickly on a whim (up until now, I've had absolutely no idea where this story was going D:), so if there are any typos or if anything seems unclear, please tell me so I can fix it. ^^

Also, if you have never seen the movie 'The Prestige' (which you totally need to, freaking amazing movie...), then there's a reference in here you might not get. In a magic trick, there are three parts-- the pledge, the turn, and the prestige. In the pledge you present a normal object, in the turn you do something extraordinary with it (like, make it disappear), and in the prestige you bring it back.

The moments passing by held the weight of hours.

All eyes were on him. It was in this moment that Kurogane noticed the Princess crying softly, the kid on the verge of doing the same. Mokona's face was buried in Sakura's collarbone.

How had he not noticed? How the hell had he not noticed that something was wrong? God, even the witch's eyes were tearing up.

But--

But it can't--

It fucking can't be--

Chest heaving, Kurogane backed away from them. His eyes darted wildly around the room, searching in vain for those eyes, a gold and a blue. His ears strained to hear that lilting laugh, which had to be ringing somewhere. It all had to be a joke. That fucking magician had to be fooling them all, if not just the ninja.

But he saw no such eyes. And he heard no such laugh.

His upper back made contact with a wall, a support, and at that moment it seemed that all the strength seemed to seep from his legs into the ground. He put all his weight on that wall, as if it were the only thing keeping him grounded, the only object in a world of objects preventing him from simply falling into the sky.

"Kurogane," Yuuko sighed, and there was a definite sniffle to her voice. "I was asked by Princess Tomoyo to send you home the moment you awoke." She raised her slightly-watery gaze to meet his, numb and shocked, and asked almost gently, "Is that all right? Or would you like a moment?"

He stared at her for a bit longer than would normally be necessary to process her words. What had she said? Home?

Home.

This had to be it.

This was the joke, the trick -- this was the twist. They were still in the fucking 'turn', and Nihon -- Nihon was the 'prestige'.

Everyone thinking he was dead, when he was just waiting there, in Nihon country. And Kurogane would arrive and there he would be, standing there in that fucking furisode that Princess Tomoyo had no doubt insisted on him wearing. And he would smile and Tomoyo would laugh and Amaterasu, even, might get a kick out of it.

Home.

"Yeah," Kurogane replied, his voice gravelly, his mouth dry.

A certain look came across the witch's face, as if through that single word alone she could see every thought forming in the ninja's head.

"All right," she said softly, and then again, louder: "All right."

She stood then, her eloquent movements slightly more deliberate, perhaps weighed down by grief or pity. She crossed the room, taking down from a shelf a certain marking that Kurogane had actually forgotten about. Gathering the object up in her arms, she grabbed a small container, very much like a perfume bottle, that held suspended within it what appeared to be a small blue gem.

The witch approached Kurogane once more, carefully tucking the two objects into his arms. She reached behind him, plucking something from a shelf, and then brought it to where he could see, all the while watching warily for his reaction.

The staff. The fucking staff.

Yuuko folded it into one of his palms, making sure his fingers grasped it tightly before letting go. For a moment, both of her pale hands rested on his own.

"They're yours," she told him shortly. "Take them."

With that, she gave his hand a small, almost imperceptible squeeze before stepping back.

Kurogane grasped the objects as tightly as he possibly could as the witch sent him home.

Author's Note: It seems our poor ninja is in shock/denial. :(

Please review, whether you liked it or you hated it or you loved it or you think I should give up writing and find a solitary little hole in which I'll live out the rest of my sorry days. :)