"You sure yer doin' alright, hon?"

"I'm fine, Ma," Nokosu said, smiling. "Promise. I got Yui here if I need help."

Mae frowned. "I don' like ya workin' on them machines when I jus' got done fixin' ya."

Nokosu slid out from the cockpit of her hovercraft and landed nimbly on her feet with a grin. "Ya fixed me up fine. No problems."

"Hmph. At least fix Mokona, would ya?" Mae grumbled as she headed back down the stairs.

"Hey, call Syaoran up, would ya?" Nokosu called. There was no response but she knew Mae had heard. She clambered back up and disappeared. A moment later her voice floated back down to Yui. "Hand me the sonic screwdriver, would ya?"

"What exactly are you doing, anyway?" Yui asked as he handed up the device.

"I built th' Twins myself," Nokosu said, referring to the two identical hovercrafts that rested in the garage-like upstairs room. Both bore the name The Twin Daggers. "They're designed aroun' me, an' my advantages an' disadvantages-" she waved a metal hand in the air for emphasis- "so it won' work for no one else."

"How can you tell Fai and I apart?" Yui wondered suddenly. Nokosu peered at him over the ledge, frowning.

"If ya wan' some romantic answer t' tha', you ain't gettin' it. Both my eyes are machines, too, ya know, like Fai's. Th' two o' ya are a li'l different- hair cut, the way you smile, tha' kinda thing. Not t' mention ya hold yerself a bit taller- only makes about a centimeter's difference, but I can see that. An' I can see the optometrics in Fai's eye."

"Oh." Yui wouldn't admit it, but he was slightly disappointed by the matter-of-fact answer.

"You wanted to see me?" Syaoran asked, pausing at the entrance to the room. Nokosu rested on the edge of the cockpit.

"Yeah. Figured ya might wanna say in how yer cockpit is laid out. This is useless to me once I make th' changes, so you'd better like what ya get."

"Wait- you're letting me keep this?" Syaoran asked with surprise as she pulled him up with one mechanic arm.

"Like I said, It's useless to me when I'm done. Well, not useless- but I won' like it. Might as well give it t' a worthy pilot."

"What kind of layout is this?"

"My kind o' layout. You figure out wot ya want an' get started. I'll be back in a bit."

"Where are you going?" Yui asked as she slid to the ground.

"I'm stayin' right here; I jus' need t' work on th' Mokonas."

~X~X~

"Mokona likes this one! Mokona likes this one! Mokona-"

"Get OFF me, puffball!"

"-one! Mokona likes this one!"

"Don't you ever shut up?"

"Calm down, Kuro-daddy!" Fai soothed, trying to coax the white Mokona off from where it clung to Kurogane's arm.

"Mokona- Mokona- likes this this this one!"

"I'm so sorry!" Nokosu gushed, flying down the stairs in a panic with Yui trailing after her. She grabbed Mokona and pressed the red jewel on its forehead, powering it down. It slowly released its hold on Kurogane.

"Mokona likes likes... this..."

"Sorry," she mumbled to Kurogane's angry glare. "I'm fixin' 'em right now." Then she dashed back upstairs. Yui lingered for a moment, flashing a semi-apologetic smile at his brother before following.

"See, Kuro-taco? No problem," Fai said, beaming. Kurogane growled his displeasure.

"Don't call me- oh, never mind."

Fai giggled and leaned across the table. "Something on your mind, Kuro-cakes?"

His breath was intoxicating, and Kurogane grit his teeth against the nickname. He prepared himself for the complete shut down of emotions he knew was coming. There was no right time to ask this question, he reminded himself. "Is it true that you were raised by Commodore Ashura?"

Fai's eyes went wide, and for a moment he froze. Then his smile slid back into place, but he shrank back into his chair. "Why would you want to ask that?" he wondered brightly. Kurogane regarded him, eyes narrowed. Then he grabbed him by the wrist and dragged him outside. "Kuro-sena, where are we-"

"We're going for a walk," Kurogane growled.

"Can I have my hand back?"

"Not until I'm sure you won't run from this conversation."

Fai fell silent at this for a few minutes. He looked around at the sparse, blazing desert. "It's hot," he observed.

"Yes. Yes, it is."

"We're not really dressed for a walk in the desert."

"No, we're not."

"Maybe we should go back and-"

Kurogane's grip on his arm tightened. "No."

They continued walking in silence until finally Fai whispered, "The answer is yes."

"What?"

"Ashura raised us. Yui and I."

Kurogane stopped and stared at him. He finally released his hold, but he put a hand on Fai's back. "Keep walking."

"Is that all you wanted to know?" Fai asked as they started moving again. He liked the slight pressure of Kurogane's hand pushing him forward.

"I'm waiting for you to tell me more."

"Who said there was more?"

"I said. You said, when you reacted the way you did. And you're going to say if I have to beat it out of you."

"Would you really?"

"No. Talk."

"We're going to get sunburn out here, you know."

Kurogane gave no response.

"... He never really liked Yui. Not the way he liked me." Kurogane's red eyes flicked to him, but he still didn't say anything. "When we were six, he... took us on board. He never really adopted us."

"Why?"

"Because he's a pirate, Kuro-silly! He couldn't very well-"

"Why did he take you? Why didn't you stay with your parents?"

Fai's hands twisted in each other. "We were on a cruise ship. We were attacked and... they were killed. I think... I think Ashura was the one who attacked the ship and took us as prisoners and.. but I don't know for sure."

Kurogane's mouth formed a hard line. "And then?"

"Well, there's not much to tell! He took care of us, that's all-"

Kurogane stopped suddenly and whirled Fai around to face him. "It's one thing if you don't want to tell me everything. But don't lie to me."

He kept walking like nothing had happened, but then he suddenly whirled back around and grabbed Fai's wrists. A flicker of relief ran across his face when he felt the smoothing skin, only a few traces of old scars left now. Then he tugged Fai along behind him without a word.

As the sun baked their backs, sending shimmering beads of sweat down their necks, Fai found his words bubbling up to the surface and spilling out more and more easily. Only every now and then did Kurogane pause to ask questions. Ashura's abusive relationship- in more ways than one- was not something he ever talked about, not even with Yui.

"How did you get to be captain of The Phoenix?"

"We just sort of... left one day, Yui and I. We talked Yuko into getting us a ship and picked up a crew in Tortuga, that fourth planet in sector eight. We gave most of our plunder to the Commodore and hoped he didn't order us to come back. I don't think he would have let us go if I'd asked. Yui maybe, but never me. Kuro-chu..."

"Yeah?"

They'd stopped for a moment, and Fai turned to face him. He looked like he was on the verge of saying something important, but his brow furrowed in confusion as he stared past Kurogane into the distance. "What do you think that is?"

For once, Kurogane didn't snap at him for deflecting and instead turned to face the hazy objects on the horizon. They grew larger every second. They looked like silver bullets, but as their shape grew clearer they looked more like thin, sleek knives barreling straight toward them. "Hovercrafts," Kurogane said in surprise. The design was unlike any he'd ever seen.

With a rush of wind and mechanic whirring, the crafts zoomed past where they stood, kicking up clouds of dirt and dust in their wake. Kurogane grabbed Fai tightly as much to keep the frail blonde from toppling over as to anchor himself in place. The crafts slowed and circled around them, settling lower to the ground as the darkened glass hatch popped off of one. Nokosu leaned out, grinning wickedly.

"Y'all are a good three hours out," she shouted above the noise. "Suns are gonna set soon; you'll be needin' a ride back!"

"Know anyone who might be able to provide that?" Fai called back, laughing. Nokosu grinned and turned to speak to Yui, who sat behind her. He nodded and clambered out. When the other craft opened up, Syaoran could be seen moving back to allow Sakura a chance in the pilot seat, and they both moved closer together to give him room. Nokosu helped Fai and Kurogane into hers and closed the hatch, immediately dampening the noise.

"These things barely seat three," she explained, maneuvering it into a hair pin turn and zooming back in the direction of the house, "an' I'm th' only one what can fly this thing." For the first time, they noticed that Nokosu didn't hold any piece of machinery like a typical pilot would; rather, it appeared as though she had plugged in her cyborg arm and legs so that the craft literally became an extension of her body. "Y'all were out fer a while; somethin' happen?"

Fai laughed gently. "No," he said. "We just thought to take a walk, is all."

~X~X~

~ A/N: HOLY CRAP I wrote a lot of pages T.T

Well... long chappie makes up for ridiculously long update time... right? Right? *is shot*

...

Reviews? *is shot again* ~