Kurogane had told him where he would be able to find the healer who had been put in charge of looking after his son and now Syaoran found himself following the mental map provided by the ninja. It had been an extremely long and emotionally exhausting day, even though he himself had done nothing at all… being a spirit, there wasn't much he could have done to help anyways. After a few hours of looking after the magically-put-under magician, the ninja had forced Sakura to go and rest again since she was the one doing all the work. Kurogane had no magic whatsoever, and Syaoran had the problem of being… well, himself without a body. The red-eyed man had promised to look after Fai, literally carrying the exhausted princess over one shoulder and dumping her on the simple wooden cot before turning his attention to the brunette.

"Only me and the princess can't see the kid," he had said. "You should go and see how he's doing."

As he made his way through the narrow corridors of the lower level of the pyramid and started climbing the stairs that led to the second level of the giant structure, Syaoran paused at a tall-yet-narrow window. Delicate floral carvings adorned the rough sandy stones, reminding him of some of the temples he had visited with Fujitaka in his youth in his first life. He pretended to trace a lotus, closing his eyes and imagining the rough texture of the stone for a little while. Opening his eyes, he was somewhat disappointed to note that his fingers were halfway embedded in the rock. Turning away, he wrapped his arms around himself as a sudden chill ran down the length of his spine. Shuddering slightly at the not-quite unpleasant feeling, he resumed his climb, even though Syaoran wanted nothing more than to curl up in a corner, fall asleep and not wake up until this nightmare was over. It took a surprising amount of courage to bring himself to stand outside the door he suspected led to the healer's room.

Masooma-san, are you there? he called in a loud enough voice that she would hear were she awake. It was well into the night and there was a big chance that she was asleep, but he had come all this way. He did not want to go away without seeing his son. Masooma-san? he called again when he received no response from the other side. Throwing caution to the wind, he stuck his head through the wooden panel. The room appeared empty, though the bed-sheets were ruffled and thrown back as though the witch had left in a hurry. Withdrawing his head to cast one glance around the corridor, he stepped through, carefully scanning the room for any signs of where the healer could have gone. He found none.

The room was slightly messy but not overly so, just enough that it gave it a lived-in feel. A dusty brown cloak was thrown carelessly over the back of a chair, a sheaf of papers scattered on top of the desk that was pushed against the wall. A simple mirror with a wooden frame-that had floral patterns like the ones surrounding the windows carved into it- leaned against the wall on the right side of the table. A single wooden jewelry box and a hairbrush placed before the mirror let Syaoran know of the extent that the witch seemed to pay attention to her appearance and such. Shelves were built into the wall, much in the same manner as they had been in the Oracle's room, the top two shelves containing neatly arranged tomes while the lower shelf held some folded clothes. Pale green curtains hung before a window near the bed and a small, rather threadbare rug in shades of green and brown covered the floor, adding some color to the otherwise-sparsely-decorated room. Some cushions were placed in one corner, with a wooden shelf filled with nothing but books placed next to them. A low table with more papers, some pens and an open book that lay face down were placed before the cushions.

Forcing him to turn his focus away from the room's decorations, Syaoran noticed a door leading out of the room, opposite to the one he had entered through. Casting a glance over his shoulder to confirm that no one had come in behind him while he wasn't paying attention, Syaoranphased through the door, entering a short corridor with narrow windows that let him see the sprawling city outside. They, too, had pale green curtains hanging before them, although the curtains were pulled back here, letting fresh air pass through the corridor, not that Syaoran could feel it. Some of the sand colored stone blocks that had been used to build the entire pyramidical structure were covered in carvings that, unlike the previous floral patterns he had witnessed incorporated into the structure almost everywhere, were actually designs that involved runes.

Masooma-san? he called once again, giving the healer half a minute to respond, but when he received no reply, Syaoran walked in through the closed door. The lighting in the room was dulled to a soft glow, but it was enough for the brunette to make out the sleeping form under the patchwork quilt. Casting a quick glance around the room, Syaoran silently approached the bed. The healer was apparently not there. Tsubasa was asleep on his right side, one hand resting under his head while the other was clenched around the sheets. His expression appeared peaceful in his sleep and Syaoran hoped his son was having pleasant dreams. He noticed a clear bag hanging from a low stand next to the bed-almost on ground level, with a thin plastic tube attached to its top that disappeared under the sheets. He wondered about what purpose it might serve before his attention was drawn back to his son. He looked somewhat better than the last time Syaoran had seen him, back in that room in Clow where he had been forcefully sent away by the princess, but the brunette's heart still clenched at the sight before him.

I'm sorry, son, he muttered softly, kneeling on the ground next to Tsubasa, I'm sorry I failed to be there for you when you needed me the most, but…You and I, neither of us is a stranger to the terrible prices that one sometimes has to pay to help someone they care about… I'm sure you can't hear me right now, but, I still hope you can understand that leaving you alone wasn't my choice! If… if I had to make it… he trailed off, hands clenching into fists as he gritted his teeth in frustration. He could not say he would have changed it, because that would have been a lie. Fai had needed him just as much as Tsubasa, if not more.

"You wouldn't have known what to choose." A feminine voice spoke from somewhere behind him and made him jump in surprise.

You're the healer in charge of looking after him, he blurted out the minute he laid eyes on the amber-eyed woman.

"That's me." She nodded, stepping into the room with a few rolls of gauze and a couple of jars loaded in her arms, "You're his father, right?"

Yes. He replied as the woman smiled at him politely.

"I'm sorry, we haven't been properly introduced. Healer Masooma at your service. I'd curtsy, but my hands are kinda full." She gave him a sheepish grin as she moved towards the cabinet placed next to the door.

-0-

Li Syaoran, Masooma heard the spirit respond just as she started putting away the medical supplies. How is he doing?

"Well, to be completely honest with you, Li," she replied, sliding the cabinet shut and turning around to face him, "he's not doing so great."

What do you mean? he questioned sharply. Suspicion danced across his face, much in a manner similar to his son's.

"He tried to drown himself in the bath today." She said softly.

What? the brunette's eyes widened to almost comic proportions as he shot up, all color draining from his face as he stared at her.

"He's depressed, confused and suicidal." She elaborated in the same quiet manner, "Not a great combination if you ask me."

Aren't you supposed to be helping him? His voice showed just a hint of anger as he took a step towards her.

"I am." Masooma replied earnestly, "You just asked me about how he was doing."

How exactly is him trying to commit suicide helping him? he growled taking another step towards her.

"He saw Kurogane and Sakura before they left to get Fai," her gaze drifted to the sleeping face of the brunette that looked so much like his father, only a few years younger, "he thinks this is all a big ploy to get him to lower his guard and that the only way to get free of it all is to die."

He would never… he trailed off, a touch of uncertainty in his tone as he too looked at his son, fear clearly dancing across his features.

"Are you sure about that, Li?" she quirked her brow challengingly.

… What about his health physically? he asked as he looked back at her with an almost desperate sort of hopefulness, Is he too weak to walk around? I saw you moving him in a wheelchair earlier.

"He's paralyzed from the waist down."

Waistdow-what? he repeated in a choked laugh, one that clearly showed he didn't believe her.

"He is paralyzed from waist below." She repeated, hating the way his expression crumbled upon hearing her words, "I'm not sure about the details, but after Sakura sent you here, Syaoran jumped off the tower he was being kept in. The fall injured his spine and now he can't move his lower body."

Why didn't they try to stop him? he said angrily as she stepped past him to approach the sleeping brunette.

"It's rather hard to get through to someone who's had everything ripped away from them," she murmured, her fingers softly brushing out his now-cut hair out of his eyes. "Won't you agree?"

His only response was a deep intake of breath. Looking over her shoulder, Masooma saw that he had closed his eyes, in an attempt to gain some control over his emotions, no doubt.

"I'm trying my best to help him, Li, but-"

Call me Syaoran, he cut in.

"Okay… it'll get rather confusing to refer to you both by the same name, though…"

Then call him Tsubasa. He answered steadily, approaching his son's bedside once again. She watched as he reached out to touch him but stopped short of actually making contact with Tsubasa's skin. That's his name after all.

"His true name, huh?" she felt a small smile tug at the corners of her lips, "why did you tell me that?"

You are his healer. It showed just how much faith the spirit had put in her to tell her that name

"Thank you." No more words were exchanged between them for a few more minutes, each content with just dwelling on their thoughts, their gazes fixed on Tsubasa's tranquil face as he slept unaware of their presence by his bedside.

Fai-san loves you very much, Masooma-san. The spirit said out of the blue, shattering the silence that had prevailed between them for a little while, Why haven't you been to see him yet?

"I can't leave him on his own," she replied slowly, putting great thought behind every word she spoke, not letting her gaze stray from Tsubasa's face, "not after the stunt he pulled in the bath today."

He's sleeping. The brunette countered, his hand gently patting his son's forehead. Relief washed across his features as he let his fingers trail down to the side of his cheek. Had he been afraid he would not be able to touch his son?

"… I'm also scared of what I might find." She continued after a little while, watching as the father continued brushing his fingers through his son's hair, "There aren't many things that can rattle Nixon, but whatever they did to Fai… set him on the edge."

They drugged Fai-san, just like they had Tsubasa, the spirit admitted softly and she felt her breath catching in her throat. For a little while, he thought that the woman tormenting him was you. That iswhat the drug is designed to do, right?

"Yes." She answered in nothing more than a breathless whisper.

Don't worry, Fai-san managed to fight off the effects of the drug soon after I got there, Syaoran assured her, but something about the way he said it made her heart sink a little, he doesn't blame you for what happened to him.

"What did they do to him?" she asked weakly.

You should go see him. was the only answer she received. I'll keep watch over Tsubasa.

"…He won't wake up until morning." She told him as her feet refused to move from where they had glued themselves to the floor. "He kept having nightmares, so I-"

Even so, the brunette cut into her explanation as he caressed the sleeping teen's face, I will watch him.

-0-

Masooma was a little surprised to find out from Syaoran that they were keeping Fai in Nixon's sleeping chambers for the time being. A spark of hesitance had flared up inside her but she stomped it down. She still dreaded having to face the Oracle after the way he had put her down not even a day before, but her desire to see Fai was far greater than her fear of having to come across Nixon. And so, she had all but raced down the winding corridors of the stone pyramid until she skidded to a halt outside the carved wooden double doors of Nixon's chambers. Steeling her nerves for the confrontation she might have with Nixon once she was over the threshold, she knocked on the doors once. Even if Syaoran had assured her that Fai was only resting, she did not want to just barge in and upset a delicate medical procedure. Surprise must have flittered across her face when the door was answered by none other than Kurogane, for the man quirked a brow questioningly at her before stepping aside to let her in.

His red eyes still unnerved her at times, but she knew it was just her leftover fear from the time she had spent in the Complex. Where the ninja came from, that color of eyes was not abnormal, even if it was still a bit rare. And it meant nothing whatsoever. He wasn't a hunter. Reminding herself of that and everything he had done for Fai and Syaoran and Tsubasa, she gave him a polite nod as she walked inside. What little of the room she could see was empty, and her view of the bed was obscured by a wooden screen inlaid with semi-precious stones and delicate carvings. The magicians of Magihidusi were skilled craftsmen and had there not been the whole issue with the hunters, their work would have been appreciated by many across the world.

Her breath caught in her throat when she heard the door close behind her, leaving her alone inside the spacious room with just Kurogane for company. She gritted her teeth to push away the wave of dread that overcame her for a fraction of a second. Kurogane was not a hunter.

"Is it just you here for now?" She couldn't help but ask, even as she took a step towards the bed that she knew lay on the opposite side of the wooden screen. She had been in here so many times, she did not even need to look around the room to know that Nixon's wood-framed bed was placed a little ways away from the wall with a spindly iron lamp with twisting branches that seemed to spread out ending in rather beautiful spun-glass orbs that, when lit, served as the primary source of light in the room. Of course, the light wasn't for Nixon (being blind) but the lamp was placed there for the benefit of his visitors. There was a heavy study desk right under the enchanted window that showed a lovely sea-side view-a full moon shining brilliantly and reflecting against the dark waters, for it was nighttime now. Once again, that enchanted view was there for the benefit of his visitors. A blind man had no use of visionary beauties. She was slightly surprised to note that the rug that had always adorned the floor of his room was missing and there were mysterious dark patches dotting the stone in a few places.

"The princess is asleep in the next room." Kurogane answered gruffly as he moved past her and made to push the screen away. Masooma felt bad when she realized that the only reason the ninja had answered her with that explanation was because he had noticed the way she had stiffened.

"I'm sorry." She apologized quickly. He did not deserve her fear, especially when he had not done anything to hurt her in any way or form.

The man only shrugged in response as he pushed the frame completely out of the way, a strangled sound forming and dying in Masooma's throat as she took a staggering step towards the bed. The whole world ceased to exist for her as she somehow made it to the blonde lying there, still and pale as death. His hair had grown longer in captivity, its color having changed from sunshine gold to a dirty grayish-brown that was pulled back and roughly braided to keep it out of the way. His eyes were closed, his cheeks sunken with bluish veins showing through a paper-thin layer of skin and almost every inch of his body was swathed in sterile bandages.

She collapsed on the ground right beside his bed, her fingers automatically latching on to his frighteningly cold hand as she stared at him. She did not cry, not really, even if her eyes stung. She had managed to realize just in time that she wasn't alone. She was still thankful for the ninja when the man mumbled something about going to check in on Sakura before leaving. Once the door had clicked shut,her tears finally fell. Fai's breath rattled inside his chest, a wet, sickening sound every time he drew in a breath and it was almost like something was wrong inside him. She took note of the bandages wrapped around his throat, the sterile white dotted in places with a rusty brown, slowly taking into account the gauze that was enveloping his torso like a warm cocoon, noting the way a thin line of blood had dried vertically right in the middle of his chest and she found herself wondering just what they had done to cause such a wound. Bracelets of white covered his wrists and it was rather funny in a morbid way how she knew exactly what the cause behind those particular wounds would have been. Her shoulders shook a little as her tears kept on falling but she wasn't aware of her slightly hysterical chuckles until she felt a hand on her shoulder.

She whipped around, eyes wild and magic just at the tips of fingers until she realized just who it was that was standing behind her.

"K-Kurogane…"she managed to acknowledge the man in a shaky voice as she looked back Fai once more before hurriedly wiping her eyes. Turning back to the ninja, she offered him a fragile smile. The red-eyed man looked somewhat uncomfortable as he scratched the back of his head, averting his gaze briefly before looking at her again. Masooma noticed a piece of bloodied cloth wrapped around the wrist of his hand that he had been using to scratch his head and only a short moment later she realized it was a piece torn from his own shirt.

"There's something you need to know about the Mage." He informed her as he sat down on the floor beside her. Masooma forced her muscles to relax after she tensed up at his close proximity. This was too stupid. She should not be afraid of a friend like that. What was wrong with her?

"What is it?" She asked, her words coming out slightly sharper than she had meant for them to sound.

"I don't know what he told you about our journey when he was here before…" he trailed off, waiting for her to offer an explanation.

"Not much apart from the fact that you were travelling together to gather Sakura's memories." She replied, "And how at one point you all came to know that the Syaoran you were travelling with was actually a clone of the Syaoran that's in my care. I'm not sure how it works, because the clone is also his father. And the clone of the princess is his mother."

"He didn't tell you about the time the kid left?" she could almost hear the exasperation in his tone.

"Syaoran left?" She asked the obvious question.

"The kid, he was cloned without a heart," the ninja replied, heaving a sigh as though he had not really hoped to have this conversation with her, "but his son gave him half of his own so that one day the kid would be able to grow his own heart."

"Giving a heart to an incomplete copy? It had only been possible in theory as far as I knew."

"The kid managed it. But the spell was faulty."

"How?"

"The heart would have returned to its original owner the minute the two met." Kurogane grunted.

"But surely the cloned Syaoran had grown a heart of his own by then, right?"

"The spell was faulty." He shook his head, "The clone ended up leaving us."

"Why are you telling me all this?" she asked suspiciously. What it did matter now that the Syaoran she had just talked to a little while back had left his companions in the past? He was there with them now, wasn't he?

"There was one world, where...things went really wrong." He was now intently staring at Fai's chest, just as Masooma was staring at Kurogane's face, "The mage ended up being attacked and had half of his magic stolen."

"Half his magic got-" alarmed, she snapped back to look at the magician, finding no trace or sign of the time where his magic might have been stolen from him, "but he's..." she trailed off, feeling confused and unsure. There was nothing wrong with Fai, magically speaking, that was.

"He's gotten it back since then." The ninja replied hurriedly, "But at that time, his eye had been ripped out and he was dying... We talked to the witch and found there to be only one way for him to live…"

"What are you trying to say, Kurogane?" she asked warily, wondering if this was how Syaoran had felt when she had been telling him about Tsubasa's injuries.

"He isn't human anymore."

"Wha-? Not…human?" she repeated, sounding lost. She was having trouble wrapping her mind around the concept of the blond being something different. How could he not be human? There was nothing wrong with him, he even had both his eyes. And why had he never told her about it himself?

"There was a pair of twins, vampires." She heard Kurogane speak, "they gave Fai their blood in exchange for a wish."

"He's a vampire now." She replied distantly, understanding almost instantly what the ninja had meant by Fai not being the same. She found her grip tightening on Fai's hand. Her heart thundered inside her chest as the urge to pull the blond close to her and never let go of him became almost impossible for her to bear. She did not do much to visibly show how the news was affecting her. with everything that had been going on, she had been emotionally exhausted and now she really did not have the energy to react to anything.

Vampire blood had the ability to bring someone back from the brink of death, granting them with almost astounding healing abilities in the process. There had been rumors about Ashura-ou having had his life saved by a vampire too. The vampire, who had been said to possess a magical glass eye, had come across the ruler in a frozen wasteland that had claimed the lives of his envoy. Of course, the incident had happened back when Fai had been a mere apprentice himself and had been left behind at the castle. According to the rumors though, the vampire had not used his own blood to heal the king but the blood stolen from a pureblood. The few books that she had read about the subject of transformations had mentioned such a conversion to be cursed. If the vampire was not willing to give their blood, the transformed would slowly descend into madness. Of course, Fai had told her that had been nothing but rumors. Ashura-ou was probably the sanest man she had ever known. And the king did not consume blood. But Fai… "He needs blood, doesn't he?"

"The mage had not wanted to be turned," Kurogane said slowly, "it had been my wish to keep him alive. He became my responsibility because of that wish, so I'm the only one he could feed from… it went away when he got his magic back, but when we found him in that place… I think some part of it reawakened."

"He never told me anything..." she murmured softly, squeezing her eyes shut to stop herself from crying in front of Kurogane over something so trivial. Why did it matter that Fai had kept this a secret from her? She had not told Fai everything about the damage done to her either, had she? He had never pressed her to tell him about everything...

"Maybe he just didn't want to worry you." Kurogane offered. "He must have thought it wouldn't come back either…and from what I know of the mage, he's not someone that openly talks about his past."

"I know…" she replied, her free hand straying to her stomach as recalled her conversation with Tsubasa, "I've kept secrets from him too, but…" she shook that train of thought away as she looked at the ninja, "I'm sure there was a reason why you told me about this now."

"Just thought you should know," He shrugged in response, "and… I didn't want to startle you when I, you know."

"How frequently do you have to feed him?" Her mind was already trying to come up with how much damage had to have been already healed by his vampire blood by now. If this was how he looked like after having been healed of about a month's worth of time…what did he look like when they had first brought him in?

"About every four hours at this point," That meant Fai had to have been fed about four times already then.

"Losing that much blood can't be good for you." She eyed him closely, taking note of the slightly sickly pallor of his dark skin, the yellowish tint of eyes, the slight chappy dryness of his lips. "No wonder you look so peaky." She muttered under her breath.

"I get by." He said dismissively, "The princess already told me to be careful, so don't worry about that."

"Was it... painful?" she asked softly as she pushed a strand of Fai's hair out of his face."I read it's supposed to be excruciating."

"For a little while," he replied, a touch of hesitance to his tone. It was clear there was something the ninja was not telling her, but she wasn't sure she wanted to know what it was. She wasn't sure she would have been able to handle the knowledge. Just the thought Fai being even more hurt than how he appeared made her want to be sick. How barbaric could those bastards be?

"He never did tell me much about his journey with you guys… I guess now I know why." She gave a mirthless chuckle.

"Well, maybe you'll have time for that now." Kurogane offered, "He's not going to be going anywhere for a while, so he can't avoid it if you ask."

"He's pretty good at avoiding things he doesn't want to talk about." She countered, struggling to keep her tone somewhat light. If she asked Fai about his secrets, she would have to tell him about the one she had been keeping from him. How would he react to knowing that she would not be able to give him the one thing he had always wanted, even if he had never said it out loud? His love for children had shone in almost everything he did, from the way he sometimes behaved and talked to the way his eyes softened and his smile brightened when he stopped to play with them.

"Only because he can usually walk away." Was the only response she got.

A/N: So Syaoran found out about Tsubasa's paralysis and Masooma found out about Fai's vampirism. What do you guys think should happen next? I'm sorry if it's going a little slow right now but I need to tie a lot of things before we get down to the epic showdown. There's still the matter of Nixon's volatile state of mind and Fai still has to wake up and Tsubasa still has to recover his memories. Who do you think should be around when Fai wakes up? Thanks to his awesome vampire healing powers, he'll be waking up by the end of the next chapter so I'd love to hear your thoughts on who it should be that's with him.

And apart from that, is there anything in particular that you guys might like to see included in these 'slow' chapters of the story before everything goes back to hell again? ;) ;) Feel free to drop a review stating your opinions and suggestions.

Until next time.

~Obsidian

P.S. Since I didn't exactly make it very clear in this chapter and I probably won't be going into much detail in the future chapters either, Tsubasa had to get Magihidusi's version of a catheter for his bed-wetting problem. A catheter is what is used for bed-ridden patients after a major surgery or for people suffering from paralysis. It consists of a drainage bag that is attached to a plastic tube that is used to collect urine from the patient. I'll spare you guys the scarring details of the whole procedure but if anyone is interested, look it up on the internet. ;P Just don't say I didn't warn you.