A/N: And with this, our story comes to an end. That being said: thank you so so much to anyone who read/favorited/reviewed/followed/glanced in the general direction of this story, since it's been one of my favorites thus far to write and share with you. It was quite the emotional journey given the subject matter, but I loved every second of it, and I'm happy with how it turned out. To anyone who's picking up the story now that it's complete, I hope you will still share your thoughts with me, since I want to keep writing for KuroFai, and the guidance will help me make my next fic better than ever. But for now, please enjoy our finale!

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Finale: To the Future

They had only spent two days in the latest world they landed in before Mokona's earring glowed, hurrying them forward yet again. It had been one of their more enjoyable experiences since they had begun their endless bouncing back and forth between worlds, and it had marked their first occasion of running into Fuuma since their departure from Nihon Country. They had all been a bit surprised to see the surly Kamui they had met in Tokyo at his side with no sign of Subaru anywhere near by, but a few well placed glares from Kamui had kept them from asking any further questions.

This time, Fai barely had a chance to catch a glimpse of his surroundings before face planting into a field of snow courtesy of Mokona's questionable drop-off skills. He was much more accustomed to the temperature than either of the other two, but it still stung a bit to feel the snow against the bare skin of his face. He groaned and tried to pick himself back up on his feet, but his hands slipped on a patch of slush and he ended up slamming his face into the ground all over again.

A strong hand grabbed him by the collar and hoisted him off the ground. "Oi," Kurogane yelled, swinging Fai's body around and thrusting his face in front of Mokona. "Look what you did, meat bun! If this guy gets a cold because of this, I'm going to make sure you never forget it!"

"Waiii, Kuro-myuu's scary!"Mokona giggled as Fai brushed the snow off his face. "Mokona will be more careful next time!"

"You say that every time, and yet you still dump us into the ocean whenever you feel like it." Kurogane dug his fingers through Fai's hair, sending all the flakes that had gathered there flying. "Just because you're a tiny little meat bun doesn't mean I won't stretch that face of yours off."

"You know, they say idiots don't catch cold," Fai said with a smile, doing his best to soothe Kurogane's temper. "I'm not too worried. Besides, I feel rather at home in the snow."

"Yeah, well, you'd better be right about that. We don't need you sniveling around anymore than you already do."

Fai snorted. Kurogane always did his best to sound like he didn't care around Syaoran and Mokona, but there was no disguising that soft look of concern which passed over his face.

"The layout of this field is familiar,"Syaoran said. While Mokona and Kurogane bickered, he had knelt down to brush away some of the snow beneath him to examine the ground. "The crops are gone since it's winter, but you can tell that this is the kind of farmland made for growing rice. I still remember the time I worked in a place like this, in the world we went to after Tokyo."

Fai suddenly snapped to attention, finally wriggling out of Kurogane's tight grip on his cloak. "Is it the same place?" he asked, taking a closer look at the landscape.

It was hard to see anything distinguishing to it thanks to the cover of snow over everything, but he thought that the houses looked similar to the one where they had stayed. His mind immediately filled with thoughts of the Kurogane he had met there, the man he had treated so coolly in spite of being moved by the way in which he treasured his soul. Fai regretted his words and the actions he had taken at that time, and dearly wished to apologize for them after at last accepting his own love for the Kurogane at his side. But more than anything, he wished to thank the older man for opening his eyes to the path to a future he had assumed was impossible to obtain. He had always believed his fate would head down the singular track Fei Wang Reed had set it upon, but the two Kuroganes had played a role in changing that future; one by showing him a glimpse of a life where he had been able to love and find happiness with Kurogane even through his sorrow, and the other by loving and protecting him until he was strong enough to return the love equally and with all his heart.

"I can't tell," Syaoran admitted. "But it does look like there's only the one path here, just like in the world we stayed in."

"We should find a place to stay and worry about that later," Kurogane said. "You're all going to catch colds."

"Kuro-daddy is such a worrywart," Fai teased. "But I don't see anyone we could ask. They're all being smart and staying indoors."

"What about that guy over there?"

They glanced over to where Kurogane pointed. A young, slender man with tawny hair and spectacles was dragging some firewood further down the path where a considerably larger house than all the others stood.

Syaoran's mouth fell open. "Isn't that... Fujitaka-san?"

"Sakura-chan's father?" Fai asked, tilting his head. "We don't know him as well as you do, so you would know better than us. Does it look like him?"

"Yes. Just like him, but younger."

"Well, you seemed to look up to him quite a bit, so I think he might help us out." Fai cupped his hands over his mouth. "Ya-ho!"

The man turned around, looking quite a bit surprised to see three people standing in the barren fields. "May I help you?"

"We're travelers from another country," Syaoran explained, quickly noting the odd look their clothes were receiving. "Is there anywhere we can stay and rest?"

"There's no inn here, but as the landowner, I gladly accept any travelers who pass through into my own home." He extended a hand. "I'm Fujitaka Reed."

"As in Clow Reed?" Fai murmured under his breath. Fujitaka looked up excitedly as soon as the name left his lips.

"That's the name of a distant relative of mine! I never met him, but he was the one who owned this land a few generations back. When he died, he passed it on to the woman he was in love with... Yuuko, I think her name was... and she passed it down to her old cook, Kimihiro Watanuki. Watanuki-san didn't have any children, so he tried to learn more about the Reed family so he could put it back in our hands. And that's how he found me." Fujitaka smiled brightly. "My last name really isn't Reed, but I picked it up after I inherited the house. Everyone still calls it the Reed family manor, so I thought it was fitting."

"Forgive me if this is an odd question," Fai said, "but do you happen to know of anyone in this village named Kurogane?"

Syaoran and Kurogane both turned to him in surprise. Neither of them had met Kurogane-san when they were in the village, but Fai still remembered vividly their encounter, and how foolish he had been back in those days towards the man who had so deeply treasured a manifestation of his soul. He had always wanted to apologize, but they had never been brought back to the village until now, and Fai had started to give up hope that they would ever meet again.

"Kurogane... Kurogane..." Fujitaka mumbled as he racked his brain. "That name does strike me as familiar. I know there's a headstone for someone by that name nearby Clow and Yuuko-san's, but I think there's one other detail I'm forgetting..."

"Jeez, that's morbid," Kurogane shuddered. "Did you really need to bring that up?"

"Excuse me?"

"His name is Kurogane-san, too," Syaoran explained. "I'm Syaoran, by the way. And that's Fai-san."

"Fai-san?" Fujitaka snapped his fingers, his face lighting up. "Fai-san! That's it! Fai-san the kimono maker!"

Fai blinked in confusion. "Huh?"

"It all happened before I came to the village, but I know the story fairly well. A few years ago, one of the former field hands named Kurogane-san passed away, willing all his money to fund scholars of medicine in the capital. Since he was just a farmer, it wasn't all that much, but there were so many beautiful kimono left behind by his spouse, Fai-san, that there was enough money to build an entire school in the city after they were sold. Anyone who goes through that school thinks of Fai the kimono maker and Kurogane the farmer as their benefactors." Fujitaka pursed his lips, looking back and forth between Kurogane and Fai. "Fai-san also has a headstone in the graveyard, right beside Kurogane-san's. I would say it's a coincidence that you share their names, but I know that there is no such thing as coincidence in this world. I'm sure there's a greater meaning that I simply do not understand."

Kurogane leaned down a little bit to whisper in Fai's ear. "Oi," he said. "Does this have something to do with what you were telling me that one time back in Nihon? This was the place where he lived?"

Fai nodded. "I'm sure of it. I wonder how much time has passed? The lifespan must be somewhat shorter for the people in this village, but still..." He swallowed. "I would have still liked to apologize."

Kurogane sighed deeply. "Oi, megane-kun," he said, pointing to Fujitaka. "You can take the kid up to the house and we'll join you later. Where's this graveyard you're talking about?"

"Follow the path until the fields end. Before it leads down to the river, there will be a little patch of land to the right where the dead are buried. All of the stones are rather small, so you'll have to look carefully."

"All right." Kurogane plucked Mokona off his shoulder and plunked him down into the hood of Syaoran's cape. "We'll be just a few minutes."

Taking Fai's hand, he led him down the path, waiting for the fields to level off and reveal a small, snow-covered graveyard. "You don't have to do this," Fai said, trying to keep his tone light. "It is kind of morbid, isn't it?"

"Yeah, it is. But it's real life. It won't hurt to pay a visit."

They scanned the graves for a bit before coming upon a familiar name. Yuuko and Clow were near the front of the rows, their graves side by side even though the small characters denoting the span of their lives were separated by about thirty-five years. Doumeki and Watanuki were also nearby, though their headstones looked newer, as if they had only recently been added.

"Hey," Kurogane said suddenly, pointing. "Wasn't that your brother's name?"

"Yui..." Fai brushed snow off the headstone. "No. That was my name, remember? But perhaps it was never meant to belong to me, after all. It seems that every time we see him again, I have his name and he has mine. And he's always more than welcome to have it." Fai's eyes traveled down the row. "But if my brother's here, that must mean..."

"Ah," Kurogane said. Their eyes had fallen upon the graves at the exact same time. Directly to the right of Yui's was one that bore Fai's name, and the one beside it was marked with Kurogane's. The dates indicated that Kurogane had passed fourteen years after Fai, and judging from the dates on Doumeki and Watanuki's headstones, several years still had passed since then. Quite a bit more time had gone by than Fai had thought; he could still remember Kurogane-san saying when they'd met that it had been ten years then since Fai's death.

"Fourteen years," Kurogane said gruffly. "A short amount of time for the universe, but it must have felt like a lifetime."

Fai looked up at Kurogane and nodded. He couldn't help but wonder if this would one day happen to him. The magic in his body guaranteed him a long life, and thanks to the amount of time he had spent frozen in the tower, it had already extended many years past Kurogane's. Would he be the one left waiting in this lifetime? Would he be able to go on fourteen years or longer, or would it be too great a pain for him to bear? He was certain he had managed to shave off years from his life back when he'd been left with the one eye which had depleted his strength, and he had done his best not to use too much magic when his full sight had been restored, but would such meager efforts be enough to avoid the sadness of this fate?

"Stop thinking," Kurogane said sharply. "You don't know what will happen any more than I do."

"I know that, but still-"

"I know." Kurogane lifted his cloak from one shoulder and wrapped it around Fai's so they were pressed closely together. "But you'll only destroy yourself all over again if you think too much about it. Is it too much for you to simply enjoy the life we have without killing yourself over the exact moment it will end?" He grabbed Fai's chin and lifted it up. "But the thing is, it won't end. I hated listening to the witch and all her bullshit, but she was right about that."

"Kuro-sama?"

"The souls of these two people finally reunited, right? In that case, I'm sure they were reborn, and are now on some other world finding each other again. You're probably acting like a brainless idiot, and I'm probably for whatever reason still putting up with it."

Fai's breath caught. How could he have forgotten? He was exposed to new worlds time after time, and so often he saw familiar faces side-by-side. Touya and Yukito, Arashi and Sorata, Ashura and Yasha, Doumeki and Watanuki, Subaru and Seishirou, and even himself and Kurogane were always, always still together. No matter how fleeting life was, the soul was eternal, always finding a new way and place to live again.

"Why are you crying?" Kurogane asked gently, brushing Fai's tears away. "Isn't that a happy thing?"

"A very happy thing," Fai sobbed. "The most beautiful thing there is."

"Then don't cry in front of them. Let them live happily, too."

They sat there for a little longer, watching the snow accumulate on the headstones, slowly obscuring the names. "Kuro-tan," Fai said, at last wiping his eyes. "That house where Fujitaka-san lived looked pretty big, didn't it?"

"Yeah."

"Big enough to where he wouldn't have to give us the same room as Syaoran-kun."

"Probably."

"Then in that case, I would like to be with Kuro-tan tonight. If that's also what he wants."

"That goes without saying." Kurogane rose to his feet and helped Fai to his. "Did you say your goodbyes?"

"No," Fai said, shaking his head. "I don't want to say goodbye. Because what would truly make me happy is getting another chance to say hello."

Kurogane smiled at him and ruffled his hair, and together they made their way down the path, to a future of their own.

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It was the hottest day of the summer, and Kurogane was stuck outside. It was his own fault for letting the brat next door, Tomoyo, bribe him with all of her considerable monthly allowance into driving and chaperoning her and her little friend Sakura on a "date" to an outdoor mall. If only he hadn't been so strapped for cash, he would have been able to spend the day indoors, enjoying all of the many benefits of air conditioning or taking a long cold bath. It wasn't as if the mall was particularly interesting, anyways; Sakura and Tomoyo had spent the beginning of their day looking over posters of the top female idols so Tomoyo could sketch their dresses to create for Sakura, and then they had managed to shake him off after lunch with the promise that they would meet him again in an hour.

Kurogane grimaced at the empty water bottle in his hands. He'd long since finished it off, and when he'd tried to refill it with water from a drinking fountain, it had ended up tasting tepid and disgusting. He was getting thirsty and overheated, but he wasn't in the mood to spend a portion of the money Tomoyo had given him on the overpriced drinks the mall was selling. There was a small cart selling sno cones at a discount a little ways away, but he was still debating whether or not he should indulge in such a childish treat to shake off the heat for a few minutes.

"Waaaa, I can't take this anymore!"

Kurogane glanced up in surprise. The loud exclamation had come from a young man who was nearby the vendor Kurogane was dawdling at. His body was angled away from Kurogane, but Kurogane could see his hair was a natural white-blonde, a rarity for the area, and that his body was lanky and incredibly long through the limbs. For some reason, he couldn't stop staring that the damp places on the guy's back where his white t-shirt latched on to his skin, hugging him closely. He couldn't put his finger on why he thought so, but it looked kind of sexy, in a way. He had never thought that about anyone before, so it startled him a bit when he couldn't look away.

The guy had a wrinkled pamphlet in his hands, which he fanned himself with every few seconds. Kurogane squinted to read it: it was for an exhibition put on by a kimono collector that had taken place at an art gallery down the street. He'd heard about it from his mother, who had gone the other day with Tomoyo and her family. Apparently, there had been pieces from pretty far back which had miraculously survived over the years, and his mother had commented that the history behind some of the kimono had been surprisingly interesting.

"Ah!" the guy suddenly chirped. "Sno cones!" Clearly, he had cried out because of the heat, which was bothering him as well. Unlike Kurogane, he didn't think through the purchase. He pulled out his wallet and immediately began digging up change and heading towards the cart.

Might as well do it, too, Kurogane thought to himself, getting in line behind the blonde. He was pretty sure his decision was made because of the unbearable heat, and not in order to get a better look at the person in front of him.

The guy (who had his long bangs pinned back with a flowered clip and smelled faintly of lavender, Kurogane observed when he was closer) ordered the biggest cone available and dyed it red with cherry flavoring. He was just about to step aside when Kurogane was beset by a sudden tickle in his throat and started coughing, and instead whirled around to make sure he was all right. It was then that Kurogane got a good look at his eyes. They were not a bright blue, but rather pale, a blue that seemed cool enough to make Kurogane forget about the heat and everything else other than the beautiful person standing in front of him.

What is this? I don't even know this guy, Kurogane thought to himself, but somehow there seemed to be something familiar in the eyes that gazed at him. It was hard to explain it. It felt, all at once, like a well-traveled feeling of comfort settled over him- the comfort one feels when they are finally able to come home- and that somehow, inexplicably, his world was at that very moment just beginning.

The other person seemed to be reacting equally. His hands were shaking so badly that half of his sno cone slid off to the ground, and his beautiful blue eyes dampened with tears. He lifted a hand up to brush away their wetness. "I'm sorry," he said, a faint blush appearing on his cheeks. "I don't know why I'm-" He stopped short, noticing the frozen ice melting at his feet. "Oh."

Kurogane released a long suffering sigh, hoping that his gruffness would undo whatever intimate atmosphere had arisen between them. "I was the one that startled you. I'll buy you a new one." He dug out some change and passed it along.

"I don't know if startled is the right word for it," the guy said with a sheepish smile. "It's more like… well, I feel as if I know you from somewhere. Have we met?"

Kurogane lifted an eyebrow.

"I'm not trying to pick you up. Maybe. I mean, I don't react this way every time I see a hot guy, nee?"

He bought another cone and turned back to Kurogane. "I like your face Mr. Guy-in-Black," he said. "You've got beautiful eyes."

"It's Kurogane."

"Close enough. Kuro-tan, then. I'm Fai, by the way." He leaned closer. "Hey, do you believe in soulmates?"

"KUROGANE!" he yelled. His mother had named him after the founder of the massive medical school she had gone to in Tokyo, and it held so much sentimental value for her that he hated whenever anyone tried to toy with it. "And if you want to talk, stop sounding like you're trying to pick me up!"

Fai laughed. "But I think I definitely want to now!" His face turned serious for a moment. "All the same, I think my soul is very excited that I got to see you. That might sound weird, but that's the feeling I have at the moment. If Kuro-tan isn't busy, maybe he could walk with me for awhile?"

Kurogane didn't say anything, but when Fai began to step forward, he snorted and fell in line with him. He didn't know much about soulmates or the possibility that this was not the first time he had laid eyes on this person named Fai, but he felt that in the depths of his soul that he, too, had found his way to the very beginning of something that had always been waiting for him, time and time again.

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