Sorry it took a while before I updated chapter three. I started writing a bunch of other fanfics. You guys should check em out, if you have the time. I'm really digging my "A Secret Worth Hiding One" and "Everything Will Be Alright" was pretty good too. I was proud of it. They're both also KuroFai.

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Reader- I hope you won't be disappointed by this chapter, even though it took a while.

Gothic girl- Yes, Kurogane cut off his arm to save Fai in Celes, Fai's home country. And this takes place after that, after the manga is over. In case you didn't read the end of the manga, (or any of it) Syaoran and Sakura are both clones, the original Syaoran is their son, and in the end, the two clones go inside the original Syaoran and Sakura, and Syaoran, Fai, Kurogane and Mokona journey to find a way to bring them back. So, yes, Kurogane's arm is fake in this story, and it is after Fai became a vampire.

Vannya20- I'm glad to brighten up your day, even if only just a little bit at all. Thanks for the kind words, and actually, you should rush me, just a little, so that way I'll actually post faster.

Snowe Whisper- Don't worry child, the KuroFai scenes will come. Calm down.

The Apprentice's Sorcerer- Haha, thanks. Sorry if you suffered at school because of me. I used to go through the same stuff when

Chapter 3

Fai tried very hard to put the dream out of his mind. For the moment anyway. When he was alone, he'd try to figure something out. But if he thought about it while Kurogane was around, the ninja would quickly pick up on his anxiety and demand an explanation.

Knowing there was no use in trying to keep Mokona hidden from the twins for the whole duration of their stay, they instead introduced them, to save themselves the trouble.

"What are you?" Shea asked, holding Mokona in her hands, cocking her had curiously back and forth.

"Mokona is Mokona!" was Mokona's answering, surprising none of the traveling companions.

"A spirit, maybe?" Reya offered, and Syaoran shrugged noncommittally, not wanting to be a liar.

"Uh, something like that."

Shea nodded, accepting the explanation, and patted Mokona on the head. "Cool! I've never seen a spirit like this before."

Fai, who was cooking breakfast while all this was being done, turned and started putting the plates down. Everyone dug in, thanking him, and, of course, telling him how good it was. He smiled, accepting the thanks, trying to act normal.

Once they were done, Reya turned to Kurogane. "We could use a little work done on the roof. Do you mind?"

Kurogane grunted, standing up. "Give me a minute to get ready."

Fai went after him, subconsciously afraid to leave him alone. The spirit couldn't have meant anything good by taking Kurogane's form in his dream. Most likely, it was planning to hurt him. There was no way he'd leave Kurogane alone, he had to stay nearby, so he could sense any magic coming their way.

"What?" Kurogane asked, and Fai realized he was just staring blankly ahead. He wiped the look off his face, and smiled. "Oh, uh, I guess I just spaced out."

He quickly turned away, back out of the bedroom. Was it possible that that was the spirit's actual form? Maybe, despite the odds, the Kurogane of this world had made contact with them, and was this spirit. But he knew that wasn't the truth. The spirit was not kind, or caring, it was only chaos and anger. It felt evil. And Kurogane was not evil.

"Oi." Kurogane reached out and grabbed his arm, gently wrapping his fingers around Fai's upper arm. "You're lying. Is it that spirit? Is that what's got you freaked out?"

Fai shrugged, neither confirming nor denying. "I just hope it doesn't cause any trouble." There, that was true, even if it wasn't the whole truth.

"We'll get it under control. It'll be fine. Got it?"

Fai nodded, trying to look reassured. "Got it."

Then, just to comfort himself, he leaned up, kissing Kurogane gently on the lips. The ninja accepted the kiss, pulling Fai closer to him. Fai felt Kurogane's heartbeat against his chest, and counted them as they kissed. At beat seven, they pulled apart, and Kurogane ruffled his hair before going off to start on the roof.

On the bottom floor, Fai still managed to hear a very light thumping on the roof, that signaled Kurogane's work on it many floors above. As Kurogane worked, Syaoran found things to do, and Fai was suddenly pulled away by Shea.

"Would you like to go to the market with me?" she asked, and he nodded. This would be his chance to ask how the twins parents had managed to seal the spirit before. The sooner he knew, the better. He didn't want to leave Kurogane alone, but Syaoran was here, and he'd be able to sense if anything magical came their way.

As they were walking, Shea chatted idly, and Fai listened and joined in. She reminded him a lot of Sakura, and it was hard not to like her. As they shopped, Fai looked around, for any sign of the spirit. But everything was quiet.

Once there was a brief lull in the conversation, Fai took control. "So, uh, Shea-chan?" he asked, and she tilted her head toward him as she examined what he thought might have been this world's version of an apple.

"Yes?"

"How did your parents manage to seal that spirit? If it was so powerful?"

"What do you mean?" Shea asked, as she paid for almost a dozen of the maybe apples. Fai noticed the shopkeeper eyeing Shea in way that could only be described as disgust. Fai's brow furrowed, confused by this, but he let it slide, since Shea seemed to be blantly ignoring the look.

"How did they lure it into the cave?"

"Oh. Actually, I don't know. Why?"

"Oh, no reason. I was just wondering." It wasn't very convincing, especially when he sounded so clearly bummed, but luckily, Shea did not seem to posses Kurogane's ability to tell when somebody was lying. They continued on their shopping trip, and Fai saw more and people looking at Shea, glaring, and turning away when she walked by.

"Uh, Shea-chan?" he asked, and the girl stopped walking, looking back at him.

"Yes?"

"I can't help but notice that everyone seems to dislike you." Fai said bluntly, since there was no other way to say it. "I thought you said your parents were very well liked?" He had thought that it stood to reason that if that was the case, the children would be liked too, but so far, that hadn't seemed the case.

Shea paused, and nodded. "It's just me they dislike, really."

"Why's that?"

"A lot of them, though not all, don't approve of me."

"What is there to approve of?" Fai looked the girl up and down, but she only smiled and walked off, leading the way back to the house, where the two of them put the groceries away. Fai wanted to find out more, but that felt hypocritical, considering how private he once was, hating it when people, (Kurogane) pried into his life.

He brought the conversation up with Kurogane though, the next time the two of them were alone, and the ninja nodded, as if something had been confirmed.

"I thought so." he said, and Fai cocked his head. Syaoran came in behind them, Mokona riding on his shoulder, just in time for the conversation.

"Thought what?" Syaoran asked, Mokona hopping off his shoulder, and onto the counter.

"Shea's a boy." Kurogane said plainly, like it was easy to see. Fai's eyes widened, and Syaoran looked a little caught off guard too, but then he nodded. "Yeah, I suspected too."

Fai rolled his eyes. "Well aren't you two just so observant." He didn't wait for a reply, and instead ran to find Shea, to see if this was true. He found her with her brother, the two of them playing a game on a piece of paper.

"Shea…" Fai said, suddenly not sure how to broach the subject. She looked up, and just looking at him, seemed to know what he was going to say.

"I was born a boy." she said simply. "But really, I'm a girl. And some of them don't approve."

Fai stood there a couple seconds, then smiled, and sat down next to the twins, joining in on their game.

That's all that was said about that.

*(*)

Night came. Syaoran went to bed, and Fai and Kurogane sat in their room, talking about the spirit. This was because Fai had broken the news to them that Shea didn't know how their parents had lured the spirit, how they had even sealed it. So, Syaoran had been forced to fake casually go and ask Reya instead. Fai couldn't do it, because then they'd realize something was up, and Kurogane was terrible at being casually friendly.

Syaoran had come back from the conversation looking non too pleased, and they knew they were screwed. Until they figured something out on their own, at least.

"Maybe it's written in books." Fai was saying as they lay in the bed that was much too big for both of them. "And even if not, somebody in the village has to know."

"Yeah." Kurogane agreed. The blonde was letting his hair out of it's ponytail, and the hair fell around his shoulders, tickling his bare skin.

Fai curled in closer to Kurogane, who put his arm around his shoulders. It was quiet for a couple seconds, and, not exactly tired, and not excited to see that thing in his dreams again, Fai tried to get Kurogane to play with him a little. He reached over, his long fingers trailing along the ninja's ribs.

Already aware of what he was going to do, Kurogane tried to move away. "Oi. Don't do that."

Fai didn't listen, instead starting to tickle his lover lightly. Kurogane wasn't exactly very ticklish, but if it he hit the right spots, Fai could make the taller man squirm a little. He had an ulterior motive though, since usually, if he did this, Kurogane would wrestle him off, and pin him to the bed. This usually led to a kiss, and sometimes this led to other stuff.

Maybe Fai could have just asked for a kiss, or for other stuff, but it was more fun this way. And besides, despite the fact that they weren't exactly innocent and pure, Fai still found it embarrassing to voice those kinds of wishes outloud. He had a feeling Kurogane did too, which was why he put up with these things, and why their other kisses were more silent spur of the moment things.

"I said cut that out." Kurogane said, sounding a little mad now. Fai paused, because he sounded actually mad, not fake mad. But that couldn't be, because Kurogane didn't have a reason to be angry. Especially when he was currently on the road to getting laid. So Fai resumed his movement, but just as quickly, was put to stop.

This was because suddenly, Kurogane had him by both of his wrists, and was pinning him to the bed. That was how Fai had planned it to go, but the look in Kurogane's red eyes was something very new. He was glaring down at Fai, his eyes burning, and his grip around Fai's wrists was tight.

"I told you to stop." he growled lowly, and Fai could only look up at him in a stunned and frightened silence. The mage briefly considered calling out for Syaoran, but held back.

"A-are you...are you alright?" he whispered softly, and after the words had left his lips, Kurogane blinked, and shook himself, like he was shaking away a fog in his head.

"What did I just...I...I'm sorry. I don't know what happened. I've been feeling a little weird all day. I guess it was worse than I thought."

He got off Fai, sitting back in the bed, but looking at Fai worriedly. "Are you alright?" he asked again, and Fai nodded, and even though what had just happened had been scary, he instantly hugged Kurogane close, because he knew if he didn't, Kurogane spend the next couple days thinking Fai was mad about it.

"It's alright." he said, and kissed Kurogane on the temple. "Sorry."

Kurogane huffed, wrapping his arms around Fai, who lay on his chest, the same as he had earlier today. And just like then, he could feel Kurogane's heartbeat. But earlier, the ninja's heart had been steady, calm.

Now, it was just a little quick.

Kurogane was...nervous? Afraid?

Fai looked up into Kurogane's face. It was the same face he'd always known. The same cheeks, and eyebrows, and nose. And, mostly, the same eyes. Mostly because, Fai thought he could still see a glimmer of that anger buried deep behind the red iris of Kurogane's pupils.

Fai held on tight to Kurogane, hoping it was all just his imagination.

So, as of right now, I do not have plans for Shea's gender to impact the story. Sorry for the pointless gimmick, but I really wanted to do it. I'd actually had it planned since chapter one, before I even started writing the story.