Summary: In which Fai climbs the tallest tree he can find, Kurogane tries to distract him, and Syaoran is uncharacteristically childish.

Of Tree Climbing And Rock Skipping

Having just landed in a new world, where nobody was around, and there was nothing to do, Fai was quickly bored, which was never a good thing. If Fai was bored, that meant that soon Kurogane would have to chase him around, and stop him from doing stupid stuff.

Within minutes of landing in this world, which was green and filled with trees, the wizard had taken it upon himself to climb the tallest tree he could find, while Kurogane, Mokona, and Syaoran searched for people. He could have helped out, but apparently that wasn't entertaining enough.

After coming back empty, Kurogane looked up the tree, and scowled when he saw how high Fai had managed to climb. He was almost at the top. And that tree looked pretty big. Almost unnaturally so. Where the trees in this world supposed to be this huge? A look around confirmed that while the others tree were tall, none were as tall as this one.

"You're going to fall if you climb much higher." Kurogane said, loudly enough to be heard. The sound of Fai's laughter trickled down to him.

"Don't worry about me, Kuro-sama!" was his simple reply. Kurogane grumbled to himself under his breath, but he figured there probably wasn't any reason to panic. Fai, after all, could fly, as he'd demonstrated in the Hanshin Republic, and the Country of Recort, when he'd briefly floated as he whistled. If he fell, he'd be fine. Then again, he had lost half his magical power. What if the half he'd lost contained his ability to fly?

Kurogane folded his arms, and pretended not to care. But really, he was nervous, because the blonde was a walking health hazard to himself. And sure, it might be funny to see Fai fall out of a tree. But maybe a tree that wasn't quite so...steep. So he didn't take his eyes of the mage as he shimmied up the branches, which finally started to bend under his weight. The ninja was a little shocked at exactly how far Fai had had to climb before the braches started to give way. Did the blonde man even weigh above one hundred pounds?

"Oi, be careful!" Kurogane called, and one branch bent at a particularly scary angle, so that for a second, Fai was looking down at the ground below him. He shouted loud enough that Syaoran, who had Mokona on his shoulder, came over from his investigation to see what was going on.

"Kurogane-san?" he said as he approached. "Where's Fai-san?" The boy looked around, but he didn't look up.

Mokona spotted him a second later, and pointed with it's tiny paw. "Fai is high in the tree!" the white creature squealed. Syaoran looked up, not expecting he'd have to look quiet to high to find his friend, his eyes widening as he saw just how high Fai really was. It was getting harder and harder to see him.

"Fai-san, that seems kind of dangerous!" the young boy shouted up to him. Fai, meanwhile, was having the time of his life. He reached out for the next branch, aware that all eyes were on him as he practically swung himself to the next limb. Far below, he heard Mokona squeal in terror, apparently having been prepared to see Fai fall to his doom.

Syaoran looked at Kurogane. "What should we do?"

"Well, we can't force him down." Kurogane grumbled. He looked around, trying to see if there was anything helpful to the situation around. His eyes settled on the river that was flowing next to them. There were some rocks next to it, and it sparked an idea.

"Oi, mage, come down here." he said, turning and walking towards the water. He heard the tree rustle in response, but Fai shouted back a negative, stating, "I like it up here!'

"If you come down, I'll show you something." Fai was a child at heart, always had been, even during the times when he was hurt, and scared, and angry. He was even more so now than he had been before, since he had the time and peace of mind to play around, and Kurogane knew he wouldn't be able to resist.

It was quiet for a few seconds, which Kurogane figured was Fai taking the time to consider the offer. He heard more rustling, and when he looked over his shoulder, he saw that Fai had poked his head out to see what Kurogane was doing.

"What?" he asked, obviously not planning to come down out of his precious tree until he knew exactly what it was he was exchanging it for. The taller man was scanning the rocks, and his eyes landed on one perfect for the job. He picked it up, and after throwing it up in the air and catching it a couple times, he said, "Watch this."

He looked back, and saw that Fai was indeed keeping a close eye on Kurogane, obviously expecting something spectacular, obviously not knowing what Kurogane was going to do. Syaoran was watching too, and he looked just as oblivious. Jeez, had his parents not taught him this in the brief seven years they had him?

Kurogane pulled back his arm, and launched the rock. It skimmed across the water, before it began to hop, doing so five or six times before finally sinking into the water. Kurogane was impressed with himself. Six was a new record. He hadn't skipped rocks for quite some time now, but he clearly still was skilled in the matter.

"Wow!" That was Syaoran, coming over with wide eyes that made him seem much younger than his technical twenty oneish. Behind him, he could hear the sound of leaves rustling madly as Fai quickly made his way back down the tall tree. He was there faster than humanly possible, insisting, "Do that again!"

Kurogane, for a moment, was embarrassed to have all the attention on him, but he pushed it aside, and picked up another rock, hurtling it into the water, and watching with the others as it skipped five times.

"Kurogane is so cool!" Mokona said, and Kurogane couldn't help but feel a little big headed at their praise. It really wasn't that impressive to others, but to Fai, who had grown up in a place where a lot of the water was likely frozen, and Syaoran, who'd had no time to learn, and Mokona, who wouldn't be able to do it with those stumpy paws, it seemed pretty incredible. The clones wouldn't have known how either, having grown up in a desert country.

"How'd you do that?" Fai was digging around on the ground now, trying to find a rock of his own. He came up with the first one he found, which would never work. But Fai didn't know that, so he pulled his arm back the way he'd seen Kurogane do it, and gave it a toss. The rock simple plunked into the water. Fai, rather than looking embarrassed, just look confused.

"Eh? I couldn't make mine skip, Kuro-tan!" he complained, pulling on the ninja's shirt like a child. Kurogane knew that Fai honestly was really childish, but sometimes he wondered if Fai was still going out of his way to do things that would be considered childish. Like pulling on sleeves.

"You have to use a flat rock." he said, and Syaoran, who had been searching the ground for a rock of his own, dropped the one that he was currently carrying, and picked up a flatter one.

"Like this, Kurogane-san?"

Kurogane gave the rock a once over, and nodded. "That should work."

Syaoran looked out at the water like it was an obstacle he'd have to over come, and after a few seconds where he calculated how to throw it, he pulled his arm back, and threw the rock. The group watched, the three others with anticipation that was almost too intense, as the rock skipped a single time, before sinking into the water below.

"You did it Syaoran-kun!" Fai cheered, and the brunette smiled shyly.

"You try this time, Fai!" Mokona said, hopping onto the blonde's shoulder as he dug around on the ground again. He picked up four different flat rocks, dropping each one.

"What are you doing? Just pick a rock."

"Nuh uh, Kuro-rin, it has to be perfect."

Kurogane rolled his eyes, but didn't say anything in response.

Syaoran picked up two of the rocks he'd discarded, and handed one to Kurogane, who made it skip with ease. He was aware the the two other human travelers were watching him closely, trying to figure out how best to mimic him. After he was done, Fai, who had apparently found the perfect rock, arched his arm, and launched the rock with a graceful throw. This time, instead of sinking right away, it hopped two times, and Fai jumped around like he'd just won some huge prize.

"Yay! I made it jump!"

The next thirty or so minutes were spent with the tree of them taking turns skipping rocks. Mokona, not wanting to miss out on the fun, gave it a try. Only a few pebbles were tiny enough for Mokona to use, but eventually, the little creature managed to make one jump. In response, Fai and Mokona danced around for what seemed like way too long.

The sun started to go down, and Kurogane, figuring it was time to stop, started to look around for wood so he could start a fire. The three others continued rock skipping, but the ninja left them be. After all, how much trouble could they get in skipping rocks?

"Hey, I wonder how far I can make it skip if I'm up in the tree!"

This...is nowhere close to what it was supposed to be. But, obviously I like it, or else I'd go back and fix it. It was originally intended to be a KuroFai oneshot, but somehow it turned into a family bonding fic.

If you're confused by me calling Syaoran twenty oneish, no I'm not saying this story takes place years after the story. Syaoran(R) is technically about twenty one, since he was rewound to seven at about fourteen, and lived seven years again to get back to that age, putting him at about twenty one.