Title: Family Portrait
Rating: PG-13
Warnings: Angst, silliness
Spoilers: EOS, no explicit reference to series events
Pairings: Kurogane/Fai, Yuui/Tomoyo.

Author's Note: Third part in the 'Ill Luck' series, after "Curse of the Twins" and "The Third Thing."

It was a chill, blustery spring day in Kyoto; the rain had stopped hours ago, but water still dripped incessantly from the leaves of every tree and bush in the gardens. There was no one in the central garden at the time, which was just as well; the two travelers who emerged from thin air, a brief puff of steam rising from their clothes and breath as they adjusted to the air of the new world, had no interest in an audience.

The blue crackle of light and small whirlwind of air faded in a few moments, but the two men - one tall and blond, the dark-haired one even taller - just stood there, staring together at the silhouette of Shirasagi castle against the gray sky.

"This feels…" the blond one said with a sigh.

"Weird," said the other with a grumble, and his companion gave him a surprised look and a laugh.

"Did Kuro-pon read my mind?" he said teasingly. "Or are we going to start doing that married couple thing where we finish each other's sentences?"

"Stop that," Kurogane grumbled, giving Fai a light cuff to the head that barely tousled his hair. "As if I'd want to know what goes on in your head most of the time. I just said it's weird 'cause it is."

"It feels very strange to be coming home for a change," Fai agreed in a soft voice, and leaned wearily against Kurogane's side. It had been his magic that breached the dimensions one final time and brought them to Nihon; although he'd done it before, the effort it took to carry two people across dimensions had exhausted him. He knew Kurogane felt his weariness but didn't comment on it, only shifted his arm around to support Fai's weight better.

"Well, we're not getting anywhere just standing in the gardens," Kurogane said at last, with an irritability that was mostly for show at this point, a mask of grumpiness to cover up his true feelings as Fai had once used smiles. Fai had had years of practice by now in reading the big man's emotions, and what he didn't know, he could guess: happiness, excitement, anticipation, anxiety, and a certain amount of sorrow. It was to be expected; for the first time in years they were setting out in a new world without Syaoran or Mokona by their side, and there was no guarantee that they would ever see their friends again.

Instead they were returning home, to a place Fai had only spent one day in his life. It was, as Kurogane had said, a very weird feeling.

"Seems just like I remember it," Kurogane commented as they walked through the palace grounds, gravel and grass crunching beneath their boots. "I would have thought more would change. It's been years, hasn't it?"

"Years at least," Fai agreed. "I'm not sure how many, though; it's hard to calculate the different flows of time. But I don't think it's been more than ten years, anyway, so it's not like things would have changed all that drastically."

"Yeah, well," Kurogane grumbled. They crossed a bridge, their footsteps echoing hollowly over the planks of wood, and he turned them unerringly towards the main palace gate. "I thought things would be a little different, that's all. Don't the groundskeepers have any sense of imagination?"

Fai laughed. "Come on now - if they had changed things around you would be complaining about how they can't leave well enough alone! You just like to grumble for the sake of grumbling."

"I do not," Kurogane objected.

"You do, grumpy puppy," Fai said with a cheeky grin. Then his smile transformed into something a little more real. "But the palace has been here for centuries, remaining the home of the Divine Emperor through years of change. Is it really all that surprising that it would endure for us, as well?"

"Yeah, I guess," was all Kurogane had to say about that. They crossed a deserted gravel strand and stepped up onto the wooden planking of the verandah, and Kurogane looked around to try to orient himself. He was eager to go see Tomoyo again, but first things first.

A serving-woman came around the corner with a tray in her hands, and did a small but gratifying double-take to see them standing there. Somewhat unusually she looked at Fai first, perhaps because his coloring made him stand out. "Lord Flowright, I beg your pardon. What are you doing -" she began, but then her eyes moved to Kurogane and she gasped, hands clutching at the side of her tray. "Lord Kurogane!"

"For a start, don't call me 'lord' anything," he said; he had no idea what her name was, but he thought he recognized her from his old life here. "We're back, and that's all there is to it. Now can you take us to an open guest room? The wizard here tired himself out making the journey, and he needs to rest while I see Her Highness."

Beside him Fai made a small noise that might have been an objection, but he was leaning too heavily on Kurogane's arm for that to stick.

Obviously thrown off balance, the maid redirected herself and backed away down the hallway, gesturing at them with the back of her hand. "Come, this way," she said, and Kurogane followed.

They ended up in one of Shirasagi's several guest chambers, more or less identical rooms furnished with neatly woven tatami and elegant, tasteful wall murals. The maid had put out the bedding at Kurogane's request, and Fai sank down on top of it with a relieved sigh.

It could have been a hotel room, a tavern room in half a dozen worlds they'd passed through. But it wasn't; it was home. The thought of home still took some getting used to, the idea of staying in one place for more than a few nights. They'd have to find a more permanent set of rooms in the castle because they were going to be here for months. For years. It was bizarre.

"It's because it's the same that it's so weird," Kurogane admitted once they were alone again. He sat on the edge of the futon, his back to Fai, and looked out over the view of the garden. "It's just like I always imagined it would be - just like it. That's great, but…"

"But what?" Fai said, his voice muzzy with exhaustion; but he still put out one hand to stroke along Kurogane's human arm, sliding down his forearm to his wrist. "It's like a dream that you're afraid to wake up from?"

"Maybe," Kurogane allowed. "More like I'm still waiting for the other shoe to drop."

Fai laughed softly, but didn't reply. His eyes were closing heavily, and Kurogane just sat there, watching him drift off towards sleep.

At last Kurogane rose and brushed his clothes straight. "I'm going to find Tomoyo," he said. "With any luck I'll catch her alone - it's midafternoon, so she should be taking a break right about now. Assuming she hasn't changed her habits in the last ten years."

"You're going to bother her while she's indisposed?" Fai mumbled, his eyes still closed.

"Of course," Kurogane said with a small smirk. "Those rules apply to normal people, not to me."

"Kuro-brute," Fai snorted, then sighed and relaxed. "I'm sure she'll be happy to see you," he said drowsily.

"Hope so," Kurogane said. "Need anything?"

Fai groaned softly and turned over on his side, face away from the light. "If you could send some food my way that would be great," he muttered. "And some booze, that would be even better. But for now I just want to rest a bit."

Kurogane snorted, shaking his head. Fai's priorities never changed. "I'll see what I can do," he said, and left Fai to sleep.

The sense of disorientation returned as he straightened up and headed for the doorway. It gave the whole experience a surreal tinge, as though any moment he would wake from the familiar dream and return to the endless journey. How many times had he walked this route in his imagination, retracing the steps along the creaking floorboards and throwing the sliding doors out of his path? He would open the door to Tomoyo's audience chamber and she would be there, seated on her throne, and she would have that damn familiar little smile on her face and welcome him home -

He reached her door and threw it open without knocking, still half-believing that this whole day wasn't quite real. Tomoyo was there, just as he had expected.

But she wasn't alone. Another person was sitting on the dais beside her, their faces turned towards each other.

Tomoyo lifted her head towards him, and for the first time he had ever known her she looked surprised. He realized, somewhat belatedly, that she was no longer a dreamseer and that for the first time in the twenty years they had known each other, she had not known he was coming. And because he had always assumed that she would see him coming, he had not bothered to knock. "Tomoyo, I'm -" he started to say, and then broke off as further details registered with a dull jolt.

Tomoyo and the other person were not merely in close conversation, as he had first assumed. They were actually embracing, Tomoyo perched neatly within their arms as their heads bent together, and her elaborate robes were slightly askew. Kurogane's chagrin at interrupting an obviously private moment battled with a rising indignation; who in all of Nihon would dare to suppose that they had any right to lay hands on the High Priestess like that? He itched to go over and bang this brash swain's head against the ground a few times, just to make sure he knew his place.

But the head that was pulling back from Tomoyo's was blond, and nobody in Nihon had hair like that, and the face that turned towards him in surprise and irritation was a familiar one indeed; more familiar than his own face in the mirror, because it was the first one he woke up to every morning.

It was Fai.

Kurogane had just walked in on Tomoyo and his lover, cuddling and… and making out in her private chambers.

What the everloving fuck?

"What the everloving fuck," Kurogane said, because he was not much one for hiding his feelings, "is going on in here?"

Fai frowned, and his blue eyes narrowed in an icy glare. "What are you doing in here?" he snapped back, his light tenor voice edged with a hard, clipped tone. He stood up, his body blocking Tomoyo from sight, and Kurogane felt his protective instincts flare angrily. "The Princess is not taking visitors! What made you think you could just burst into her private chambers without making an appointment - or knocking!"

"What am I doing here?" Kurogane demanded incredulously. He ought to be angry, he supposed, but he just couldn't get past 'shocked.' Fai and Tomoyo were - Every time he tried to follow this thought to some conclusion it fizzled out in a burst of white static, because he simply could not wrap his mind around the concept of Fai and Tomoyo… cheating on him? Was that even the word? Was that what was happening? What in hell was happening? "You lack-witted wizard, what are you doing here? Who gave you the god damned right?"

"I have every right to be here," Fai said frostily, "which is more than I can say for you. How did you even get in the castle? You don't belong here!"

That hit Kurogane like a slap in the face, and his legs carried him a powerful stride forward before he knew what he was doing. He grabbed for Fai's kimono, intending to shake some sense into the stupid mage -

- wait a moment - Fai hadn't been wearing a kimono that morning, he still had on their clothes from the last world; how had he gotten changed so fast?

…and for that matter, when had Fai learned to speak perfect Nihongo?

"Don't touch me!" Fai snapped, brushing off his grab with a dodge and deflection of his wrist. He stepped between Kurogane and Tomoyo, face set and eyes hard, and blue light began to flicker along his raised hands. "Who are you?"

…and both his eyes were blue.

"Kurogane," Tomoyo called gently, and reached out to place her hand on Fai's shoulder - not Fai? - in a calming motion. She had gotten her clothes in place, and the startled shock had faded from her expression. "Please, calm down. We are all friends here."

Kurogane and… not-Fai made a rude, startled noise almost at the same time, expressing exactly what they thought of that idea.

Tomoyo tugged firmly, and reluctantly the not-Fai stepped away, dropping his hands and letting the magical power fade. Tomoyo stepped not-quite between them, "This is Kurogane, my loyal and beloved retainer, who has been away on a journey for many years now," Tomoyo explained, and his expression changed from stony anger to shock.

"Him?" Not-Fai said incredulously, jabbing a finger rudely in Kurogane's direction. "This rude… lout is the man you spoke of so often and so fondly? Out of all the warriors in the castle, he was the one you picked for your favorite?"

"Hey!" Kurogane objected. "And get that finger out of my face before you lose it!"

Tomoyo reached out her hand and closed it gently around not-Fai's, bringing their joined hands down as she turned to Kurogane with a grave expression. "Kurogane, this is Yuui Flowright… a permanent guest at Shirasagi castle who arrived since you have been gone… and my consort."

"What? You're the Tsukuyomi, you don't have a fucking cons - Yuui Flowright?" Kurogane did a double take, his mind racing down unpleasant pathways he hadn't thought he would ever need again, not since Ceres. Yuui… Fai's real name had been Yuui, the name he'd abandoned when his brother died. This man must be from another world, he must be, but was he another version of Fai… or of Fai's brother?

He reached out urgently and grabbed Tomoyo's shoulder, his gaze flicking to not-Fai - Yuui - and back to her face. "Princess - is he Yuui? Or is he Fai?"

"What?" The stranger's expression had gone from angry bemusement to a sudden, ashy gray shock. "How - how do you know that name…?"

"Yuui," Tomoyo said, and stroked her hand down his arm in a soothing motion. "Have you forgotten? Kurogane is my retainer who left on a journey… together with his companion from another world, Fai Flowright."

Yuui swayed as though the floor had just tilted away under his feet, and in pure automated habit Kurogane reached out to support him. Yuui shied away from his hand, in what looked like unthinking reflex, and staggered a few steps away to sit down on the cushioned dais. Tomoyo joined him.

"Shh, it's all right, Yuui," Tomoyo said. Her voice betrayed an anxiety unusual for her, and she brushed her delicate fingers gently over his face. "I promised you, did I not? That he would return someday…"

"But I didn't expect it would be today," Yuui said with a shaken gasp. "What will I say to him? Tomoyo, what will I…"

"Princess, what is going on?" Kurogane said, in a firm but increasingly agitated tone. Tomoyo looked up at him and shook her head, obviously unwilling to leave Yuui's side. The part of Kurogane's brain that was not thoroughly caught up in this shocking revelation was still waiting to freak out about this whole consort business - but that was just going to have to wait.

"Yuui left his home world many years ago," Tomoyo said in a soft undertone, as though the man himself could not hear, "for reasons that are not really mine to explain. When he passed through Nihon I told him about you and Fai, and invited him to stay in the hopes that someday he would be able to meet you two again. Please, Kurogane, try to summon some tact. This is not easy for him…"

"Not easy for him?" Kurogane exclaimed. His brain was beginning to move forward again, picturing the scene that was going to result from this when Fai woke up, and he didn't completely like how it was going to turn out. "At least he had some warning, which was more than either of us got!"

Tomoyo's expression changed, shading into a hint of disapproval. "I am no longer a dreamseer, Kurogane, and you two were passing from one world to the next far too rapidly for us to locate you. You could have called once in a while, you know. Let us know that you were still alive, and when you were planning to return."

Kurogane cleared his throat, looking away uncomfortably. "There never seemed to be time," he muttered. Yuui was beginning to get control of himself again, although his breathing still had a touch of hyperventilation.

A look of alarm stole over Tomoyo's features. "Fai is still with you, is he not? He must be - unless -"

"Yeah, he's here," Kurogane said quickly, before either of them could get too worked up about this theory. "We had to leave Mokona behind with that gangly shopkeeper back in the Witch's world. The wizard transported us both here, but it wiped him out. He's asleep in one of the guest rooms."

"Asleep," Yuui echoed, and seemed to sag a little - in relief, disappointment or both, Kurogane wasn't sure.

"Yeah," Kurogane said, and scowled at this stranger - a completely unlooked-for inlaw who was going to turn their world upside down. "And I won't have you bothering him. He's exhausted."

"Heh," Yuui said, and the ghost of a shadow quirked his lips. "World-walking. With two people, even. Yes, I know."

Whatever the hell that meant. Kurogane turned his attention back to Tomoyo instead. "I actually came to see you, and to get food and drink for him," he said. "It was late at night when we left, but I'm guessing it's just past lunchtime here."

"Close to it," Tomoyo agreed. "I will have the cooks prepare some food - for you as well, Kurogane, and you can take it to him when he wakes. In the meantime, let us move somewhere more… appropriate, and talk. You must have many questions for Yuui, and I'm certain he has many for you. I was never able to tell him very much about his… brother."

"Yeah," Kurogane agreed quietly. It was beginning to dawn on him just how lonely and painful this stranger's life must have been; exiled from his own world, traveling endlessly without even the solace of true companions to ease the burden.

The two of them had not, perhaps, made the best of impressions on each other… but if this really was Fai's brother, then they weren't going to be rid of each other any time soon. Kurogane supposed, however grudgingly, that he had better put some effort into making himself pleasant. "Sure, let's eat," he said, and he managed to keep it from coming out grudging or hostile. "And," he added, turning back to Tomoyo, "while we're at it you can explain this whole consort business to me."

On the bright side, Kurogane thought, he was definitely certain that this was real life. His imagination could never have come up with anything this bizarre.

~to be continued...