Disclaimer: I don't own Tsubasa, Clamp does, and I'd really like from to do a sequel for it!
Summary: Post story. Kuroganes has it all worked out, and you'd think it'd be pretty obvious that the Mage comes with him, right? unfortunately, Fai has other plans entirely, even if he knows he's an idiot who'll get beaten for it. But when the time comes, the chase begins.
This is the first story I can't come up with a name for. Usually I base stories on songs, but this just came suddenly to me! So... suggestions?
The issue was brough up one day, and Fai tried not to think of it too deeply.
"Is something bothering you, Mokona?"
"Um... well..."
"Just spit it out, Rabbit!" Kurogane burst in a quiet manner.
"Mokona is Mokona! Mokona is not a Rabbit! It's just... Mokona's been thinking..."
"That's never good..." The Ninja murmured sideways.
"Kuro-pon's horrible!" Mokona pouted, leaping insulted from Fai's shoulder on top of the black-haired's head, stopping him before proceeded to Shaoran.
"Shaoran, when do you think our journey ends? I mean, I like traveling with you, and Fai, and Kuro-horrible—" ("What did you just call me?!") "and you paid the price of moving onwards, and we must bring back the other Shaoran and Sakura, but, but Sakura is waiting for you in Clow Country. I'm sure that one day you'll have to come back knowing you'll stay in there with Sakura forever. But when do you think it will happen? We can travel through dimensions for long long time!" The White fluff spread her tiny arms wide to emphasize the last words.
Shaoran smiled softly. "I don't know. But I'll never leave Sakura's side. Until the time I can return to Clow and stay there, and after I'll find a way to revive these two, I'll hold on till that time comes. You don't have to worry about me. And I'm sure you'll be able to stay by the other Mokona's side too. I'm sorry, but could you wait untill that moment comes? We won't be able to go anywhere, and it'll be boring and gloomy without you traveling with us."
"Of course!" Mokona jumped happily, "I'll stick to you like glue, you won't be able get rid of Mokona that easily!"
"Thank you." Tsubasa tilted his head and turned his gaze, suddenly addressing Fai, "It'll be boring without you as well. Have you thought about what you're going to do afterwards?"
"Not really. I guess I'll keep traveling by myself. I'm too used to moving around now." He smiled meekly.
"You don't plan to settle down somewhere someday?"
"I'd pass. It didn't really work out for me before, did it?" Fai waved his hand dismissively. "I'll be fine, I know my way around. Besides, I'll get bored in one place!" He said naturally, and the boy didn't think Fai was lying, but he wasn't telling the whole truth either, or just didn't figure it out himself yet.
Either way, Tsubasa confirmed whatever he needed to confirm, and Crimson eyes glared in growing irritation at the blond's nape.
"But do you even have enough Magic to cross dimensions multiply times —I mean, with the same frequency like Mokona?" Shaoran asked.
"Who knows?" The Mage shrugged, "You know what they say;" he grinned, "We'll cross that bridge when we come to it." Of course he has. Gaining his eye back restored the magic in both of them, even after paying the price for Kurogane's arm.
Kurogane's fist clenched.
"Well, you're more than welcomed in Clow. Sakura will be delighted to have you there, and me. Now," He turned away from the three, deliberately dropping the subject and raised his head to look at the huge animals crossing their way on the field while they stood concealed under a big bush (or a small tree?). "We should probably find a place to camp. Hopefully there aren't any Raptors or carnivores around. Though I'm sure we could handle them, it'll be sad to kill any..." He gazed up, one hand shading his eyes from the sun and Mokona jumped happily on his head, shading her eyes as well while looking up in admiration.
"I never thought I'll get to see living dinosaurs from so up close. This is amazing!"
The Pork-bun danced on his head. "Right?"
And Kurogane stayed annoyed, even after they left the Brachiosaurus pack and found a clear spot to spread the sleeping bags (on rainy days without shelter they put up the tent too. Being originally from a modern-day Japan, Shaoran brought some clever insights into their group, though Mokona should have been able to suggest something as simple as that and sleeping bags and not sleep on their own cloths. Why Mokona or Yuko or Watanuki never did was beyond him).
"I'm going to punch that idiot's head into next world and keep hitting it until it cracks open and bleeds all that useless brain he doesn't use." Kurogane breathed hissing and dropped the wood harshly on the ground. The sun was slowly setting over the horizon and Fai was out with Mokona looking for edible fruits or berries or something other than the leaves and grass the big Herbivores were eating. Shaoran kneeled to rearrange the wood into a bonfire.
"Into next World sounds too literal when it comes to us." He said nonchalantly.
"You knew he'd say that?"
"No. But Mokona brought up the subject already so I figured we should make things clear." He halted. "I just thought... because it's Fai-san.."
"For someone who doesn't like to lie you can sure act like a professional." The Ninja snored.
"You're welcome." Shaoran replied. Kurogane didn't get it at first, but it made sense when the Kid asked the dumb blond if he planned to settle somewhere. The answer was obvious — at least, to Kurogane it was.
Or he thought it was. To Shaoran and Mokona it was also quite obvious to where Fai will be headed after it all ends, but the only other man involved it the decision —Fai himself, that is— apparently had others ideas that didn't sit well with the other counterpart. So Shaoran decided to drop the subject because from that point where Fai-san gave his not-so-obvious answer, it became less of his business, and he thought it was better to let the two settle things on their own.
Didn't mean he couldn't express his input on the matter.
"You're going to have to ask him properly, you know. He'll never return with you to Nihon on his own accord."
"Like hell I'm asking him!" The Ninja snapped a bark, glaring at the brown-haired who stood up after finishing with the wood. He took out a written paper charm seemingly out of nowhere and muttered 'Kashin Shourai' before tossing it into the wood like a play card. The charm kindled halfway through and ignited the wood.
"Because you're too proud to do so, Kurogane-san. But..." The boy squatted down again, watching the Warrior through dancing orange flames. "you do realize why he's so reluctant to settle again in one place, don't you? especially in Nihon or Clow."
"Because he's an Idiot." Kurogane decreed mercilessly, returning a hard glare as blazing as the fire he was staring at. "And I don't plan on asking him anything — I'll just drag his ass back with me to Nihon whether he likes it or not."
Shaoran sighed, knowing Kurogane was completely serious.
. . .
"Fai! Won't you go to Nihon with Kurogane?" Mokona questioned, sitting on Fai's shoulder, holding a small bag of apricot-like fruits they found earlier.
"You mean when our journey ends?" Fai crouched down to examine another bush they found, checking for any poisonous signs on the small berries. "Why would I do that?"
"Why... Isn't it obvious?" the White Rabbit chirped kindly and somewhat worriedly. "You and Kurogane are—"
"—Not conected by blood anymore. Since I have my eye back and my magic is far stronger than the Vampire needs I can suppress it, so I don't really need Kuro-rin anymore to keep me alive." He stood up, looking at the bush thoughtfully. "Hmm, It looks like blueberries, but I wonder..."
"But —but Kuro-pon wants you to come with him! He's just too proud to admit it!" the White thing pouted as Fai took a berry between his fingers to check it up close. "Mokona knows because one of Mokona's secret talents, and Mokona can feel in Kurogane's heart that he doesn't want to lose Fai. And even if Fai doesn't need Kurogane anymore because he has his magic back, what if Fai travels alone and gets trapped in a world where he can't use magic at all? won't the Vampire blood resurfaces? in a place like that horrible Valley or—"
"Mokona."
The berry dropped on the ground, and the edgy tone to the blond's voice made Mokona realize she had crossed the line. "I'm sorry!" She panicked, "Mokona didn't mean to upset Fai! Mokona just—"
"It's fine." Fai interrupted her, stroking a hand softly on her head, trying to calm her down and show her he wasn't mad, so she won't get upset. "Just... don't bring it up again, Ok?"
"I'm sorry," The White creature bowed her head in shame.
"Besides," Fai proceeded lightly to make her forget what just happened, ripping more berries from the bush. "why would he want me in Nihon? He'll have to chase me all around the palace to make me stop annoying him with these nicknames he hates so much. I think he had enough of that already. And something tells me that even Kuro-sama wouldn't be able to handle it if me and Tomoyo-chan teamed up against him." He laughed, trying to lighten up the mood. But even his own words stung him a little. It could be nice to team up with Princess Tomoyo against Kurogane. If he planned of staying there.
But he couldn't. He knew he was being foolish, going back to old bad habits and many people will reprimand him for that, but staying in Nihon or Clow after what happened to Valeria and Celes... he just couldn't.
"Because~ Fai is someone very precious to Kurogane, Kurogane want's Fai to stay by his side, and Mokona can feel it; Fai too wants to stay with Kuro!"
The words made Fai flinch, because he knew Mokona wasn't wrong. He... cared about Mokona, and Shaoran, and Sakura, the Clones, and even Tomoyo. And Kurogane, a lot. He already knew that.
"Someone precious, huh..." he whispered, the berries crashing in the his palm. "He certainly has a strange way of showing it."
"Fai?" Mokona said meekly, carefully, not able to decipher Fai's expression but he sounded... vulnerable.
But when he turned to look at her, his face seemed natural, if a bit annoyed, and whiny.
"All this time, he hasn't called me by name, not even once."
Mokona stumbled. "That's true." She sighed sadly. "But that's true about Mokona too! And Shaoran, and Sakura, and other Shaoran and Sakura , and Yuko, and Watanuki, and.. actually, the only ones Mokona heard Kurogane call by name is Tomoyo and Soma and Kendappa..."
"See? He only calls by name these from his own world." Fai smiled. "Now, we better get back to work, Kuro-chi and Shaoran-kun are waiting for food. I'm sure he's grumbling right now and dying from hunger, asking what's taking us so long."
"It's fine." Mokona pouted evilly. "It's the punishment for being so mean to Mokona!"
Fai laughed.
When they came back a fire and water pot were already set up and the first thing Mokona did was—
Spit a net with a big chunk of meat out of his mouth between the youngster and the Ninja. Shaoran stared at the package in surprise, a bile rising in his throat. "D-don't tell me it's—"
"Don't look at me, we didn't hunt. Just collected fruits." Fai blinked.
"It's from Watanuki!" Mokona chirped and leaped from the Mage's shoulder happily. "I told the other Mokona about the animals of this world earlier. It's Ham! Watanuki want's to see the dinosaurs!"
"I see," Shaoran sighed in great relief and bent down to open the net. There was a box with a Camera inside.
"So the meat is his payment?" Kurogane concluded. "Why? Aren't these animals edible?"
"Well... I guess everything's edible if you're hungry but... it'd be a little strange to eat them.."
"Why?"
"Because they're Dinosaurs!" Mokona chirped.
Kurogane didn't get it. It took a while to explain to him that to people who knew dinosaurs as prehistorical creatures of their world before humans even developed from apes would find it hard to think about these creatures as meat-food.
The hardest part was that Kurogane started to convince Shaoran instead that a beast's meat is a beast's meat and that if they don't speak their human language and are like any other animal, there is no reason they shouldn't be edible.*
. . .
A laud roar filled their ears in the middle of the night, making everyone jump right up from their sleeping bags and look up into the pitch black sky.
The ham they boiled into a stew draw some predators to them after all, but instead of moving their camp Fai used his magic to block the smell from the carnivores, and set up a temporary barrier for the night.
But the things it attracted were about their size or smaller, and now their ground was shaking, booming sounds getting closer and closer.
Shaoran set up tiredly with a yawn, gazing at the eye-rubbing Mokona. "Watanuki doesn't want a Tyrannosaurus Rex into his picture collection, right?"
. . .
—
. . .
"But, but you know," Mokona said after a while, somewhat shyly as the made their way back to the camp, arms loaded with the fruits and berries they've found. "Mokona still thinks Kurogane really really wants Fai to come with him. I'm sure he'll get mad and drag Fai himself if Fai runs away! He'll travel worlds to find Fai!"
The words made Fai smirk, and there was nothing humorous or light about it. "I know." It was bitter, and hard. "And he'll have to catch me first."
. . .
"...Which is why I can't risk you telling him about this conversation just yet. Sorry, Mokona."
*Stared this fic with the thought in mind that eating Dinosaurs will be too wierd, ended up convincing myself in what Kurogane said, which is what I wrote myself (obviously) xD
Note: White Mokona is Supposed to be a female, while Black Mokona is supposed to be a male. I have solid resources to base that on, but I'd still rather use the word IT instead of She or He since it's not that knowledgable and people sometimes assume it's fan-based. Also, White Mokona's name is Soel, the Black's name is Large.