Dreams are answers to questions we haven't yet figured out how to ask. X-Files

Kurogane had never been one to place much importance in his dreams, but that was only until they forced him to look twice.

He generally didn't remember them, and even then they made little sense. If they really were a product of his mind, Kurogane figured that not much must have been happening. Tomoyo had occasionally inquired about them before sending him away, but he'd never had much to tell her.

He sometimes wished he could go back to those days.

The first time he had The Nightmare – as it came to be known – he knew instantly that it was no ordinary dream. Instead of the usual confusion and fluidity he was used to this one was horribly clear.

Fay, bloodied and dying, lay in his arms and looked up at him forlornly, before he simply drifted away like a pile of ash in the wind.

The first time he'd had The Nightmare he'd woken up in a cold sweat, only calming down when he looked over at a thankfully solid Fay. At the time he'd shrugged it off and declared it a mere anxiety dream – until it happened again, and again, and again. In retrospect, he really should have paid it more attention, for while The Nightmare itself was a fairly horrible experience, it didn't hold a candle to the real thing.

When it did happen the cold fear that had gripped him in sleep was replaced by numbness. Even when Fay reached up brush his face – something he'd never done in The Nightmare – Kurogane had only been able to stare in disbelief at the puddle of blood forming under Fay's body. But strangely, Fay had given him a warm, genuine smile before his body disintegrated. What Kurogane remembered most about the actual event was the feeling of Fay's weight suddenly vanishing – and he imagined that Fay must have felt much the same then.

In the following whirlwind of events Kurogane hadn't had time to grieve, not even when he arrived back in Nihon. He'd talked briefly with Tomoyo about his journey, but hadn't really mentioned what happened to Fay. He suspected that she knew already, and was thankful for that. The memory was simply too fresh in his mind to really face.

He'd settled back into the routine fairly quickly, and had decided that perhaps it was best to simply forget about it and go on with his life. Being back with Tomoyo in the land he was born in… It was what he'd wanted, right?

So why did some part of him feel cheated, unfulfilled, and lonely?

He spent many nights wondering about this, until something popped into his awareness one night right before he completely fell asleep.

Kuro-rin?

He bolted upright at the sound. There was no mistaking the owner of that voice. A check of the room revealed nothing, and he went back to sleep despite the pounding of his heart. He dismissed it as the product of a guilty conscious, until it happened again the next night.

Kuro-rin?

This time the voice was clearer, as if the speaker had somehow moved closer. There was something about the voice that reminded Kurogane of the way the blind lute players Tomoyo welcomed into her court would stretch out their hands to ask for water. It was a voice one used when they knew something was close but could not see it, and simply hoped that somehow they'd come into contact with it.

It was after the third time he heard the voice that he went to Tomoyo. He told her about everything, The Nightmare, Fay's death, and now the dream-voice, and felt oddly relieved to finally tell someone about it. She listened patiently, and when she did finally speak after he finished her voice was gentle and understanding.

"I understand your apprehension about this entire issue." They were in the throne room, and her voice seemed oddly magnified by the great space, giving an almost underwater feel to the scene. "But I am glad that you came to me with this. As for Flowright-san… you say that he simply vanished?"

"Yeah." He replied sadly. "Like ash."

Tomoyo closed her eyes and nodded once. "I see. What you saw, Kurogane, is something many magic users put in place. The body of a magic user has residual power even after the soul has left, and there are those – like Fei Wong Reed – who are uncouth enough to exploit that for their own purposes."

Kurogane's eyes widened.

"Use their… body?"

Tomoyo smiled sadly.

"I'm afraid so. No doubt Flowright-san knew about this unfortunate practice, and put a spell in place as insurance. Even I –" She ran a hand along the singular red ribbon tied around her left wrist. "Even I have taken such precautionary measures. When my soul leaves, this charm will make sure that no one can use my body for evil."

Kurogane lowered his head. "I see."

"But that is not the real subject of concern here." Tomoyo continued. Only now was her tone grave, despite the fact that she'd just been talking about her own eventual death. "You say you saw this event – with minor differences – several times before it happened. You may not want to hear this, but given who your mother was," she must have realized that even mentioning his mother was bound to hit a nerve, and dropped her voice appropriately. "It would make sense if you had some powers of a yumemi."

He blinked. "A what?"

"A Dreamseer." She said calmly. "I possess some of these abilities myself. They allow one to see the future through dreams, and communicate with people across great distances – physical, dimensional, and even mortal."

Kurogane drew in a breath. She couldn't mean…

"That last feature, Kurogane," she said, obviously having picked up on his train of thought. "May explain your recent dreams."

Bewildered, the ninja shook his head. "Wait, so you're suggesting that Fay is talking to me in my dreams?" He really didn't mean to sound so skeptical, especially towards his princess, but his voice betrayed him. Something was missing from the picture.

His brow furrowed in confusion. "But why do I just hear him? I thought you could also see them."

"It is not always that simple." She responded calmly. "You said he sounds lost, so perhaps he is looking for you. Finding another in the dreamscape can be a difficult task, even with training." She smiled gently. "But please, Kurogane, do tell me if he seems to be coming closer, since it may mean something. Until then, try calling to him and see what happens."

So he did. The first few times it was unsuccessful, but by the third try he thought he could hear Fay begin to call back with what he could have sworn was relief. The entire thing reminded him of a game he'd played when he was still small, where one child was blindfolded and tried to seek out the others using only their voices. The difference was that neither of them could see each other, but they did seem to be getting closer day by day, week by week.

The nightly search soon became almost a habit, to the point where Kurogane began to stop thinking about what it might eventually mean. He went on protecting Tomoyo, defusing dangerous situations, capturing – not killing – more than a few assassins, and falling back into the same well-known routine. Coming back to this had been his goal throughout the entire journey to other worlds, but he couldn't help feeling discontent with some aspects of his homeland.

Tomoyo was possibly the only person who really understood where he was coming from on one issue in particular. During one of their bi-weekly dream discussions, he finally asked her something that had been on his mind for some time:

"Princess," he glanced around quickly, in case someone overheard. "Princess, don't get me wrong – I love this country – but since I came back it seems like our society is incredibly…" he stumbled over his words, afraid he might offend her. "Well, xenophobic."

Tomoyo nodded slowly.

"Unfortunately, that is very much how our country works. When one travels anywhere new there is always a shift in one's perceptions about their home, and oftentimes we see things that normally we would not pay attention to. I too have been aware of this aspect of our country, but it is best not to let it bother you too much." She closed her eyes. "It may be difficult, but think of it this way: Since you know about the outside world you can now be a fairer man, and that may be of help to us sooner than you think." Her face suddenly brightened and she began to laugh merrily. "After all, that was one reason I sent you away."

He couldn't help but scoff at her last statement, but the subject quickly changed back to Fay, and how he seemed to be getting closer and easier to hear.

One morning a piece of intelligence came in that told of foreigners traveling inland. What made this unique was that they were not the usual lot from Kitai – rather, according to the intelligence, they were hairy, oddly dressed, resembled demons, and smelled. But Tomoyo always welcomed visitors, and enthusiastically sent an envoy ahead to invite them for an official welcome, much to the chagrin of her bodyguards, though at least it gave them time to prepare.

When the day finally arrived Kurogane and Sohma were positioned closest to Tomoyo, with several other plain-clothes in the large crowd that had gathered in the square outside the castle. Foreigners tended not to respond well to legions of armed guards, so discretion was a must.

Being as tall as he was, blending in was not exactly easy for Kurogane, but luckily a wide-brimmed hat he'd "borrowed" from a local hid his face well enough to give him a small amount of anonymity in the crowd. Sohma – whose deceptively beautiful kimono contained enough weaponry to supply a small army – clung to his arm like a dutiful wife and added to the cover. He wondered vaguely what color the Empress' face would be if she could see this, and chuckled as he imagined her throwing a fit.

After a few moments the foreign caravan came into view over the hill, a medley of waving colored flags, strange music, and a group of local children who ran alongside it in excitement. The people around Kurogane scrambled to get a better view, but he kept back, mostly out of necessity to be aware of absolutely everything happening, but also because he'd seen many stranger sights during his journey. He did feign interest to blend in, with the ulterior motive of visually checking for anything suspicious. Tomoyo just smiled from her throne, looking genuinely happy to have new guests. Her good nature was the reason Kurogane and Sohma needed to be so cautious. She shot him a wise smile, and he shook his head in disbelief. Of course she'd known that they'd be having visitors – hence her cryptic comment about his experiences being helpful in the near future. He really should have seen that one coming.

The procession stopped about a hundred yards from the dais, and the crowd's mood had turned from excitement to nervous curiosity. Now that they were closer Kurogane could see that travelers were indeed strange people, though, once again, he'd seen stranger. The wide, broad rimmed hats they wore combined with the ballooning legs of their pants were almost – but not quite – more ridiculous than the clothes he'd had to wear in Jade Country. The description of "hairy" also unfortunately fit as far as their faces went, and Kurogane could only pray that the reports that they smelled had been an exaggeration.

Kurogane rolled his eyes when the court announcer stepped forward and formally introduced Tomoyo by her full, obnoxiously long title: Tsukuyomi no Sumeramikoto Heika, sister of Empress Amaterasu, esteemed ruler of Shirasagi Castle, upholder of the wards, yada yada… He'd heard it a million times before.

After that the foreigners were finally given permission to approach, still oblivious to the fact that over a dozen heavily armed guards practically surrounded them and were ready to strike them down if they did anything fishy. Kurogane couldn't help but be glad that the camouflage he'd arranged was apparently working.

One by one the men came forward and bowed dramatically as their names – Niccolò Vecchio, Maffeo Valini, among others – spilled off their lips lyrically. A translator they'd found on the coast conveyed their individual greetings from the land of Iberia, making Tomoyo smile and nod at every one. Kurogane had long since tuned their greetings out when one voice made him stop dead, earning a surprised look from Sohma. She jostled his arm lightly, but he was beyond responding.

While the Iberians were almost all dark-haired, the man stepping forward most certainly wasn't. Kurogane's jaw dropped even further when the ridiculous hat was removed, revealing a head of sun-yellow hair and a pair of sparkling blue eyes. All of Kurogane's doubts about who it was disappeared the instant the man spoke a name he'd never forget.

"…Fay D. Flowright..."

Kurogane rushed out before Sohma could catch him and leapt straight over the heads of several startled onlookers. He was completely oblivious to the confusion of both the foreigners and his own hidden men. They stood staring at each other for several seconds, until the truth that there was no recognition in those eyes hit him like a slap across the face.

Fuck it! Something inside him practically shouted. Fuck time, fuck space, and fuck the goddamn language barrier!

He never was one for subtlety, so with more force than he'd intended he simply grabbed the blonde's thin shoulders and kissed him on the lips. Several people in the crowd gasped.

Come on! Kurogane thought desperately as several endless seconds ticked by. Come – Fucking – On! Do something!

He really had to stop asking for things like that. The space behind his eyes went blinding white as something surged through him and left him reeling to the point he felt that he might pass out. By the time it began to fade he was vaguely aware of some sort of commotion going around him, but that quickly faded into the background as soon as something very warm began to press back and he felt arms loop around his neck. He smiled into the kiss.

I should have done this ages ago... He thought idly, pressing a little harder.

He regretfully pulled away for oxygen, gasping like a drowning man. The eyes he was staring into sparkled with the same white fire that had surged through him a moment ago, and now the previous confusion was replaced by true recognition.

"Fay." He gasped.

"Kuro-rin." The soft response was equally breathless, but unmistakably triumphant. Kurogane's eyes began to drift shut in relief.

Wait, he thought suddenly. This is too good to be true. Better check.

He leaned down and kissed Fay again, if possible with even more intensity than before, until he was once again forced to fill his lungs to keep from passing out.

No, he thought dazedly as Fay's hand reached up to caress his cheek. Definitely real.

So real, in fact, that he really didn't give a damn about the confusion that had erupted around them. He was too busy gazing into Fay's wonderfully solid face.

Some things could wait.

.o.O.o.

Authors Notes: I'm basing Kurogane's Japan on 15th century Feudal Japan and their first contact with the Portuguese. I'm something of a Japanese history buff, so I couldn't resist putting in a few silly references here and there:

Kitai: Comes from the Russian name for China, I just remember really liking the sound of it when I learned it.Historically Japan did have some contact with Ming Dynasty China even during the Warring States Period.

Niccolò Vecchio, Maffeo Valini: These are amalgamations of the names of several people related to the explorer Marco Polo.

Iberia: The name of the peninsula on which Spain and Portugal reside and in this story the equivalent of both of those countries.

Tsukuyomi no Sumeramikoto Heika: Roughly translated, means "Tsukuyomi, heavenly ruler above the clouds". Sumeramikoto is an old version of Tenno, the current title granted to the royalty of Japan. Heika essentially means "Your Majesty".