Disclaimer: Tsubasa (c) CLAMP.

"Don't you know?" Fai asked, stirring the batter, splattering tiny splashes of mixture onto his and Sakura's noses, "If you go to sleep holding hands with another person, you and that person will share the same dreams!"

"Really?" she asked, her eyes widening.

"You bet!" smiled Fai, "When you're together with someone, anything's possible,"

Sakura took the bowl from Fai and took it into the kitchen, leaving Fai to clear up the parlour. He watched as she placed it into the oven and set the timer.

Kurogane shot Fai a dark look.

"You shouldn't tell the kid lies," he grumbled, "Even if they sound nice, you know she'll only try it and then get disappointed."

"A lie?" Fai asked, whipping round to where Kurogane was sitting, "Whatever makes you think its a lie?"

Kurogane raised an eyebrow, "You actually believed what you said was true?"

"Yes," Fai smiled, "Why shouldn't it be?"

"You're crazy," Kurogane muttered, "I've never known a bigger idiot than you,"

"What?" Fai asked, "Just because I have faith in something like that means I'm crazy?"

"Yeah." Kurogane said coldly, "To go to sleep holding hands only means to dream separately."

"How do you know?" asked Fai, with a sharp flutter in his eyelids, "Have you ever tried it?"

Kurogane glared at Fai, "I don't need to."

Fai twirled away from Kurogane and messily put away the pots and pans.

"The principle is the same for everything," Kurogane persisted, "We dream separately, we think separately and we feel pain separately,"

"You don't think people can share pain," Fai stated, sounding distant.

"Not really, no," Kurogane said, "People deal with pain in their own way. Nobody else can even try to understand. Sure, they can say they do, they can comfort the person, but in the end, they have to deal with it alone,"

Fai looked up at Kurogane with a sad smile, "You think being alone is okay?"

"Being alone is perfect," Kurogane muttered darkly, "You can only be together physically, never spiritually."

Fai contemplated this for a moment, twirling the towel in his fingers, "Haven't you been in love, Kuro-sama?" he said finally.

Kurogane took a short step back as if he hadn't been expecting Fai's question, "I- what?"

"Love," Fai said again, "Have you ever been in love with another person?"

Kurogane stared at Fai darkly for a while with a sense of solidity in his red eyes.

"No," he said finally, the single syllable coming out slowly and harshly.

"There you go then!" Fai said, brushing the counters with a satisfied smile on his face.

"What? How does that settle things?" Kurogane snapped.

"Because, to truly understand the meaning of together," Fai explained happily, "Is to feel the feeling of being in love, you know, the part when it feels as though you're two parts of the same? Almost like your souls are completely intertwined? That's the point when you know. You know that you exist simply for that person,"

Kurogane stared at Fai in a state of utter speechlessness, "That's stupid." he said, "That is the most-"

"Lets just leave it, eh, Kuro-tan?" Fai interrupted, "You think its best to be alone, I think its best to be with someone. We were born to love our own logic, right?"

"But you're making no sense, people are wholes! Not halves!" Kurogane said.

Fai sighed, "Okay, Kuro-chi, I understand."

"But you don't. You're putting everything to your ideal." Kurogane said, "You're not facing the fact that being alone is nesscessity. Its the only way people grow."

Fai turned on Kurogane looking slightly ruffled, "Well, you're not facing the fact that people are nesscessity too!"

Kurogane slammed a hand onto the bench that Fai was cleaning. Their glares piercing fierecly into each others eyes.

Red melted blue.

And Fai turned away.

Kurogane slumped against the cupboard door, feeling slightly worn down.

"Don't you ever feel," Kurogane said, his voice coming out much calmer than he expected, "That people just slow down who you're meant to be?"

Fai looked down, his blue eyes becoming strangely empty.

"All the time," he whispered, before forcing his lips into a fabricated smile and gliding into the kitchen to check upon Sakura.

-

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-

Kurogane made sure he was late returning to the small house. That way, everybody would be in bed and he wouldn't have to deal with the awkwardness of Fai's suddenly cold stares. He flipped a hand up to push past the door hanging and entered the tiny room. Fai was already lying down on the futon, assumingly already asleep. Kurogane lay down on the empty side carefully, trying not to disturb Fai. All he could do was think about their conversation.

Kurogane stared blankly at the ceiling, not even bothering to try and sleep, when Fai's thin fingers suddenly looped with his.

"What are you doing?" Kurogane asked hurriedly, wriggling his fingers free, "Do you honestly believe falling asleep holding hands means you'll share dreams?"

Fai shook his head.

"It's because," he whispered into Kurogane's hand, "I want you to stay close to me."

Kurogane opened his mouth in protest but then returned to look at the ceiling, letting Fai's fingers dance around his palm.

"Your skin," Fai began, speaking quietly, "Is so opaque,"

Kurogane almost laughed at his statement, "Shouldn't it be?" he asked.

"It's almost like skin is a barrier," Fai continued, stretching his hand out full against Kurogane's. "Blocking you from the person inside,"

Kurogane rolled his eyes, "Didn't I tell you that you can't truly feel together with someone?"

Fai was silent, one hand fixed tightly around Kurogane's and the other slowly moving towards his face.

"Then why do I feel," he whispered, his faint voice breaking, "Why do I feel so close to you?"

Kurogane wiped a tear from Fai's cheek to which Fai gave a weak laugh.

"I thought you didn't believe in comforting people," he said hollowly, "I thought that people had to suffer on their own in order to grow,"

Kurogane looked at Fai, his gaze softening by the second, and then, he shook his head.

"That's not true," Kurogane said faintly.

"For once," he breathed against Fai's cheek, "I understand exactly how you feel,"