DISCLAMER: Not mine

Summary: Takes place after series ends. Syaoran, Fai and Kurogane travel onward as to keep balance in the universe. Eventually KuroFai, but centers around all three.

AN: Not recommending this fic for people who haven't finished the series, or don't want to know a basic overview of what happens during the series. Massive spoilers. Seriously, this entire chapter is a massive spoiler...

Side note: Some of you may already know this, but in episode 20 of Kobato, Syaoran, Kurogane and Fai show up in that world and end up helping her. *Fangirl squeal* Its obvious in the episode that its after the series ends, because Syaoran tells her that they are traveling with no destination, and that he has someone waiting for him (although she didn't know when he would return). The reason I bring it up is because its obviously a continuation of the series, and as xxxholic goes on they will probably show up there too. I'm not including any of those instances, or acknowledging them for the sake of this fic.

I will steal a piece of information from the episode though. In the episode, when Mokona's earring lights up, they must move to the next world.

...I was so excited when I saw them show up... *only watched the episode because she found out they showed up*

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Introduction: Memories

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The dark haired woman met his eyes, looking intense yet tired. Eyes that knew too much, eyes that seemed to see right to the soul.

"You do know where we are, right?" She asked, beautiful eyes never wavering in the slightest.

"Yes... A place where wishes are granted if the proper price is paid." Fai answered, a wistful smile on his face.

"That's correct. Well then, since you're all here... That means you all have some sort of wish." The Witch said with a nod of her head, addressing the rest of the group now. Fai was thankful that he, solely, did not hold the weight of her gaze any longer.

"My home county is where I want to be."

"My home county is where I do not want to be."

And blue met red.

*****

"I thought he would start crying, right then. Sakura is Syaoran's most important person. When she asked him, 'Who are you?' I thought he would cry... But, crying when you need to cry is another way to show strength." Fai said softly, his face betraying its usual mask and showing seriousness.

Kurogane said nothing, silently watching Syaoran and Sakura, listening to the boy carefully chose his words as to not betray the price he had paid. The ninja turned away from the scene in front of him, and made his way towards the other room, leaving the two children to their personal moment. Fai hesitated before following after the man.

*****

"You... Are blind in your right eye." Kurogane said, roughly holding Syaoran's head so he could examine the eye closer.

Fai stared, surprised that he had not figured out such a fact.

"The first time I saw you fight, you used a Kudan. Kudan are controlled through mind power. Even if you couldn't see, it wouldn't be a problem. And then in the country of Koriya, when we arrived the Lord's Son immediately grabbed the Princess's arm. You didn't show any signs of seeing that."

Fai pieced the facts together, and indeed, Kurogane's conclusion was logical. Syaoran's voice pulled him out of his thoughts.

"I will try not to cause you any trouble. Please..."

*****

The castle in the sky broke into thousands of shards, drifting down to the earth in the darkened sky. Yasha's illusion had disappeared and the feather was free to be returned. Ashura-oh had disappeared, also...

"This is no good, you have to start training again." A deep voice pulled Syaoran back to reality. Looking up, he was met by the sight of Kurogane and Fai, both of whom he had been fighting not long ago.

"Eh!?"

"You're so strict, Kuro-kun!" Fai gushed.

*****

Kurogane watched as his companions tried to wretch the book from Syaoran's hands as tears poured down the child's cheeks like a slow flowing river. Seconds later, after another failed attempt to bring the kid back to reality, Kurogane found himself in front of him. Gripping the book firmly, he swiftly gave the book a yank, and to his surprise it was freed from Syaoran's clutch. His eyes widened in surprise as he saw his own memories written in the book, but was startled from his thoughts by shouting.

"Syaoran-kun!"

"Syaoran!"

The kid's body fell limply, and Kurogane immediately took hold of his arm. Tears trailed down the boy's face and his eyes weakly met Kurogane's.

"Kurogane... I'm sorry."

*****

"In order to get the feathers back, I need to take everything I need... And eliminate everything that interferes." The Syaoran clone told Kurogane, a cold blue eye that once belonged to the mage meeting his own.

Kurogane could barely contain his rage as he supported the Mage's body with one arm.

"This guy..." Kurogane trailed off, images flashing threw his thoughts. Memories of the Mage denying the usage of his magic with that idiotic smile plastering his face. That had changed recently, as the Mage had went against his word and saved them all using his magic.

"...He changed for you and the Princess, so that you could smile just a little! Do you hear me, kid?!"

*****

"Witch, is there a way to save his guy?" Kurogane asked, lowering the unconscious Fai back down to the bed by his collar.

"There is." The projection answered back. "However, if I were to do it, the price would be too heavy to bear."

"What can we do!?" Mokona cried out at Yuuko, crying.

*****

"That person is not Syaoran-kun. I know, even if he is the original, he is like the one's we met in all those other worlds... They had the same appearance, but they were different people." Sakura said softly.

Fai watched the girl with sad eyes as he sat at the edge of her bed.

"But still... its no good. Its not just his face... His voice, his behavior, even that very honest gaze... The ways he's the same, the way he resembles... Everytime I find such a way, its no good. Why isn't Syaoran-kun the one I see before me now?"

"Sakura-chan..." Fai let his hand cover hers and she gripped her bed sheets tightly, her pain obvious.

'FAI.'

Fai startled slightly, eyes widening.

'Chi!'

'Fai... The King... Has awakened...'

*****

Fai's body moved of its own accord. Even as Kurogane attempted to hold him back, calling out to him, he simply moved forward.

"WAIT!!!" Kurogane bellowed.

Fai wished he could've responded, begged Kurogane to kill him, told the ninja of the curses that had been placed on himself. But words did not come. A magical aura exploded around Fai's body, and next thing he knew, he was in the air before Sakura and Syaoran.

"Fai-san." Sakura whispered sadly, eyes shinning. Fai knew then that she knew. He wasn't sure how, but she knew what was about to occur.

Metal pierced the soft flesh of Sakura's body, blood straying, filling the air, the stench was almost unbearable. Fei Wong Reed's words rang in his head.

'If someone appears who surpasses the reason you were locked up, that powerful magic, you will kill that person.'

His body was stiff, rigid, and he tried to will it back into his own possession. It would not obey him. His arm began to draw back.

"Don't pull the sword out!" Kurogane cried out from behind them as Syaoran painfully cried out Sakura's name.

The sword withdrew. His body felt as though it was burning, raw magical power radiating around him and he screamed out his pain and anger and outrage. Because he knew he could not stop himself from what would happen next. A soft hand fell upon his, and Sakura's soul hovered before him.

*****

"Seeing farther ahead into the future then my dreamgazer, before I could reach that boy, she entrusted him to the dreamgazer princess of Nihon country. If you should meet that boy, he is the witches pawn. He will be a hindrance to not only my wish, but your wish as well." Fei Wong Reed told the child from the dimension beyond his own.

"My... Wish..." The blond boy trailed off, as though not understanding what the wish could possibly be.

"You want to revive him, don't you? The other half of you." Fei Wong questioned.

"Do you also want to meet someone who's already dead?" The child asked softly, surprising the man.

"...I have no choice but to make the princess of the desert go on this journey. For the sake of my wish being granted. So that body of hers can make memories of every single axis of time. And so the ruins sleeping in the country of Clow will start moving. You shall travel on, protecting the princess together will the duplicate." Fei told him, hard gaze, dangerous.

"For how long?" The boy asked.

"Until the princess returns to Clow country. Remove everyone who wants to hinder you from your way. And if the pawn of the Witch, that youngster from Nihon becomes an obstacle, remove him too."

*****

Kurogane gasped for air, panting heavily as his movement finally came to a stop. His sword pierced the chest of Ashura, who still held Fai by his throat, closing the blond's airway in the process. The King's eyes went wide, then a smile fell upon the man's lips.

"That seal protected you, I see. Remove your sword." Kurogane hesitated. "Remove it."

In a fluid-like motion, Kurogane tore the sword from the King, and watched the blood flow from the man's wounded chest. In return, Ashura released his hold on Fai, who promptly fell to his knee's, tears running down his face. Kurogane watched as Ashura then reached up and brushed the tears away before pulling Fai to his chest.

"You shouldn't cry on behalf of someone like me. If it was possible, I wanted you to finish me... because I wanted to give you the chance to lift your curse. But with those two... I'm sure you can overcome it."

*****

"What is the connection between us, Syaoran-kun? You know it, right?" Watanuki questioned curiously as they stood in the void that was their dream-like state.

"I know it. I heard it from my father and mother... But I can't tell you yet. If I speak now, the path to the future will become unstable again." Syaoran told him, closing his eyes as memories flooded into this thoughts, flashing before his eyes as he spoke.

"Sakura-chan said the same thing..."

*****

Sad eyes met his own, and Syaoran finally pulled his gaze away from the Princess's chest, where the sword lay.

"Because I am the same. You must have known too, right? That I am not the real Sakura. That's why you told me that time, 'What treasures that Sakura so much is not my heart! Its you!' ... Your Sakura is waiting." The clone said with a soft smile as her body began to dissipate.

"So please, from now on, for the sake of your most important person, be free."

*****

"Syaoran!? I thought you went back to Japan!" The Princess cried out, dashing up to the boy who met her with a smile. She was just as Syaoran had remembered from spending those wonderful seven days with the princess.

"The purification?"

"Oh, that ended seven days ago. So its ok if we touch one another now..." Sakura said shyly.

Syaoran tried to smile, but he could see the curse as clear as day as it lay upon her chest. The Princess took his hand, and Syaoran couldn't help but to pull the princess into his arms, embracing her.

*****

"That distortion will bring misery to those around you. First of all will be the parents who brought you into the world." Fei Wong Reed said as they looked down on Watanuki.

Yuuko placed her hands over Watanuki's ears as she stood behind him.

"Do not listen." She said softly.

"As long as you do not disappear, neither can that distortion." Fei Wong Reed stated with a sadistic grin on his face.

"No. The time and the other people this child will experience will bind him to life." Yuuko said, and Syaoran watched as Watanuki's eyes slowly drifted open.

"...Don't disappear!" Syaoran cried out to the boy as his body was transferred to the demension where he would become a prisoner of Fei Wong Reed.

*****

"Changing what we saw in dreams..." Sakura cried out.

"...is difficult but..." The second Sakura whispered.

"...if we are those people..." Syaoran said, a hard edge to his voice.

"...who traveled with us..." The second Syaoran trailed off.

"WE CAN CHANGE THE FUTURE!" They all cried out, voices echoing off the walls of their prison.

"We refuse to chose that future." One of the Syaoran's stated, determination obvious in his voice.

"We chose a world in which we can all exist together. And that is why, without sacrificing a single one of us four, we will escape from here!" They all chorused.

*****

"You could've rested up at the castle for a bit longer." Fai told the ninja as they walked around the marketplace in Clow. The dark haired man walked stiffly, and was obviously in pain.

"Lying around doing nothing bores me."

"You're just hopeless, aren't you Kuro-tan? So? How are you feeling?" Fai questioned, watching the path before him, watching the people they passed.

"Not bad."

Fai patted the man's arm, and laughed as Kurogane made a face that showed his true discomfort, and hissed slightly.

"...You really are hopeless." Fai said with a smile gracing his features, a true smile.

*****

"It is impossible to know the effects they might have upon the rest of space and time. That's why, in order to suppress those effects to the greatest possible extent, Watanuki chose to stay in one place for all time... Whilst Syaoran chose to move ever onward, never staying in a single place." Fai told Kurogane as they wandered.

Both jumped when Monoka lept into Kurogane's hand.

"I thought you were with the Princess?" Kurogane said as Monoka perched itself on his shoulder.

"Sakura went to see Syaoran! She had a dream..." Mokona told the two men.

"I see... Perhaps she found out already, then. In that case, its time we made our decisions too. What we're going to do from now on..." Fai said to Kurogane with a soft smile.

*****

They held hands as the the magic swirled around Syaoran, ensuring that the balance would remain in the universe. Ensuring Watanuki's existance, ensuring that Yuuko's death was not in vain, ensuring that Syaoran and Sakura would be able to spend their days together, even if it was up to fate when they would meet again, and it would never be for long... As long as Mokona, Fai and Kurogane continued to travel with him from world to world, he knew he would be alright. Even when the one he loved would have to remain in Clow.

Syaoran gazed into Sakura's eyes.

"My real name is..."

"My real name is..." Sakura said at the same time, determination in her eyes.

"Tsubasa!" They both cried out, and both looked shocked that they had cried out the same name.

Magic swirled, Fai waved and Kurogane smiled, and the princess let go of her love's hand.

The magic transported them to the next world.

___________

"Oi, wake up kid!"

Syaoran felt his body being shaken as he was pulled away from his dream-like state and into a brightly lit world. His head throbbed. Looking up, Syaoran met Kurogane's face which held a slight scowl and a hint of worry.

"Oh good you're up! You hit your head pretty hard upon our arrival into this world. Reminded me of the first time we ever traveled!" Fai laughed as he leaned over Kurogane with a simple smile on his face.

"Do you know where we are?" Syaoran asked as he glanced around, feeling as though he remembered the landscape.

"Piffle!" Fai said happily