Flight of Fancy (Fai x Reader - Tsubasa RC)

Chapter 2: Settling In

  You were falling.

It wasn't quite apparent why you were falling, or what you were falling through, or even if there would be an end to your fall ... you just knew you were falling. Through the darkness you could hear voices ... voices of your family. You knew they missed you. You knew they wanted you home ... but now, you could never go home.

I'm sorry ... you cried mentally, as if by some miracle your thoughts could be heard by them. It was the only way to protect you ...

And then, you were falling faster. You wanted to open your eyes, to move, to kick, to scream for help, but you were paralyzed. The speed of your fall continued to grow until you couldn't tell whether you were falling or flying. Then your eyes shot open just in time to see a small white ball hurtling towards you from the sky. You were about to dodge, but instead found yourself colliding into the ground flat on your back.

All the wind fled from your lungs as you landed, and the situation was only worsened when the white ball finally bowled over into you. You wheezed and immediately tried to roll over, coughing and gagging on the sudden vacuum that had been formed in your lungs. After what felt like hours of struggling, you were able to gasp in your bit of air, then another little bit, and finally a whole lungful.

Panting, you rolled over, pushing yourself up off the ground below as you gulped down air as best you could. You were shaking all over, but you seemed to be relatively okay. You were alive, at least.

Once you were finally able to breathe properly, you looked around. You seemed to be in some kind of oriental living room. The ground in the middle of the room was made softer by a tatami mat, which you had the misfortune to notland on. In the center of the mat sat a table, low to the ground and sandwiched between two chairs. Your companions lay sprawled about across the room, but none of them appeared to have moved.

A slight knot of worry built up inside you, and you edged forward to the closest one, which happened to be Flu--Fai. It was difficult to tell if he was breathing under his fluffy robe, so you opted to check his pulse instead. As you reached forward, however, you hesitated slightly. This man was unfamiliar to you. You knew little to nothing about him, but still ... you had to know if he and the others were alive.

Carefully, you leaned forward and pressed your index and middle fingers underneath his jaw, and sighed in relief as you felt the steady pulse of a heartbeat underneath them. As you began to withdraw, however, the man's eyes fluttered open. A slight smile crept on his face as he said, "Why, hello, there."

Immediately, you leapt back, a deep red blush dusting your face. "S-S-Sorry! I just wanted to know if you were alive!" you squeaked, watching as Fai sat up.

"Don't worry," he said with a smile, "I understand."

There was another awkward silence as the two of you tried to find a way to break the ice. Finally, Fai seemed to come up with a good idea, but as he opened his mouth, he was interrupted by a surprised shout. That voice was unfamiliar. Immediately, the two of you started, turning to catch sight of the source of the noise. There, in the doorway, stood two people. One of them was a tall man with dark porcupine-looking hair, dressed in a suit and tie. He'd dropped his briefcase to the ground in his astonishment, and it leaned lazily against the frame. Behind him stood a woman with long, black hair. She wore a simple, black skirt and a button-up shirt. The four of you stared at each other for a good long while. Nobody dared to speak, and the awkwardness and confusion set in like a heavy, stifling cloud.

The man across the room was the first to say something. Stepping farther in the doorway, hands on his hips, he demanded, "Who are you people, and what are you doing in my house?"

Immediately, you leapt to your feet. "W-Wait, I can explain!" you shouted, not entirely knowing how you would explain, just knowing you needed to.

The man's eyes narrowed, and he gave a scrutinizing smirk. "You didn't come to flirt with my Darling, did you?"

And all words fled your mouth.

There was more silence. "Well, I'm waiting," the man demanded, scanning over you and Mr. Black.

Your mouth opened and closed numerous times without a sound. Your entire being burned with embarrassment and fear, and you were sure you would melt under Porcupine's intense gaze. Fai, on the other hand, simply continued to smile goofily at the intruder, as if he didn't have a care in the world.

Before either of you got a chance to speak, however, Mokona leapt up from the ground by your feet. (Wait, that was what hit me earlier!) "Sorata-san! Don't worry, they're friends of Yuuko's!" the white puff chirped.

Now it was Porcupine's turn to be speechless. He sat there for a few more seconds before a spark of recognition lit across his face, and he gasped. "Oh! Oh, Yuuko! Wow, haven't heard from her in a while!" A grin split wide across his face as he waved at the puffball. "So I'm assuming these are customers, then?" he asked, shamelessly pointing at you and your companions.

Mokona nodded. "Yup!"

Porcupine smiled wider. "Excellent," he said, looking back and forth before turning to the silent woman behind him. He whispered something in her ear, and she nodded before walking away into whatever lie beyond the door. Then Porcupine turned back to face you. "You two, sit tight. Arashi and I will be right back with some towels. You guys need to dry off," he said before turning and closing the door behind him.

At first you were puzzled by what the young man had said. It wasn't until you looked down and realized you were sitting in a tiny puddle that had pooled on the floor beneath you that you were, indeed, wet. It must have been the rain ... you thought, looking over your soaked companions and vaguely remembering the storm you had stood in before leaving the witch's shop.

Unfortunately, now that you had noticed that you were wet, you began to feel cold. Goosebumps erupted across your skin, and you shivered slightly. Mokona immediately perked up and dashed over to you. "Oh! _____-chan is cold! Mokona will help!" it said, hopping over to you and suddenly rubbing its soft body across your arms. While the action did help warm you up, you had to admit, it looked a little weird, and you giggled in spite of yourself.

Fai watched, smiling, and chuckled quietly. Carefully, you lifted your hand and rested it on the white puff's head, gently stroking it as you looked down at it.

Mokona ... purred? Maybe. He nuzzled gently into your hand as you stroked him, and you smiled.

"Isn't he cute?" Fai piped up from the other side of the room.

"What?" You startled, accidentally knocking Mokona off your lap. The white puff rolled easily on the ground and giggled. "That was fun, do it again!"

Smiling, you scooped the critter up in your arms and started bouncing it off your lap repeatedly. Glancing up at Fai, you could tell he was waiting for your response. "I-I mean ... Yeah. Mokona is pretty cute," you said.

Mokona giggled, then gasped as it suddenly was launched a bit too far. It landed with a heavy thud, alighting atop Kuro ... Kuro-something's sleeping form. The warrior gave a strangled grunt-gasp and sat up abruptly, knocking Mokona even further across the room, straight into Fai's arms. The man in black looked around frantically before turning a glare to Fai and Mokona.

"You didn't do that, did you?" he growled, pointing an accusatory finger at the corner-faring duo.

Fai grinned. "You sure are quick to point fingers, aren't you, Mr. Black?"

At this, the warrior visibly stiffened. "My name is not Mr. Black, it's Kurogane!"

Instantly, Mokona leapt from Fai's arms, launching itself at Kurogane. "Awww, Kuro-puu is grumpy from his nap! He needs some hugs!" It giggled as it latched itself onto the warrior's arm. It took a moment for Kurogane to respond, but when he did, he began flailing his arm about.

"What are you--? Get. Off. Me!"

It was during this somewhat amusing scene that S-Sor ... Porcupine and Arashi returned. "Oh, another one is awake!" Porcupine said cheerily, dumping the towels on the ground beside you before waving in greeting. "Hi there! I'm Sorata, a friend of Yuuko's!"

Fluffy returned Sorata's smile with one of his own. "Nice to meet you. I'm Fai D. Flowright, though I suppose you could just call me Fai."
Sorata smiled. "Good enough for me," he said, grabbing a towel and tossing it at Fai. "Here, use this to dry off."

Fai caught the towel easily, returning it with a smile and a "Thank you." Next, Sorata tossed one at Kurogane. Instead of catching the towel, however, Kurogane leapt from the floor and dodged the projectile nimbly, as if in a matter of seconds. He glared daggers at Sorata and shouted, "Hey, watch where you're throwing shit, fucker!"

Immediately, you let out an audible gasp. You couldn't help it. Instantly, Kurogane whirled on you. He looked like he was ready to yell something, but Fai interrupted him. "Now, now, Kuro-puu. We should treat our hosts with respect, yes?"

Now Fai was the subject of Kurogane's aggression. "How many times do I have to tell you, punk? It's Kurogane! Get it right!"

You jumped when you felt a light tap on your shoulder, and you turned to see Arashi smiling gently at you with a towel in hand. You gratefully accepted it, giving the woman a gentle smile while trying your best to tune out the one-sided shouting match going on behind you.

Quickly, you glanced over at Sorata, just to see what his reaction was to all of this. Surprisingly, he was pretty neutral, if not a bit off-put by Kurogane's shouting. Arashi smiled next to you as she picked up the towels. "Don't worry about him. We've had ruder guests, before."

Ruder? Is that even possible? you wondered as you watched Kurogane continue to chew out Fai. Sighing, you buried your hair in the towel as you tried to dry it off, rubbing the fabric vigorously over your head. After a minute, you peeked out from behind the towel, sneaking a glance at Fai. He was grinning like an idiot as Kurogane continued to yell at him. The strangest thing, though, was that he was staring straight at you. He giggled when he noticed you'd caught him staring, and waved slightly.

Kurogane noticed, and continued to yell. "Hey! Aren't you listening to me, you bastard!"

After you all were mostly dry, Fai set his towel down and turned to the other two companions, who had not yet moved from their position. Even in sleep, Syaoran, the boy, was clutching the girl tightly to his chest. "We should probably dry them off, eh?" Fai said, smiling gently at the two.

Kurogane let out a dismissive grunt, and continued to stare at the corner. Standing from your position, you grabbed a fresh towel and said, "I'll help."

Sorata smiled as he gathered the used towels. "While you guys are doing that," he began, slinging the wet fabric over his shoulder, "my honey and I will go and start getting dinner ready, sound good?"

Mokona grinned and hopped around. "Yay! Food!"

"Right, we'll be back, then," he said, dismissing himself and Arashi from the room.

As they left, you began to work on drying off the girl. She was a beautiful child, probably 13 or 14 with gorgeous, strawberry-blonde hair and fair skin. It was difficult, drying her off while the boy clung to her, and you almost considered separating the two, but somehow ... something just didn't feel right about that, so instead you opted to dry around their arms as best you could while Fai worked on Syaoran.

Once that was done, there was very little to do, so you sat back, resting your head against the wall as you stared at the ceiling. You began thinking of your family. That dream of them ... or, at least, their voices ... they'd sounded so unhappy. Sighing, you closed your eyes, continually trying to tell yourself that you leaving had been for the best.

"You ... you left someone important behind, didn't you?"

Your eyes snapped open as a soft voice spoke. Turning, you saw Fai looking at you, a soft smile on his lips. Despite his distant, somewhat lighthearted demeanor, you could see the weight of the question hiding behind his eyes, and you could tell he knew something.

"I-I mean ... yeah, I guess you could call it that."

Fai looked up, thoughtfully considering the ceiling as he hummed. "Hmm." He didn't say anything more said after that, and you looked away quickly.

Again, you sat back, but this time you began to observe the room. Fai sat by the window, staring out into the strange, foreign world beyond the glass. Kurogane continued to inspect the corner (What could he possibly be looking at?), and Mokona was nestled on Syaoran's chest, staring intently at his face. ... Well, as intently as one can without actually opening its eyes.

Suddenly, the boy gave a start, letting out a gasp and shouting, "Sakura!" You practically jumped out of your seat. Mokona continued to 'stare' the boy down, grinning widely and letting out a "Puu!"

Syaoran stared, looking confused. "Sa ... kura?" he mumbled, meeting the white puff's gaze.

Mokona's emotions changed suddenly, as he slid off Syaoran and started crying. "Waaah! Syaoran doesn't love Mokona! Mokona is sad!"

Fai immediately swooped in, scooping up Mokona and placing him on his knee. "Oh, good. You're awake," he said, smiling down at the boy.

Syaoran didn't waste any time, sitting up abruptly and shouting, "Sakura!" He was calmed when he realized the girl had been sleeping on his chest the whole time. Gently, he placed his hand behind her neck to support her head, and buried his nose in her hair.

The wizard continued to smile. "Oh, yes. We tried to dry her off, but you wouldn't let her go, so we just did the best we could."

"Mokona helped!" the puff exclaimed, bounding up and down on Fai's knee. "Praise me, praise me!"

In response, Fai dismissively patted Mokona on its head. "Now, if you don't mind, could you tell me who you are?"

"I'm Syaoran," the boy said.

Fai smiled at the boy. "My name is Fai D. Flowright, but that's pretty long, so you can just call me Fai."

Syaoran nodded. "Okay."

Afterwards, Fai turned to Kurogane, and Mokona hopped off Fai's knee and began bouncing over to the warrior. "And what do we call you over there in the corner, Mr. Black?"

Kurogane stiffened. "I told you already, I am not Mr. Black! I'm Kurogane!" While he was talking, Mokona hopped up on Kurogane's knee. The ninja warrior stiffened, glaring at the puff with a look of pure discomfort.

Resting his chin on his hand, Fai grinned. "Ah, Kurogane, eh? Would Kuro-rin work? Maybe Kuro-chan?"

Too distracted to notice the name-calling, Kurogane proceeded to attempt to swat Mokona off his leg, who instead kept bouncing out of the way.

Then Fai turned to you. "And you are?"

You blinked, startled. "I'm _____," you said, plastering the best smile you could muster under the circumstances.

Syaoran smiled at you and nodded before looking down at the sleeping girl in his arms. His face tensed with worry, and he held her closer. You wondered what was plaguing his mind. Suddenly, Fai swooped over from his position and reached across Syaoran. The boy jumped and let out a startled cry, and Kurogane looked over from his position to check out what was going on. "What are you doing?" he growled at the wizard.

Slowly, Fai shifted back, delicately clutching a feather in his hand. He inspected it carefully before speaking, "This is a fragment of this girl's memory, yes?"

"Ah!" The gasp of recognition escaped Syaoran almost instantly.

Fai smiled at him. "It was stuck to you, there's only this one, though."

"Those feathers ..." Syaoran breathed. Fai dropped the feather above the girl, and it gently drifted down until it hit her chest, where it disappeared into her. It was strange, watching the ripples go across her chest like water. You watched in fascination, breathless, as Syaoran mumbled, "This is one of Sakura's memories ..."

There was a solemn moment where he was quiet, a smile gracing his face as he said, "She's getting warm again ..."

Fai grinned, scooping Mokona up into his arms. "You know, she'd probably be dead if it weren't for that feather."

Syaoran returned the smile. "I guess it was just a lucky coincidence ..."

"'There aren't any coincidences in this world, only destiny,'" Fai piped up again. The entire group turned to face him, and he grinned. "That's what the Dimensional Witch said, isn't it?" He paused. "You must have caught that feather subconsciously, in order to help that girl."

In that quiet moment, Syaoran looked down tenderly at Sakura, letting out a quiet sigh of relief.

"Of course, that's all just a guess I have. I don't know any more than you all do." The moment was ruined almost instantly by Fai, who gave the group a goofy grin and hugged Mokona tighter. "But, anyway, how are we going to collect more feathers? It's not like we can catch the rest of them by hoping they show up on your clothes."

Instantly, Mokona jumped up. "Mokona knows! Mokona knows!"

"Oh?" Fai grinned, leaning in.

Mokona nodded, hopping onto Syaoran's knee. "Just now, that feather let of really huge waves! If it's close, Mokona will know, and then I will open Mokona's eyes, like this!"

Just then, Mokona's ever-closed eyes stretched wide, revealing wide, cute eyes. You smiled softly. Behind you, Kurogane jumped back and shouted in shock.

Fai stepped forward, smiling as he crouched down and began patting Mokona on the head. "That's fantastic, Mokona! That way we can know if a feather is nearby."

Syaoran leaned forward, a sense of urgency in his eyes. "Mokona, will you be willing to help me look for feathers, then?"

Mokona beat its tiny, pudgy chest. "Leave it to me!"

Syaoran immediately relaxed, smiling widely. "Thank you!" he breathed.

"Whether or not you guys search for the feathers is up to you, but I'll have no part of it. I'm here to get back to my country, nothing more. I'm not going to help you, okay?"

Everyone turned to face Kurogane, who sat sullenly in his corner, watching everyone with cold eyes. Syaoran spoke first.

"Yes, I understand. This is my problem, and I'll deal with it accordingly. I'll do my best not to get in your way."

Kurogane looked surprised. The two stared, eye-to-eye for a moment before they were interrupted by Fai's laughter.

"Ahahahahah! Syaoran, you're so serious!"

Kurogane's lip curled into a frown, and he glared at Fai from across the room. "Well, what about you?"

"Hm?" Fai asked, leaning forward as Mokona leapt off his knee and started skipping across the room.

"Are you going to help the kid?" the warrior growled.

Fai looked thoughtful for a minute before speaking. "Hm ... I suppose. After all, my only priority is to not return to my own world. As long as I don't come into harm, it shouldn't matter what I do," he said, grinning.

Then Kurogane turned on you. (You quietly noted Mokona creeping up behind the warrior.) "And what about you?"

You blinked in surprise. "M-Me?"

You squirmed, suddenly uncomfortable underneath everyone's gaze. "I-I mean ... I suppose I could help. After all, I'm only here because I can't go home now." You rested your chin on your hands. "I honestly don't understand why the witch didn't send me to a different world and let me settle down."

"Perhaps it's just destiny," Fai said, smiling kindly at you. "Whatever it is, I'm glad you've joined us."

You smiled and looked away. Silently, you wondered just where this journey would take you.