~//[TRC] - Secrets Behind Cracked Smiles

[Ruby Chan]

Kurogane frowned as he saw Fai's eyes filling with tears, and heard the wizards plea for him not to leave.

"Damn mage......stop shedding tears over me......and I'm not going anywhere....." Kurogane tried to grin broadly up at Fai, but to his annoyance, he could only summon up a weak smile that was even fainter than the last one.

"But I did it, Fai....I did it for you.....you don't have to be scared anymore, Fai, because he can't come after you anymore....."

Please, Fai, don't cry........I didn't want to make you cry again.

[Sakaki]

"Damn mage......stop shedding tears over me......and I'm not going anywhere....."

Fai could see the tender lie in the ninja's words.....could feel him slipping...
"Please, hold on, Kuro-mu......please.....I can't live without you....."
Please don't leave me.......

The wizard looked around desperately for Syaoran and the others.....looked for someone who could help the fallen ninja.....but there was only him....
And what use was he without his magic......

"I love you, Kurogane...." Fai whispered..........and with what was left of his heart, he begged the ninja.....and the gods of the infinite worlds....."Please don't leave me....."

And then the wizard went silent.....for to talk now would only hurt the ninja more than the wounds that tore through his body.........

[Ruby Chan]

Kurogane coughed harshly, and realised that the time for protective lies was over.....his time was rapidly running out. And from Fai's silence, he knew that the wizard knew it too.

"Fai...listen to me......I need you to pass some stuff on to the others...." He said urgently, staring pleadingly up at the other man. At Fai's slow nod, he took a deep, unsteady breath and continued.

"I want you to tell the kid....Syaoran....to continue training, and that everything will turn out alright because he's strong....give him Souhi as well. Tell Sakura that although her innocence is sometimes annoying, she was like a little sister to me........and tell the manjuu bun that he was the bane of my life......but I sometimes enjoyed our fights."

He gazed up at Fai, vaguely annoyed that the blonde seemed to be getting blurry. He wanted Fai to be the last thing he saw.....

"And Fai.....I don't know what to say to you, other than goodbye..." He choked out, tears filling his own crimson eyes. There had to be something more meaningful he could say....he was dying, damnit! If there was a time for throwing away ninja dignity, it was now!

[Sakaki]

"And Fai.....I don't know what to say to you, other than goodbye..."

Fai nodded through Kurogane's words........though hearing only the sound of his heart breaking.......
The wizard moved to lay alongside the ninja, trying to hold onto Kurogane as long as he could.....trying to keep him in this world with him..........

Fai tried to stay silent...tried to spare Kurogane his feelings....but they came out in tears.....in a tangible pain that engulfed him....til he could only choke out the words that he would repeat to the ninja over and over........

Don't leave me..............I can't let you leave me.......

[Ruby Chan]

Kurogane could feel his heart breaking as he heard Fai's mantra, and wished that he could stay here.....even if he was in constant agony for the rest of his life, it wouldn't matter, because Fai wouldn't be alone.

"Fai....I'm leaving Syaoran and the others to you....you're the responsible adult now. Just....don't give up on your silly side too, alright? It's a part of you that shouldn't ever die." Kurogane winced at his choice of words, but there was nothing for it now. They'd already slipped out.

"You've done so much for me Fai....you brought a side of me that I thought died long ago....and I'm so grateful that I got to be with you, even if it was for a short time. From the moment I met you, I knew that if I had to die before I got back to my old world, I wanted it to be protecting you......and I guess I managed it."

Kurogane's sight was growing darker now, and he had to focus hard to even make out the blurred shape of Fai. He could feel his grip on the blonde's hand loosening, and heard the pleas of Fai fade away into a distant noise.

His lips moved soundlessly for a moment, as he struggled to find the strength to say what he so badly wanted to tell Fai, and for a moment he was terrified that he'd left it too late. But then his lips moved, and the words came spilling out through them.

"I love you, Fai...."

And then his hand lost its grip on Fai's, and his eyes finally shut, no longer able to withstand the darkness coming to swallow him up. And his last thought before his ragged breathing died away was....

Fai.....

[Sakaki]

"I love you, Fai...."

Fai lay alongside Kurogane, his head against his chest......arms wrapped tightly around the man.......and suddenly the ninja wasn't breathing.......

"No...Kurogane......don't leave me.....please...please....you can't leave me......." Fai felt the weight of a thousand worlds land upon his heart...tearing his soul to shreds......He shook the ninja violently......trying to make him breathe....trying to bring him back....his sadness and rage tearing him apart..until he couldn't breathe himself, and only lay sobbing against Kurogane's still chest......

Then in his heart.....he once again felt a letting go.......as that long forgotten power began to rise within him....rise within the sadness that engulfed his soul............and with that power came the split second decision that the wizard had never thought he'd have to make again........

With tears flowing down his face, the wizard felt power begin to course through his body...power brought on by the sadness...rage...and....pure love......
With a bright light suddenly illuminating his body....Fai placed his hands onto Kurogane's wounds.......and his lips to the other man's..........and shared the powerful white light with the ninja.............commanding him to wake.......

[Ruby Chan]

Kurogane floated in a dark void, small bits of debris and rock spinning gently around him, although they never hit him. In the near distance, he could see a black hole, and he felt a force from it pulling him in.....but oddly enough, he felt calm....at peace. He felt free and untroubled for the first time in his life......at least he thought so. He couldn't really remember his life. But even that didn't trouble the floating man.

Drifting towards the hole, Kurogane blinked as a bright light suddenly shone, and he turned round to see a man standing there, his hands outstretched to him. The shining figure stepped towards him as Kurogane continued to allow himself to be gently pulled backwards, and he heard a light, yet powerful voice urging him to wake and take the other's hands......

But Kurogane didn't know who this person was, and instead moved further away from him, closer to the hole that was waiting to swallow him.

"Just let me be, stranger.....let me be...." He murmured faintly. The hole was calling him, and he would not fail to answer.

[Sakaki]

The brilliant white light surrounded the wizard....shining out from the very depths of his soul......illuminating the crystal tears falling from his eyes........
And still Kurogane drifted farther away........

Fai felt his grasp slipping......felt Kurogane moving away.....leaving him.....

"No.......I will not let you go......I cannot let you go..Kurogane.."
Please........please.....come back.......

The wizard began to tremble with the power that moved through his body......more power than he'd ever felt before....and he focused on his love....love he thought he'd never feel.......love he thought was forbidden to him........and he increased his power...until he became that bright light. Then reaching into the very depths of his energy and spirit..the very depths of his soul... he called out to the ninja........ "Don't leave me, Kurogane.........don't leave me....I love you......"

And then suddenly, the light was gone........as Fai's blue eyes closed, and he slid to the floor.

[Ruby Chan]

"No.......I will not let you go......I cannot let you go..Kurogane.."

Kurogane blinked as the figure called out to him. Kurogane? Yes, he HAD been Kurogane! Wait.....been? Of course - he was dead now. And so that figure was.....Fai!

The light was glowing brighter and brighter now, and Kurogane found himself moving towards it, reaching out his hands to try and grasp at the shining figure. But just as he reached forwards, the light dimmed, and began to disappear entirely.

"Don't leave me, Kurogane.........don't leave me....I love you......"

Kurogane launched himself forward and caught the stranger's....Fai's.....why's it so hard to keep remembering?..... hand, and gasped as he felt himself being magically jerked through some sort of portal.

Crimson eyes snapped open, and he shot into an upright sitting position, breath ragged as he took it all in. I was dead....I was dead and Fai brought me back....Fai! Looking down, Kurogane breathed in sharply as he saw Fai's limp form lying across his legs, and he scooped the blonde wizard up, shaking him slightly.

"Fai? Fai!"

Oh please no.....

[Sakaki]

As the wizard began to wake, fresh tears ran down his face.....tears of grief and failure.....
....I couldn't save him.....he's......gone.....
In too much pain to open his eyes.........Fai vowed never to see again.....he would lay on the hard stone floor, eyes shut tight, until his own life had ended and he was once again with.......Kurogane....

And then he felt hands upon him...strong, warm hands...pulling him...holding him........and thought it was a dream....until the voice of the ninja was calling to him.

"Fai? Fai!"

Still afraid to open his eyes....afraid it was only a dream...Fai grabbed ahold of the ninja and pressed his face into his chest...too afraid to speak ...or even look.....he could only hold tight as his body shook violently.......

[Ruby Chan]

As Fai grabbed him and buried his face in his chest, Kurogane held him close, stroking the wizard's blonde hair softly.

"It's ok, Fai....I'm here, it's gonna be fine. I'm not going anywhere....I promise." He whispered soothingly, beginnign to rock Fai back and forth gently as he spoke, hoping to stop the mage's trembling.

"You saved me Fai, and it's all going to be alright. I'll never leave you....not again. We're gonna be together forever." Kurogane continued, not caring at the moment how mushy he sounded. As someone who had just died and been brought back to life, he figured he deserved some sentimental time together with Fai.

Gently gripping Fai's chin, he lifted the wizard's face to look at him, his red eyes softening at the sight of his lover's emotional blue ones.
"What? I die, and all you can do is stare at me? I think I deserve a little something more." He said in a hushed voice. Then, he leaned forward and carefully captured Fai's lips, letting all his love flow through into the other man.

Not just 'the other' man....he's MY man now....

[Sakaki]

"You saved me Fai, and it's all going to be alright. I'll never leave you....not again. We're gonna be together forever."

As Kurogane gently lifted the wizard's chin to look into his eyes, and then placed his warm lips upon his....kissing him deeply, Fai's shaking began to still, and his heart, empty from his grief of believing the ninja was lost forever.....began to fill with the other man's love. Fai felt the ninja's love as pure and real as the bright light he had created from his soul to save the man....the one I love....

After several minutes, Fai lifted his blonde head to once more look into Kurogane's eyes...and as if he was just realizing for the first time....really understanding..... that they had won. Ashura was gone......and Kurogane was holding him....and Fai felt whole for the first time....felt real.

Fai suddenly flung himself forward onto the ninja - hugging the man with such force that Kurogane fell over onto the floor, with the wizard sitting on top of him. "You came back, Kuro-mu..." Fai smiled, his blue eyes still shining with tears of emotion.... "You didn't leave me.....and I love you.."

Then looking down, seeing Kurogane with a comically shocked look upon his face, Fai could contain himself no longer......bringing his lips back down to the ninja and kissing him hard..... with all the passion and power that was now returning to his body.

I saved you....
You came back......
And I love you....

[Ruby Chan]

Well, that's a wrap!

Yes, you heard me right, guys, Cracked Smiles is now officially over! But look out for it's sequel, Black And White Choices, which is coming soon!

Everyone who took part in this RPG is more than welcome to reprise their roles in the sequel - just PM me, and I'll make sure you keep your role.

Anyone whose character was unable to post much, such as Fai and Koudanshi, or died, like Pikari......if you would like to apply for another character in the sequel, just PM me once I've set up the new one, ok?

Next RP, we'll be looking for a Tomoyo, Souma, and some miscellaneous ninjas, including one who's working behind the scenes to betray Tomoyo.

I hope that everyone had fun posting here/reading this as much as I did!