Tsubasa/Sonic Crossover

[aperson]

Sonic and Shadow were still smashing robots that the base seemed to have an infinite supply of when the others arrived. Once their backup entered the battle, the tides changed rather quickly, and soon the onslaught of robots ceased. "Come on, we need to blow this place up, and we only have 45 minutes until Eggman's laser is charged. Sonic grabbed a few explosives from the Tornado, and zoomed into the base.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Kurogane threw himself onto the mass of robots with pleasure, his sword slicing them down with unbelievable precision (which Meilin has none of). Syaoran, not quite yet adept with a sword, attacked full-on with a style of punches and kicks that Seishiro, an old friend, had taught him how to do. Both had a dark secret in common--they were blind in their right eye. However, Seishiro had traded his eye for a magical one created by Yuko to let him travel worlds and look for the two he sought--two vampires.

~*~

Back at the base, Sakura pouted grumpily as she rocked back and forth on a kitchen chair. Why hadn't she been able to stop Syaoran from going? Why did he always have to put himself in danger? And what was he to her: a comrade? A best friend? A brother? Or something more...

"You're thinking about Syaoran-kun, aren't you, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's chair thumped back onto the ground as Fay's voice brought her back to earth. Sakura sighed and twiddled her thumbs as she avoided Fay's knowing grin. "I'm just worried for his safety, okay?" she insisted.

Fay laughed, but his eyes were serious and didn't match his playful tone. "Don't worry, Sakura-chan. Kuro-pop would rather die than let anything happen to Syaoran-kun." His eyes beseeched her for information. Sakura sighed. Somehow, Fay knew. "Is there something else you want to tell me, Sakura-chan?"

There was no use beating around the bush now. With flushed face and trembling hands, Sakura began timidly, "You said you were in love with someone, Fay-san, or at least you had been." She paused here, but Fay stared at her expectantly, willing her on. Sakura took a deep breath. "Um, I need some love advice. Can you help me, Fay-san?"

Fay chuckled darkly and pointedly turned away. "Oh, I am the very last person to ask about love, Sakura-chan...," he said loftily, waving his hand in the air as if to literally shoo her words away.

"But, Fay-san, you said you'd been in love!" Sakura persisted.

"I was kidding. Sometimes it's so fun to contradict Kuro-kuu just to make him mad," Fay said mischievously, his words complemented with a very forced smile.

"You weren't lying! I can tell!" cried Sakura stubbornly. She knew he wasn't. There must be someone Fay cared about. "Is it anyone I know?"

Fay let out a little bark of a giggle and sighed dramatically. "Sakura-chan, why don't we go and see what the others are up to...?"

"Is it me?" Sakura demanded, taking his silence as an invitation to press on. When he didn't respond, she continued to list the names one-by-one. "Is it Syaoran-kun? Is it Moko-chan?"

At this, Fay laughed genuinely for the first time. "Mokona? I don't know about you, Sakura-chan, but I like to look within my species for love interests. Where is that little guy, anyway?" he asked loudly, pushing himself back from the table and starting to strut towards the door. "I wonder where he hopped off to, don't want him to get into any trouble, should go find..." His words trailed off aimlessly. It was clear that Sakura was completely onto his intentional subject changes.

"Is it Kurogane-san?" Sakura shouted, the first person that came to her mind. Of course, it was silly. Fay hated Kurogane. The only thing he loved about the ninja was him being an object of teasing. She would keep going until he said yes to someone, though, even though this one was a little ridiculous.

To Sakura's immense surprise, Fay stopped abruptly in the doorway as she spoke Kurogane's name. A dead silence filled the room for a full minute. Sakura stared blankly at Fay's long, blonde hair. She was on-target? Fay did love Kurogane?!

"No." Fay's voice was cold, but he refused to meet Sakura's eyes. "It's no one you know, okay, Sakura-chan? Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to look for Mokona."

Sakura remained standing, staring dumbfounded after Fay long after he fled from the room. Fay-san loves Kurogane-san, is that it? That's why he's always calling Kurogane-san weird names and making fun of him. All of a sudden, it makes sense. Though... I wish I had been able to tell Fay-san about Syaoran-kun. I need to know if I love him or not, because if I don't figure it out in time, Syaoran-kun will go back to his home world and I'll never see him again.

[aperson]

Sonic entered the base to find it devoid of robots, but there were still computers everywhere. "Someone has a lot of free time." He chuckled, and walked over a door labeled "EQUIPMENT." Inside, he saw all sorts of weapons and gadgets, but what he was most interested in was a pair of tactical goggles sitting on a shelf much to high for him to reach. "Tails! I need you in here for a minute!" A if on cue, the young fox appeared in the doorway. "Can you reach those goggles for me?"

"Sure thing Sonic. This won't take a second." He paused for a little and then added, "Don't count." He flew up to the goggles, his twin tails acting as propellers. Once he was back on the ground he handed the goggles to Sonic.

"That took three seconds."

"I told you nat to count."

"I wasn't even thinking of counting until you told me not to."
Tails let out a sigh at this, but suddenly perked up.

"Look at all this technology. Think of how much I could learn from this stuff. I could upgrade all my inventions to the point that not even GUN could come up with something as good."

"That's nice Tails, but we only have 30 minutes left." Upon hearing this, Tails started scrambling around the room, trying to gather whatever he could to put in the Tornado.

Sonic left the room, and made a quick trip around the base. Using the goggles to locate weak points, he was able to find out exactly where to put the charges. Just as he was about to head back to the exit, he heard someone call his name. He turned around to find Amy (who else?) standing there.

"Oh, hey Amy. I guess I was right about me not being able to stop you from showing up."

"I actually wasn't planning on being so stubborn until you mentioned it."
Sonic thought for a minute.

"Knowing you, you were planning on being stubborn, but you ran into Tails, and he asked you to say that."

"Well, you happen to know me very well." Amy smiled at him. Sonic smiled back. "Well, we'd better get going, we only have 15 minutes to get back to HQ. There is one thing I have to do first, but it won't take very long."

"What's that?" Amy asked.
Sonic appeared in front of her, (I mean directly in front of her. He was about ten feet away and he ran up to her.) and gave her a quick kiss. "Okay, we can go now."

He picked her up, and they ran outside.

Once there, they found Tails stuffing equipment into the Tornado, and Rouge flirting with Knuckles. Trying to flirt with Knuckles actually, considering the fact that the echidna was incapable of noticing subtle verbal cues.
"Time to go everyone, the clock's ticking." (By the way, Sonic said that.)

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Syaoran saw Sonic leave the building and trailed him from behind. "We're leaving now, Sonic-san?" He couldn't help feeling a little bit like he was burdening everyone with his presence. He wasn't all that great a fighter, at least not compared to Kurogane, and it seemed that Sonic already had all the help he needed to accomplish his raids. I'm here for Sakura, he reminded himself determinedly. The thought made him strong. I'm going to find her feather, no matter what. Because...

"Oh, damn, we're goin' home? I just got started," Kurogane said with a smirk, twirling his sword with expert skill and sheathing it once more. "All right, kid, come on, we better get back. The Princess will need to see you're still in one piece before she can breathe again."

Syaoran smiled. On rare moments like these, he saw the kindness that lurked inside Kurogane's heart, afraid to emerge. "Hai, I know. Sakura will be glad to see you, too, Kurogane-san." ...because...

...I love her.

I love all of them.

But once I find her feather, we're all going home.

I don't want to have to leave them...

Fay-san.

Kurogane-san.

Mokona.

And...

Sakura.

I can't part from them all. Not just yet, when we'd first become a family.

But...

How can I make Sakura happy at the same time as keeping her with me?

[aperson]

The group arrived back a GUN just as another explosion from the laser occurred.

The whole group was sitting in a large room with couches and a TV.
Sonic spoke.

"Now, about that unresolved issue-" He stopped abruptly, startled by the appearance of a man in green, carrying a Sword and Shield.
The man looked around. "Wait a second..."

"Who are you?!" Demanded Knuckles.

The man turned. I'm sorry, I believe I've found my way into the wrong story, I'll be leaving now. You're free to continue." With that, he was gone. Sonic blinked. "What was that all about?"

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Sakura was seated on the couch beside Syaoran with Mokona in her lap, and Kurogane sat directly below them on the floor. The Princess frowned as she watched the man walk out of the room, deep in thought. "I feel like... I know him, somehow..."

"Me too," said Syaoran, surprised to know that he felt a connection to this strange man too. "Did we meet him on another world or something?"

Sakura shrugged, happy to know that at least someone shared her hunch. She wasn't going insane, then. She smiled at Syaoran, her heart beating faster, as she stroked Mokona's fur to have something to do with her hands. What she really wanted to do was to hold Syaoran, some part of him, any part of him. She wanted to know that he was hers, that he was safe, that he would never leave again. Unfortunately, thanks to her feathers, she knew it wasn't true. She would gladly give up a few memories to hold Syaoran's hand again like she had this morning. However, that wasn't within her grasp at the moment. She had to be content with him as a friend, at least for the time being, until she knew how he felt about her.

"Who was that?" Fay asked with a little laugh, choosing that moment to stroll into the room. However, his carefree posture stiffened as he saw Sakura on the couch. She stared at him furiously, willing her to tell him who the person he loved was.

I know it's Kurogane-san, but unless Fay-san confesses it himself, I won't say a word.

"Fay-san!" Syaoran said happily, naively unaware of the tension between the magician and the Princess. "Where have you been?"

"Nowhere," said Fay briskly, his huge smile clashing violently with his tone. He sat himself down on another couch alone, far away from the other travelers.

Syaoran sighed. Why did this always happen, this tension? It was moments like these when he thought he wouldn't mind going back home to Clow and his dig.

[aperson]

"Well, all interruptions aside, I think that you two have something to say to each other." Sonic looked pointedly at the two youngest humans in the room.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

"M-me?" Sakura and Syaoran turned to each other blankly. What was Sonic talking about?

He... he can't know how I feel about Sakura, can he?

He... he can't know how I feel about Syaoran-kun, can he?

With a blush and a pound of the heart, both stammered a hurried response.

"I don't know what you mean."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sonic-san, you must be mistaken..."

"...I don't have anything to say."

[aperson]

"Fine, don't say anything, but it's just going to get harder and harder to act normal. I should know. I'm just trying to help."

"Help with what?"

"You know Knuckles, sometimes I think it would do you good to pay more attention to Rouge's sentences."

"What's that supposed to mean?!"

"I also think that you aren't as clueless as you seem. You just pretend to be as a way to avoid your emotional dilemmas. Or in this case, dilemma."

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm sure you don't." Sonic stifled laughter at the expression on the echidna's face.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Sakura and Syaoran looked at their toes. What could they say...? Of course, they both knew inside that Sonic's words were true. But neither wanted to make the first move.

"M-maybe you should talk to Fay-san too," Sakura suggested shakily, raising her eyes to Sonic's, careful to avoid Fay's. "H-he has something to say to s-someone..."

Fay bristled, but laughed. It was getting harder and harder to stay cheerful when Sakura kept pricking him in all the wrong places. "I don't, Sakura-chan," he said, honey-sweet, though his voice was laden with poison. "I think you must be mistaken. You're thinking of someone else."

"No, I'm not, Fay-san!" Sakura retorted, still avoiding his eyes lest they contain bitterness too. "You have something to say to... Kurogane-san."

Bang.

"To me?" snarled Kurogane, all heads in the room swiveling to face the now-desperate Fay.

In the silence that followed, Sakura could tell that she'd made a fatal mistake. She dropped her gaze down to Mokona once more, and concentrated with all her might on stroking it instead of what Fay would say next...

((HARRY POTTER REFERENCE DOLORES UMBRIDGE POISONED HONEY -shot-
had to do it. if you're very confused by my outburst, I am deeply sorry about that.))

[aperson]

Sonic was keenly aware of the tension in the air. The room was dead with silence, yet alive with adrenaline. Something was about to happen, and it was either going to be very good, or very bad. His tendency to disregard his own safety kicked in, and he stepped it between the young princess and the magician.

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Fay stood up automatically, his face momentarily hidden behind a wall of pale hair. When he emerged, he had regained composure once more, and his everlasting smile stretched from ear to ear. "Now, now, Sonic-san, there's no need for people to get upset. Sakura-chan and I just had a little misunderstanding this morning. Right?"

For the first time since she'd known him, Fay genuinely scared Sakura. His eerie grin, combined with the danger in his voice, was very unsettling. Sakura bowed her head. Was it really all a misunderstanding after all? Did Fay really not care about Kurogane at all? Well, whether or not it was, it wouldn't hurt her to go along with Fay's words. "Maybe," Sakura muttered quietly.

Mokona looked up at her with sad eyes. On the couch next to her, Syaoran almost unconsciously took her hand. Sakura blushed. Despite himself, Syaoran smiled to himself. He noticed that little blush. He had noticed the way she'd acted all day, different from the norm, how she had always acted before. Sakura was different today. She was what a teenage girl was supposed to be: seemingly selfish, stubborn, argumentative. Normally, she was like a goddess from the sky without a single flaw. There was only one thing that could bring about such a dramatic change in her, and Syaoran knew exactly what it was.

She liked him back, didn't she?

Though Fay was livid behind his beaming face, Syaoran was happier than he had been since Sakura had lost her memories. He felt like he was floating on air ((FIZZY LIFTING DRINKS WILLY WONKAAAA)), and for the first time in months, he felt like they had it again. That spark. That closeness. That thing he and Sakura had used to have, before... she forgot him...

That's right. She forgot. How could he explain to her who he was without her forgetting?

Sakura held onto his hand as strong as she could without squeezing. Fay was mad, wasn't he? He seemed nice enough now, but when Syaoran and Kurogane left to find her feather, she would be alone with the magician and he would refuse to have anything to do with her. How could she have made such a huge mistake? She had just been trying to help! Sakura's other hand, the one not with Syaoran's, clenched into a fist. Why was she always somebody's burden? Syaoran was forced to find her feathers, Kurogane was forced to travel worlds he didn't want to go through, Fay was angry beyond belief, and all because of her.

She did no good for this world. She was a Princess who didn't fit in with nobility but could never be common no matter how hard she tried. She was a freak of nature with magical weaknesses instead of powers. She was a burden to everyone and everything. And the boy she loved. He loved her dutifully, served her as his Princess, but she had fallen for him as something far more. Duty was not what bound her to Syaoran. It was her heart.

Apparently Fay didn't feel the same way about Kurogane, and now Sakura was in deep trouble. She'd been foolish enough to think that one day's crush made up for a lifetime's experiences in love. Stupid! How could she have been so naive?

((ahhh everyone is sooo out-of-character...))

[aperson]

"I don't trust you mage. I think you're going to snap, and someone is going to get hurt. Sit down. Now. Shadow, make sure he doesn't try anything."

"Right."

[bodie the almighty and awesome]

Fay's face contorted into an expression of extreme shock, his smile failing him for a fraction of a section before he grinned once more. "Snap? Me?" His voice sounded hurt and confused, though he beamed. "But I don't... you have this all wrong, Sonic-san... I wouldn't hurt a fly. I'm a nice guy, really! And I swore not to use my magic since I traded the marking that controls my powers to the Time-Space Witch."

"The mage's right." The last person expected to defend the magician spoke up then in his low, rumbling voice: Kurogane. "He's the most controlled person I know and he'd never do anything to the kid or the Princess. He loves them."

Fay laughed lightly. "Oh, I don't know about love..."

"He loves them," Kurogane repeated firmly, catching the magician's eye with a hard look. Fay was taken aback, but reassured.

"Thank you, Kuroga--" He was an inch away from using the ninja's real name for the first time, but as he remembered Sakura's accusations, he smiled sweetly and replaced it with a stupid nickname as always. "--K-Kuro-binky!"

Kurogane snarled. "Don' mention it, mage."

[aperson]

"Sonic glared at the magician. "Fine. But sit down anyways."

"Sonic, stop standing there." Amy's voice was filled with poorly concealed concern. Sonic jumped, and he instantly removed himself from his current position. "Where would you like me to be?"

"Over here."
Sonic sat back down and put his arm around her. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes. "Thank you Sonic."

"You really don't need to thank me."

"AHEM!" Knuckles cleared his throat loudly.

"Yes Knuckles?" Sonic asked.

"What about the next base?"

"Right, well we don't have to leave for a while. I think tomorrow morning would be best. We'll have the full amount of time then, because the laser will have just fired."