A/N: And here is the next chapter! I need two reviews, as usual… On, and chapter 5 might take a little longer... I'm still editing it coz it's not too satisfying... Anywayz, thank you all for the reviews! I can't believe all the attention this fic has gotten... (Hey, I think I remember saying that before...)

Princess Fay?!

Chapter 3:

The sun was barely peeking beyond the horizon and only a few birds were chirping about when Fay had woken up. His companion was still deep in slumber as he got out of bed and fixed it. He was about to go out for a whiff of fresh air when an unusually soft voice startled his still surroundings.

“Oi. Where do you think you're going, this early in the morning?” Came the soft but still gruff voice. Fay turned around and smiled at the unusually calm ninja, who was sitting upright in his own bed.

“The sun is barely up, so I figured a whiff of fresh air will be nice.” To emphasize his point, he got his coat and faced the door. Kurogane got out of his bed and walked to the startled mage’s side. “Eh? Where are you going, Kuro-pon?”

Kurogane sighed while looking away from the mage. “Your idea isn’t half bad.” He got his coat as well and walked ahead of the mage out the door. The mage shook his head as he ran after the distanced ninja.

“Kuro-chan! Wait for me!”

“It’s so quiet…” Fay's voice seemingly rung throughout the empty streets. It was five am, and only a few people were out and about, mostly vendors who sell breakfast on the sidewalks or servants who wake up early to start their household chores. Fay and Kurogane were walking side by side trying to take in the peacefulness around them.

Kurogane and Fay walked in silence pointlessly for a few minutes, when Fay decided to speak up. “Ne, Kuro-run… You look like you wanna say something to me.”

Kurogane merely looked at him sharply then looked away again. “What gave you that impression?”

“Hmmm... The look in your eyes, and the way you walk. You look like you want to get something out. I’m listening, so don’t worry.”

Kurogane sighed and paused for a long time. For what seemed like minutes, the two of them didn’t say anything. Fay was about to tease Kurogane about being ‘shy’ when the ninja finally spoke up softly. “You didn’t get nightmares, did you?”

Fay looked at him, his eyes wide in surprise. He… cares about me? “No, none that I can think of. I slept well last night, thanks to your 'sweet dreams' thing.” Fay smiled brightly at the blushing ninja, who immediately looked away.

“… Good.” Kurogane then walked away, leaving the mage behind deep in his thoughts.

When Fay realized that the ninja was long gone, he exclaimed loudly while running after him, “Eh?! Kuro-kun, you’re so mean! Leaving me behind like this!”

“The contest is four days away, princess.” Syaoran said worriedly. “Are you going to be alright? We have not located a feather in days.”

Sakura nodded weakly while rubbing her eyes. “Yes, I’m pretty sure I’ll be alright, Syaoran-kun, if you stay by my side and cheer for me. I’ll try my best not to fall asleep!” She then gave out a bright smile which caused Syaoran to blush. Just then, Fay and Kurogane broke the moment when they went in.

“Ah, good morning Syaoran-kun and Sakura-chan!” Fay greeted rather cheerfully. “Kuro-puu and I went out for a bit of fresh air early this morning. Now, what do we do today?”

“The contest is four days away, Fay-san.” Syaoran replied. “We don’t really have anything else to do because we already bought a dress for the princess.”

“Ah, in that case we should go around town and have fun for a while!” Fay suggested, which caused the ninja to go thundering again.

“IS THAT ALL WHAT YOU HAVE IN MIND?! HAVE FUN?!” He exploded. Fay merely laughed in reply as he went out the door and dodged the sword that was lashed at him. Kurogane and Fay began chasing each other around town again while Syaoran put up his palms in an attempt to calm them down, sweating all the while. As soon as the two were out of sight, Syaoran offered out his hand for the princess to take.

“Shall we go, Sakura-hime?” He asked. Sakura blushed as she took Syaoran's hand.

“Okay!”

An hour later, Kurogane and Fay were nowhere to be found. Sakura and Syaoran had been searching for them ever since they disappeared an hour ago while chasing each other, but it was in vain. They decided to just look around town for a while.

“Young people, oh young ones! Would you like to try some pears?” The old woman at the sidewalk beckoned kindly while showing them a yellowish fruit.

“A pear?” Syaoran asked in bewilderment. Mokona spoke up, naturally.

“Yes!” The woman then wrapped them up a bag, which Syaoran paid for. Syaoran and Sakura each took a piece from the bag and ate it.

“It’s delicious!” Syaoran exclaimed happily. Sakura nodded in agreement.

“It really is! And it’s so sweet and soft! We should save some for Kurogane-san and Fay-san when they go home.”

“Hmmm, I wonder where Sakura-chan and Syaoran-kun went…” Fay asked no one in particular with his palm spread above his forehead while looking around. Kurogane merely grunted in frustration.

“If it wasn't for you we wouldn’t be lost right now.”

Fay merely laughed. “Well, it was fun getting you angry, Kuro-nyan.” His stomach then growled. “I’m hungry…”

Kurogane reached into his pocket and found some gold coins. “I grabbed some from the pouch, in case we get lost. Go find a place we can eat in.”

Fay looked at Kurogane slyly. “Why don’t we go together?”

Kurogane rolled his eyes. “Fine.” They both walked to a noodle stand they found a moment later. They sat down and ordered.

“That’s two orders, right? Are you two together?” The woman behind the counter asked. Fay nodded, his face resting on his hands.

“Yes. Ummm, you do have forks, right?” He asked. The woman shook her head sadly.

“I’m sorry, but we don’t. We only have chopsticks.” Fay looked at her in horror.

“Eh?! But I don’t know how to use chopsticks.” Kurogane glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and spoke.

“About time you learned how. All of the countries we’ve gone to so far use chopsticks, and so you must learn to use them.” The woman then laid the bowl of noodles before them.

“But… who will I learn it from?” Fay asked for the sake of asking it.

“Must I tell you everything?” Kurogane then grabbed the mage’s hand and positioned his fingers the proper way to hold chopsticks. “There, now that’s for starters. Try grabbing something while holding the chopsticks that way.” Kurogane let go of his hand temporarily to see if the mage got it.

Fay tried but the noodles kept slipping. Kurogane then took hold of his hand again, which caused the mage to blush slightly.

“Hold it tighter then try grabbing something.” Kurogane was still holding his hand as he tried grabbing some noodles. Fay did it, but when Kurogane let go of his hand the noodles went limp and slid back into the bowl. Fay sighed.

“I’ll starve!” He wailed while looking at Kurogane jealously, who already gave up on teaching him and was already halfway through his bowl. “You’re so good, Kuro-tan.”

Kurogane glanced at him and sighed. “Use your hands or something.”

Fay looked at the bowl. “I would normally, but this one has soup in it, and there's nowhere in sight where I can wash my hands afterwards.”

Kurogane sighed again as he seemed to think. For what seemed like after a few minutes, he grabbed Fay’s bowl and started to grab some noodles. “Kuro-tan! Now you’re eating my share too?!” Fay asked, pouting.

“No, you idiot. Open your mouth and don’t say anything stupid, otherwise I’ll leave you here.” Kurogane then grabbed some noodles and directed the chopsticks towards his face. It dawned on Fay what his annoyed companion was about to do: spoon-feed him. He blushed as he looked at the outstretched chopsticks, unsure of what to do.

“What have you done to Kuro-pon, you clone?” Fay teased as Kurogane huffed angrily. "It's not you!"

"I'm doing this for your sake, damn it. You don’t wanna starve to death, do you?” Kurogane said the last sentence gruffly as he was still holding out the chopsticks with noodles on them, ready to be eaten. “Besides, now you know how I feel when you force things into my mouth.”

Fay laughed lightly as he opened his mouth and Kurogane fed him, which caused the woman at the counter to blush when she saw them. “I’m getting you back for this, Kuro-chan.” Kurogane merely grunted as he looked at the bowl he was about to feed Fay; knowing the magician, they’d be here for a long time…

Fay had finished eating an hour later, despite Kurogane’s complaints for him to hurry up. They then paid the red faced vendor and jumped out of their seats. Fay then spotted Syaoran and Sakura who were passing through the same street.

“Syaoran-kun! Sakura-chan!” Fay called their two companions cheerfully. Upon hearing Fay's voice, Syaoran and Sakura ran to them.

“Fay-san! Kurogane-san! Are you alright? Nothing bad happened, right?” Sakura asked worriedly. Fay smiled.

“Of course not. Anyway, have you guys eaten already?”

Syaoran and Sakura both nodded. “We ate pears, and they’re really good and sweet! Here, try some!” Sakura then offered the bag to Fay, from which he took out two fruits from.

“It really is good.” Fay commented while biting into the piece. He shoved the other piece into Kurogane’s mouth, who bit it and then caught it in his hands.

“What the hell?!” He looked at the fruit and chewed. Fay laughed.

“That was payback, Kuro-sama!” Kurogane’s eyes then sparkled dangerously as he looked down at the mage.

“You creep, forcing food into a guy’s mouth!” He said angrily while chasing the mage around with a sword again.

“What about you, spoon-feeding me noodles?!” He called after the angry ninja.

“That was different! If I didn’t do it, you would have starved, you damn mage!!”

Syaoran and Sakura ran after them again, afraid that they might lose sight of their companions again. “Kurogane-san, Fay-san! Please wait!”

End of chapter

A/N: Anyway, that was all I can think of… I thought that chapter was pretty cute, so leave a review, please! Just my thoughts on why it’s convenient for Fay not to know how to use chopsticks… Nyahahaha…