Life. Time. Dimension.
Those were the three pillars that had kept the world intact ever since its creation.
Until now.

= = =

This was the first time Yuuko Ichihara had ever shed a tear for her client. She knew that she had became too attached to Kimihiro Watanuki – not only did she had changed him; he, too, had changed her.

'I'm going to stay right here in the shop, Yuuko-san, and wait as long as it takes……for you!' Those last words she heard from him, and his crying face, were all imprinted firmly in her heart.

'It's impossible, Watanuki, the dead can never come back alive,' her voice resonated in the nothingness. 'This is goodbye. I'm very glad that I've met you.'

'I wonder, Witch of the Dimensions.'

A strong gust blew across her cheek. She opened her eyes and turned around.

Everywhere around her was pitch black except the ground, which was glowing white lines that interlocked and formed tiles. Standing in front of her was a young boy who looked not more than seventeen years old, surveying her with his violet eyes, his jet-black hair fluttered in the wind, the flowing bamboo-printed white robe flapped soundlessly around his bare feet. He was almost like a mirror image of Yuuko herself.

Yuuko lowered her head and looked at her butterfly kimono. She did not die. Not yet. She then sighed deeply. 'When will this dream ever end?'

The boy did not answer; he merely continued to stare at her.

'Even if it's possible, I will never go back. I won't allow his dream to come true.'

After a long moment of silence, he finally spoke. '……I understand.'

She looked up sharply. 'Something disastrous has happened.'

'Yes,' the boy echoed plainly, his eyes still trained on her. 'That something has been destroyed.

'The Pillar of Time.'

= = =

To Be Continued...

---

Tsubasa: ANoTHER CHRoNiCLE – The Prequel
( ツバサ – アナザー・クロニクル~前傳~)

Genre: Action, Adventure, Fantasy, Supernatural, Tragedy
Rating: PG (may contain strong languages and some gory scenes)

A/N: This is a crossover fan fiction inspired from the manga series Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and xxxHOLiC by CLAMP. I do not own Tsubasa RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE and xxxHOLiC – all characters and settings belong to CLAMP, except those that do not appear in the original mangas are mine. Note that the setting happens after the death of Yuuko Ichihara (xxxHOLiC, Chapter 181).

The ancient Sakura tree was blooming with cherry blossoms; its petals spiraled down in the light breeze. A teenage boy sat with his eyes closed at the bottom of the tree leaning against its huge smooth trunk as the petals rained down on him. The vast darkness beyond did not bother him; the warm halo of the old tree comforted him.

(Wake up.)

He opened his eyes and stood up at the voice. 'Is it time?'

(Wake up, please.)

He stretched out his right hand and grabbed a flower petal. 'It is her, isn't it?' He was suddenly aware that the wind had begun to pick up speed. The roaring sound of the falling petals was getting louder.

(…Just wake up…before all the Sakura petals have fallen……)

- - -

Where am I?

An unknown ceiling. That was the first thing Tsubasa saw when he woke from the dream. He got off the bed and looked around the room.

It was rather small; rows of antique books were arranged neatly on a large mahogany bookshelf, stacks of yellowing manuscripts and parchments filled the small wooden desk near the bedside window, but a picture frame sat on top of the mess. He stretched out his hand and picked it up.

The photograph seemed to be taken in this very room, although the table was cleared of the clutter. There were only two people in the picture: a smiling man placed his hand on a young boy's shoulder. The boy's face, however, was cold; his amber eyes were empty of emotions. Tsubasa only tore off his gaze at the sound of a loud knock.

'Yes?' He placed the picture frame back on the desk and went for the door.

Before he could see his visitor clearly, he was pinned down on the floor; a girl's face loomed in front of him. 'Syaoran! When did you come back? How's the progress of the excavation of the ruin? What have you found? Are you hurt anywhere?'

Tsubasa did not answer her questions; he merely stared at her, uncomfortable at how close her face was to his. He quickly collected himself and coughed, 'Um, you…you are heavy.'

She let out a squeal and got off him, bowed her head, her face reddening. 'S-sorry!'

She was a very pretty girl; her sparkling jade-green eyes were full of happiness, her reddish-brown bangs made her heart-shaped face seemed childlike and cute. She wore a white robe made of silk lined with pink, with a large opal that hung on her chest. A string of olive leaves was tied around her slender neck, two gold bracelet cuffed on her wrist. Tsubasa deduced that she must be someone from a royal family.

'Sakura-hime!'

They raised their head in time to see two rough men who looked like imperial guards running towards them. The girl got to her feet and smiled at Tsubasa sweetly. 'Welcome back, Syaoran.' And she dashed out, sidestepping the guards' clawing hands swiftly as she went past them.

'Please wait, hime!' The guards chased after her without giving Tsubasa a second glance.

He stood up and closed the door. So that girl was a princess, and her name was Sakura.

Sakura. Tsubasa clutched his head. The dream. He frowned. She had called him "Syaoran". So he had made it in time.

He began to sort out the untidy piles of papers. He found it hard to decipher the exaggerated curvy handwriting, but the diagram of a wing-like structure interested him. Scrawled at the bottom right-hand corner of the diagram was the word tsubasa.

He traced the word with his finger. Then he looked out of the window, and inhaled sharply.

Beyond the window, the wing-like structure seemed to have come alive. A sandstorm began to engulf the outline of the ruin.

Something not right is about to happen. He grabbed the tattered brown cloak that hung on the coat stand and tore out onto the road.

The man and the boy in the photograph were slowly fading off, and all that was left in the frame was the bedside table in the room.

... ...

Sakura slowed to a jog and stopped. It seemed that she had thrown off the guards for now. She closed here eyes and leaned against the wall, breathing heavily from her run.

The sound of chimes from far away reached her ears. She closed her eyes and swayed to the tune. So beautiful…but why does it sound so sad? She opened her eyes and looked around for the source. She let out a small gasp. It was coming from the ruin.

'It's calling out to me…'

She lost all her senses, and began walking towards the ruin.

... ...

Tsubasa ran towards the ruin and stopped short. The sandstorm seemed to be protecting the ruin. He clenched his fists and moved cautiously nearer to the ruin. The sandstorm did not get stronger; instead it opened a path for him. Without hesitation, he continued on and entered the ruin.

He descended carefully down the stone steps in the inky blackness. He paused after a short moment and placed his palm against the rough wall. He could feel some kind of power pulsing into his hand, and his heart began to ache.

The ruin was crying.

A sudden brightness ahead caught his eye and he sped up his descend.

The stairs led to a huge chamber with a strange wing-like symbol etched on the ground. He widened his eyes at the sight of Sakura, who stood at the edge of the symbol, and seemed to be staring intently at it.

'Sakura…hime?'

She glanced up at him, then placed her feet into the symbol.

'Wait–'

A sudden gust of wind blew him off his feet. He got up, wincing at the pain from the crash. He stared at Sakura in horror.

She floated above the glowing symbol, her pretty face bathed with tranquility. She clasped her hands before her chest and arched her back. A pair of ghostly black wings began to grow from her back, and then started to fade, black feathers scattered into the air with a deafening roar. She began to fall, and he rushed forward to catch her.

'Sakura-hime!' He nudged her anxiously. 'Sakura-hime!'

A black feather fell from the sky and landed on her chest. A ripple appeared as it sank into her.

Another strange symbol appeared beneath his feet and overlapped the wing-like symbol. Then a whirlwind began to enclose around him……

* * *

Heaps of dead bodies filled the laboratory, their blood painted the gray concrete floor with crimson. At the front of a broken life-support capsule, a naked boy raised the razor-sharp blade protruding from his fist, the pointed edge inches from his hostage's throat. His deep-blue eyes were icy, emotionless.

'S…stop it, Mirage!' the hostage pleaded hoarsely. 'P-please!'

Mirage remained silent, the blood-stained blade still inches from his throat.

'This is really the worst joke I've ever heard, Professor Miyazaki,' a woman laughed from the corner of the lab, throwing back her poisonous-green curly locks. 'You created him and gave him life; and now he is about to take your life away. I'd say this is a one-for-one exchange, eh? I don't blame you – 'sides, this is the ultimate killing machine we want here, hmm?'

Professor Miyazaki ignored her. 'Please, Mirage, this isn't what you have to be. This isn't what I want you to be.'

Another moment of silence. Then Mirage finally lowered his fist.

The woman grinning face turned ugly. 'Damn you, bastard!' She wrenched out a laser gun from her belt. 'Go to hell, traitor!' And her finger pulled the trigger.

In one fluid motion, Mirage pushed Miyazaki away and leapt into the air to avoid the shot, then pushed the blade through her head. She let out a terrifying scream before she collapsed on the floor, with her head split open.

He turned to face the professor. Miyazaki knelt down and sobbed, clutching his chest. He then took out a golden bracelet from the breast pocket and signaled for Mirage to stretch out his arm. He pushed the bracelet through his hand and said, 'there isn't much life in me; that woman had injected nanochips into my blood, which will corrode my organs when she dies.' His face broke into a sad smile. 'He gave this to me as a parting gift; for that day to come. This is the day.'

A magic circle appeared beneath Mirage's feet. A maelstrom began to surround him.

'Why?'

He shook his head. 'Because this is my dying wish.' And he crumpled onto the ground, black blood trickling from the corner of his mouth.

* * *

Rei leaned against the dark wall and flipped through his copy of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows with impatience. He kept glancing at his roommate Raven, who was drawing a runic circle on the floor in their room. The flames of the floating candles around them were still; the long shadows cast by the light from the flames looked as if they were imprinted on the ground.

Raven finished his final touch on the circle and stood up finally. 'You want to travel to a world where you will be accepted by the society, is that so?'

'Yeah, I've enough of this world.' Rei threw the book across the room, narrowly missing Raven's head. 'Just because I'm a mutant doesn't mean I'm some kind of freak. I know that my powers are really creepy…You will help me, won't you, Raven?'

Raven gazed at him with his serious black eyes. 'I can help you, but only once.'

'Once?'

'I can only send you to another dimension only once, and I do not know which world you would end up in, and whether it has humans and mutants coexisting together.'

Rei slumped down onto the floor. 'So…no hope, huh?'

'No – there is one way. I will send you to him.' He motioned Rei to step into the circle. Then he levitated into the air, clasping his pale hands together. 'Azarath Metrion Zinthos.'

'Him?' The circle began to glow, and black rings wrapped around Rei's body.

'He should be able to grant that desire of yours.'

'I have one more request: will you cover for me?' Rei's legs were gone.

'No. I will tell them as it is.'

And Rei's torso had vanished.

The candles flickered and disappeared, the room began to return to its original state. Raven raised his hand. The book zoomed into his open palm and fluttered to its very first page. On the paper scribbled in slanted handwriting: Rei Yorutsuki.

Raven snapped the book shut and looked up at the setting sun beyond the only window in the room. 'Good luck, Rei.'

= = =

To Be Continued...

I have crossed over onto the forbidden path,
In search for the most precious thing that you have lost.
I will get them back for you -
No matter the price that I have to pay.

= = =

'I have been expecting your arrival,' the robe boy spoke at the three whirlwind that appeared behind him. Yuuko narrowed her eyes at him, but said nothing. The cyclone ceased, showing a cloaked boy cradling a sleeping girl, a naked boy covered in blood and the last boy wearing a white T-shirt bearing the slogan f*** this world for all its worth.

'You three are here because you are searching for something.' He turned around to face the three newcomers.

'Yep,' the white-T boy answered first and ran his fingers through his spiky snow-white hair. 'I want to go to a world where mutants and humans can coexist together. But I don't know where that world is.'

The robe boy bowed his head slightly, and turned to the naked one. 'You were sent here by him because he wanted you to search for the purpose of your existence.' He held up the gold bracelet to his eyes. The naked boy did not answer, but locked his sapphire-blue eyes with the robe boy's purple eyes. There was a minute of silence, only the sound of blood dripping from his bladed hands.

The robe boy broke the eye contact and finally addressed the cloaked boy. 'That girl has lost something very important to her…and her feathers have scattered across the dimensions. You have to search for them and return them to her, or else she will die.' He paused, closed his eyes and continued. 'However, I would need you to pay a compensation equivalent to your desire in order for me to grant them…and the price has been paid beforehand.'

A magic circle appeared above his palm and a small black creature emerged from the circle. 'Take it with you, since you do not have the ability to travel across dimensions. Go on, Mokona.'

(Yes, Shizuyo-san!) the creature leaped into the air, the white jewel on its forehead glowed. (Mokona Modoki is ready to go! Puu~)

White wings appeared from its back, and a magic circle radiated beneath the three boys' feet. The cloaked boy clutched the girl more securely in his arms and looked up at the robe boy. 'This is the Dream World, isn't it?'

'So it seems.'

(Paa~) The three boys and the sleeping girl were sucked into the creature's opened mouth.

(Pan!)

And they were gone.

- - -

'So time…has repeated itself once more.' Yuuko stepped forward and stood beside him.

'Yes,' he twisted the gold bracelet in his hands. Then a magic circle radiated above his left shoulder, and a white creature materialized with a faint pop.

(Hyuu~ Mokona Modoki is ready at your service!)

He raised the bracelet. 'Send this back to its original owner.'

The blue-black jewel on its head began to shine brightly. It opened its mouth and sucked the bracelet. (Pan!)

Yuuko's voice dropped to a bare whisper. 'Will the loop ever be broken, I wonder?'

'It all depends on what they will choose from now on. This is all that we can do for now. We can only watch over them and pray.'

= = =

To Be Continued...