FicWad

The plan had seemed so simple yesterday: drop down into the Agrabah desert at night while it was still cool, follow the map, and collect another Keyblade. Simple. Easy.

Not simple. X may have marked the spot, but they had gotten turned around somehow. She still didn't understand how it had happened: the landmarks at the drop point matched those on the map exactly, and it hadn't seemed any great distance to the temple where the Keyblade was rumored to be.

They'd walked for a long time, and when the first faint glow appeared in the sky, they admitted defeat. The temple was nowhere to be seen. Featureless sand stretched as far as the eye could see in every direction.

"Okay," Riku said. "It's not here. What's the plan?"

"Maybe we should leave and come back later with a compass," Kairi suggested. She yawned.

A tense silence emanated from Sora. Kairi watched him, suppressing another yawn, and wondered. Lately he'd been different from the happy-go-lucky Sora she'd always known. He was inclined to snap, his temper running close to the surface at all times. Most of all he was impatient, loathe to waste even a moment in pursuit of their goal, and she didn't think it was just because of the Chasers tracking them. But she never asked, not wanting to provoke an annoyed response.

"Sora," Riku said. He didn't worry about Sora's sharp tongue; his own voice had an edge to it.

Kairi watched as their eyes met and held. The tension between her two friends was palpable; Sora's eyes glinted for long moments before he exhaled gustily and looked away.

"Fine. Let's go back," he said, and Kairi trailed after her two friends, wondering what that had been about.

The sand was soft and yielding, just like on the beaches of Destiny Islands. It didn't hold footprints very well, but there was no wind to disturb the tracks they had made in the sand, and they had no difficulty retracing their steps. Their shadows stretched out before them as they walked, growing shorter as the sun rose; Kairi kept turning to check its progress. She hoped they'd be out of the desert and back on the gummi ship before the heat became oppressive.

Soon after the sun cleared the horizon, they lost the trail. Kairi was half-asleep, hypnotized by the back and forth movement of Sora's shoe in front of her, and when he abruptly stopped walking she nearly collided with him.

"What is it?" she said.

"Our footprints. They're gone."

She looked; it was true. The sand before them was smooth.

"Great," said Riku.

"Well, now what?" she said.

Sora wanted to retrace their steps; he thought they had simply veered off the trail at some point. Riku thought they should find shelter and wait; Donald and Goofy would realize they were missing eventually, and Aladdin, with Genie's help, would be able to find and rescue them in the blink of an eye. Sora didn't want to be rescued and didn't want to waste time sitting around in the desert. Riku didn't want to get a horrific sunburn or die of thirst.

Kairi listened to them argue, but her attention was incomplete. She was getting a bad feeling. She turned toward the sun. The air was still cool, but she could feel the sunlight pressing against her shins as though it had tangible weight. A rippling haze was slowly rising up, obscuring the horizon.

She turned back to her friends, intending to agree with Riku that they should find shelter, but she faltered as a shadow rippled over the sands. A bird the size of a small house and the color of coal swooped down upon them, snatched Riku up in its talons, and flew away.

She stood there with her mouth open, stunned.

Sora blinked, but quickly found his voice. "Are you kidding me?" he shouted, and sprinted after it.

Kairi watched him for a few moments, knowing it was pointless to chase a flyer on foot, but realized that she should probably go with him if she didn't want to be left alone in the desert. She ran too.

The enormous bird flew slowly, but still much faster than they could run. After they had gone a mile or so, it was just a dark speck in the sky, and as she watched, the haze swallowed it. She kept running because Sora did, but it was hard work. The sand shifted under her feet and made each step twice as difficult as it would have been on a hard surface. The muscles in her legs burned.

After another mile, she had to stop. "Sora," she panted. The sun was higher, the air warmer, and she would have been overheated making that run in the dead of winter.

Ahead of her, Sora stopped. He stared in the direction the bird had flown, and the set of his shoulders indicated anger. The Keyblade he carried, a living braid of vines, twisted and writhed in his hand.

"Sora?" she said after she caught her breath.

He turned around, and his face was pale under his tan. Kairi took a step toward him, and Sora's control slipped. His face screwed up into a fierce expression she had never seen on him before, a mixture of anger and worry, and he dropped the Keyblade. Whirling away from her, he kicked at the ground. His big shoes sprayed gouts of sand into the air, and Kairi watched in bewilderment as Sora showed her what a seventeen-year old looked like throwing a temper tantrum. For the life of her she couldn't figure out why he was so upset; she hadn't worried about Riku for even a second. He could take care of himself.

A minute passed, sand flying everywhere, before Sora abruptly threw himself down onto the sand and sat looking toward where they had last seen Riku. His back was to her, and now his shoulders looked dejected.

She would have gone to him, hugged him and told him it was going to be okay, but a suspicion was rising in her, and she couldn't shake it free. A memory was tickling her, and after a few moments she remembered what Sora had done when he had realized he had finally found Riku in the World That Never Was. She thought of his tears, the emotional babble that had escaped him, his death grip on Riku's hand.

When she had found Sora, he'd merely allowed her to hug him.

It was like being struck by a bolt of lightning. She knew it happened; Wakka and Tidus were living proof. She had never thought about Riku and Sora in that context, but now she couldn't drive it from her mind. It made so much sense. It was so clear: Sora was in love with his best friend. Not her. Riku.

Kairi felt stupid.

How many times over the last two years had she congratulated herself on her patience? The temptation to try and make something happen between them, so that she could touch him, kiss him, anytime she wanted, had been nearly overwhelming on multiple occasions. Only the knowledge that he would address the subject in his own time, when he was ready, stopped her. She loved him too much to push him. She'd just been waiting until he could no longer stop himself from admitting how much he loved her.

But he didn't. It was humiliating.

Tears welled in her eyes, but she blinked them away. They were stranded in the middle of the desert, without water, and she couldn't afford to waste precious moisture on futile tears.

Kairi swallowed her feelings and set her shoulders. Sora was still sitting on the ground, and he didn't look like he was going to move anytime soon. She marched up to him and tugged at the collar of his shirt.

"We can't stay here." She tugged a little harder. "Come on."

He gave himself a rousing shake and let her help him stand up.

"Sorry," he said, not quite meeting her eye.

"It's all right," she said, and it was true. "We're following him, right?"

"Yeah," he said. "Let's go."

§

By noon, Kairi had forgotten all about Riku, and Sora was merely a ghost at her side, an insubstantial companion in misery. Her thighs felt like bars of lead, her calves like steel cables stressed to the breaking point; she half expected them to snap at any moment. Still, she kept walking, the slide of sand under her shoes at every step a never-ending torment.

Hell wasn't other people. Hell was a desert.

She panted with every step, the hot, dry air coursing down her throat like sandpaper. Her mouth was parched, completely devoid of moisture, and the thought of water was no longer academic. It was torture.

Sora trudged beside her. He had removed one of his shirts and fastened it around his head so that the hems fell over his shoulders. His hair poked out of the top, as stubbornly vertical as ever, and if the circumstances hadn't been so dire she would have laughed at how ridiculous he looked.

She hadn't had an extra shirt to wear on her head, but Sora had given her his Keyblade once the sun began to bother them. Kairi had laughed the very first time she'd seen it, wondering what good even the sharpest leaves would be against Heartless, but Sora had insisted its magical properties made up for its lack of sharp metal bits, and after seeing it in action a few times, she'd agreed.

Right now it was saving her life. Sora had done it, standing in front of her while the sweat ran into her eyes. His attention was completely focused on the Keyblade, and while his hands guided it into shape, she found herself staring up at his eyes. Nobody she knew had eyes like Sora's: their vivid blue was astonishing. Eventually the Keyblade was wound around her head to his satisfaction. The braids of vines had unraveled themselves and linked together, and a dome of leaves curved over her, shading her face, shoulders, and upper arms.

But she was still hotter than she had ever been in her entire life, and she couldn't go much further. It seemed inevitable that she would stumble at some point, and she wondered if she did whether she would be able to get back up.

Kairi thought about water, and about what the sun was doing to the skin of her legs, and about the cruel shift of sand under her feet. And she thought about falling, right up until the moment she actually did.

She landed heavily on the ground, face down. Luck or the swift movement of the Keyblade prevented her from getting a mouthful of grit; instead, a smooth leaf pressed against her lips. With effort, she raised her head to look for Sora. He hadn't noticed her fall, was still trudging over the sand, and this worried her vaguely. She tried to call his name, but her voice was gone.

Real panic bloomed in her, giving her energy. She swallowed, tried to clear her throat, and coughed.

"Sora," she croaked.

Ahead of her, she saw his steps slow, and halt. Then his shoes turned toward her.

He helped her up and they leaned wearily against each other.

"We need to find water," she said.

Sora coughed, much as she had done moments before. "Here," he said. "I can't believe I didn't think of this before." He flicked his fingers; ice cracked into being just above their heads. There were only a few pieces-not much water was present in the air-and they caught them before they fell to the sand. She'd never known ice could taste so good or be so cold, and when Sora removed her crown of leaves, she didn't care.

"I think I can find real water," he explained. He stared at the vines in his hands, and they tangled themselves back into a Keyblade. He held it with the tip drooping toward the ground, closed his eyes, and revolved slowly in place.

Kairi watched him for several moments, ice melting wonderfully in her mouth, and then realized he was dowsing. Before he made a complete turn, the Keyblade jumped in his hand.

They went the way the Keyblade pointed, and Sora kept it in his hand so as not to lose the trail. Kairi didn't mind losing her shade, not when they were heading toward water. She didn't let herself think about the possibility of an error on his part; she literally could not bear to be disappointed.

On this march she was too excited to fall into a desert-induced trance; she looked ahead. At first she thought the dark speck shimmering through the haze was a hallucination. She glanced at Sora; he was watching it too.

"What do you think?" she said.

A half-grin appeared on his face. They walked a little faster.

Before long the dark smudge resolved itself into a shelf of gray rock. Several palm trees stood near it. Trees in the desert meant water, meant oasis. Kairi swallowed when she saw it.

The glint of sunlight reflecting off water galvanized them; they both ran the last hundred feet. A pool the size of a large room greeted them, sheltered by the tall rock. She knelt and cupped real water in her hands. She drank, and then she laughed. It was wonderful.

Beside her, Sora was performing a convoluted, hasty dance as he tried to remove his shirt and his shoes at the same time. Hopping on one foot, he grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked it over his head, ripping his makeshift headdress off. He tossed the whole mess to the ground and then fumbled with his belts.

Kairi shot to her feet and followed his example. She was wearing less gear than Sora; it was a simple matter to unzip her jacket and toss it aside, and her shoes went just as quickly. Without hesitation she stripped off the tank she was wearing and shoved down her wrapped shorts.

As she stepped out of them, Sora dashed past her, wearing nothing but a pair of boxers with little keys all over them. He threw himself face first into the water. She laughed out loud and followed.

The water wasn't cold or even cool, but it was clear and clean and she had never felt anything so good in her entire life. She submerged entirely and drank until her stomach felt tight and she was gasping for air.

Then she floated, eyes closed, enjoying the sensation of weightlessness, until she bumped shoulders with Sora, who was doing the same thing. Idly, she reached over and pushed him underwater.

His hand found her ankle and pulled her underneath the surface. Normally this would have been the beginning of a spectacular water fight that would only end when all the participants were mostly drowned, but they were too tired.

"We should sleep a little," Sora said. His eyes were only half open, and she felt as exhausted as he looked.

They spread their clothes in the shade of the gray rock so that they wouldn't have to sleep on sand, and Kairi fell asleep as soon as her head touched the ground.

§

She woke sweating.

It was mid-afternoon. The sun was still high, and the sky was pale and colorless. The air was as heavy as a blanket. Sora had wrapped himself around her while she slept. She thrashed weakly against him, wanting to get away from the terrible heat of his body, but then she stopped.

Sora's bare chest was pressed against her back, and her head was tucked neatly under his chin. One arm was slung around her, and when she looked down she could see that her fingers had curled themselves around his wrist.

It would have been perfect if not for the sickening heat and the fact that Sora was gay.

She knew she should move away, but she couldn't bring herself to do it. This was probably the only opportunity she'd ever have to lie half-naked in his arms. Silently, Kairi argued with herself. Staying felt a lot like taking advantage of her friend, but the thought of extricating herself from his embrace was a miserable one.

Finally, she decided that she would do what she wanted to do, and later when they found Riku she would do her best to get them together, if they weren't already. She turned in Sora's arms and pressed her face into his neck.

He didn't wake, and she held her breath as she moved her free hand around his waist until it rested on his back. Still he gave no sign of being conscious, and gingerly she slid her hand up the slick skin of his back until her fingers touched the damp hair at the nape of his neck. She closed her eyes when they began to prickle.

With her cheek against his throat, she felt it when he swallowed. Kairi tried not to stiffen; he was awake.

She rolled away from him, attempting to pretend to be asleep, but he rolled with her and she ended up on her back, pinned underneath him.

Sora was heavier than he appeared. She kept her eyes closed, not wanting to look at him, ashamed of herself. For long moments, nothing happened, and then his mouth was at her neck and his spiky hair brushed gently over her face.

Her eyes flew open as his wet fingers touched her stomach. Involuntarily she exhaled. Suddenly she didn't care that they were both drenched in sweat, and she made a soft sound as his hand moved up and rested on her ribcage. Her leg moved along his, and Sora stopped kissing her neck.

Then he was looking down at her, and his fingers stroked her cheek and slid into her wet hair. There was a sleepy, soft look in his eyes.

He bent his head to kiss her. Kairi panicked, and turned her head at the last second. Sora's mouth landed just below her ear.

"What?" he mumbled in surprise.

While he was confused, she took the opportunity to slide out from underneath him. She stood and crossed her arms over her chest, feeling suddenly exposed. Sora had seen her in a two-piece bathing suit hundreds of times, she told herself. A bra and a pair of panties weren't any different.

"I'm sorry, Sora," she said. "I can't. It's not fair to Riku."

"What?" he said again. He sat up and looked at her, bewildered and blushing.

"Remember Riku? Our friend who got snatched up by a giant turkey?"

"I thought it looked more like a giant raven."

The awkward silence that followed was too much for her. She started weeping.

"Please don't cry," he said frantically. "You know Riku can take care of himself, right? He's going to be okay. He'll give that bird a poke with his Keyblade and that'll be the end of it. Seriously, he'll just whack it a good one, I promise."

Kairi stared at him in horror.

"What?" he said.

"Why are you trying to hide it from me?" she wailed. "You think I don't know Riku's going to be okay? Why don't you just tell me?"

"What are you talking about?"

"I'm your friend, Sora!" she shouted. "I'm your friend and you don't have to hide your feelings from me! I don't care that you're gay!"

Kairi glared at him, panting. Sora's mouth fell open. There was a long, long silence.

"But I'm not gay," he said at last, looking bemused.

It was Kairi's turn to be stunned and confused. Her face felt hot, and she knew it wasn't sunburn.

"You jerk!" she said, and kicked sand at him.

She turned and marched away from him, toward the pool. She needed to cool down. Sora didn't try to follow her, and she was relieved.

§

A wolf-whistle sounded very close to her. She had dozed off after swimming, sitting with her back against a palm tree. When she pried open an eye she saw Riku standing over her, grinning.

"Riku," she mumbled, only half awake. "You're okay."

"Of course," he said, and offered her his hand. As soon as she got to her feet she hugged him.

"Hey, now," he said, and gave a low laugh. "Don't give me ideas."

Kairi grunted sleepily. "Are you gay?" she said, and rubbed at her eyes.

"No," Riku said. "So maybe you should put on your clothes."

She nodded, yawning. He handed over her gear, and she began to dress. "What happened to you?"

"Not much. The Zu grabbed me and flew me to its nest by the Cave of Wonders. It was going to feed me to its babies, but I stabbed it and it left. Then I walked to Agrabah and found Aladdin. That's it, pretty much."

Kairi ran her fingers through her hair and looked around. She didn't see Sora anywhere.

"Genie took him to the temple," Riku said when he saw her looking. "He's going to grab that Keyblade and meet us back on the ship." He paused a moment, examining her face. "So what did you do to him, anyway?"

"Why? Did he say something?" she said, trying not to blush.

"No, but he was acting a little weird. Didn't want me to wake you up until he was gone. Spill it. What did you do?"

"Oh." She tried to think of the best way to explain. "When that bird grabbed you, Sora lost it. He freaked out. I did too, I guess. I started thinking about that time in the World That Never Was when he found you and once I did I couldn't stop."

"You mean the whole falling on his knees holding my hand and crying thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "All that, but when he found me he hardly did anything. I hugged him and he hugged me back, but that was it."

"So?"

"So I... thought he must be gay." She blushed. It sounded so lame said out loud.

"I see," Riku said. "Well, I don't know what to tell you. He'd been searching for me pretty much ever since we left Destiny Islands. You were safe, once he destroyed Ansem, but he had no idea what had happened to me. He blamed himself for letting me stay in the realm of darkness-as if he could have stopped me."

"I guess," she said. "But I wasn't safe toward the end, was I?"

"No," Riku agreed. "But don't think he wasn't worried just because he didn't fall all over you and act like a big wuss. He was. Ask Donald or Goofy about Saïx."

"Saïx," she said, nonplussed. "What about him? Why not tell me yourself?"

"I wasn't there," he shook his head. "Just heard about it. And you still haven't told me what you did to him today."

"Oh," she said sheepishly. "I yelled at him for being in love with you and not telling me."

"In your underwear," Riku said, grinning. "Awkward."

Kairi smacked him on the arm. "Can we get going now? I'm sick of this place."

§

The air temperature on the gummi ship was pleasantly cool, but it was the long, icy shower she took that leeched the last of the sick, heavy heat out of her body. She drank and drank and drank, letting the cold water slide down her throat until her stomach hurt and she was shivering uncontrollably. It felt heavenly.

When goose bumps were prickling the skin all over her body, she shut the water off and toweled herself dry. Her teeth chattered, and she pulled her sleeping clothes on hurriedly. For the time being, she was wide awake, but she knew her alertness would fade with the chill of her limbs, and she had a task to do before she slept.

Donald was sitting in a chair on the bridge and she wasted no time in dragging him out into the empty corridor.

"What's the big idea?" he said irritably.

"I need to know what happened with Saïx," she said bluntly. "Riku said you were there."

"Saïx," Donald said. He blinked at her and then rolled his eyes. "I don't know any Saïx."

He was lying. Donald fidgeted outrageously whenever he tried to tell an untruth.

She put on her cutest smile, the one with dimples, and bent down to him. "Are you sure you don't remember?"

Donald's countenance softened into a slightly dopey look for a moment. Then he shook himself and glared at her. "I don't know what you're talking about," he groused, and folded his arms. There was an uncomfortable look in his eyes.

Kairi straightened and sighed. As she did so, Donald waved and said, "Sora!" She whirled, but there was nobody behind her. When she turned back toward Donald, he was closing the door to the bridge behind him.

"Well, fine," she said, and struck out in search of Goofy.

Disney Castle's Captain was sitting at the table in the kitchen, eating a bowl of soup. Her stomach rumbled and she decided to knock out two birds with one stone. She helped herself to a sandwich and sat across from him.

"Well hello, Kairi," Goofy said. "I thought you'd be asleep by now."

"I will be soon. I'm hungry."

Goofy nodded and leisurely dipped his spoon into his bowl. She took a bite of her sandwich and chewed, watching him.

"Are you all right?" he said after a little while.

"No," she said.

And she wasn't. She was tired, and she missed Sora, and she was terrified that things had changed forever between them. Her vision blurred.

"What's wrong?" Goofy said. She couldn't see him, but she could hear the gentle dismay in his voice.

"It's Sora," she sobbed. "I messed up bad. Riku says I shouldn't worry, he says I should ask about Saïx but Donald won't tell me." Her words ran together and she knew she wasn't making much sense.

"Saïx," Goofy said. "Gawrsh."

"Will you tell me?" she begged. "I need to know." She looked across the table at him miserably.

The same uncomfortable look Donald had worn was on Goofy's face.

"I don't know," he said. "It was kinda... gee. I don't think Sora would like it if I said." He looked torn.

"Please."

"He loves you more than anything," Goofy said gently. "That's what happened, Kairi."

"Okay," she said, and stood up. Her head whirled; she was dizzy with exhaustion and crying. "I'm going to bed." She paused, looking at him. He still looked dismayed.

"It's okay, Goofy. I guess I don't need to know more than that." She smiled.

He looked at her, still unsure. She left.

§

Kairi woke in the cool darkness of her room. She'd been so tired she didn't even remember getting into bed, but she was now awake, and feeling fully functional for the first time since they entered the desert.

She rolled out of bed and stretched. Her stomach growled, and she tried to remember the last time she'd eaten properly. The few bites of sandwich she'd had earlier didn't really count.

The corridor outside her room was dimly lit, which meant that it was the middle of the night on most worlds. The gummi ship was exempt from timekeeping methods such as sunrise and sunset, but still the lights went out at regular intervals.

The kitchen was empty and dim, and she stood at the small counter and ate a whole sandwich over the sink. When she was done she drank a glass of water and decided to go back to her room. She padded slowly down the corridor of sleeping quarters, not wanting to wake anyone.

Sora's door was open.

She knew he was within; Sora often fell asleep with his door wide open and lights blazing. There weren't any lights, but she couldn't imagine that he was still awake after the day he'd had.

Kairi stopped walking.

Her fingers touched his door. She bent her head, listening, and thought she could hear breathing. Maybe she should look in and make sure he was okay.

She rolled her eyes, disgusted with herself. There wasn't really any point in pretending to have altruistic intentions. The fact of the matter was that she wanted to go into his room and climb into bed with him.

Boldly, she stepped into the room. She glimpsed Sora before she shut the door behind her and extinguished the light from the hallway; he was on his stomach, one arm hanging over the edge of the bed.

Starlight poured into the room from the window; it wasn't that dark. After letting her eyes adjust she crossed the room, guided by Sora's white t-shirt.

Her heart was beating quickly, and she reached down and touched his shoulder before she had the opportunity to talk herself out of it. Sora mumbled and rolled onto his back, and she lifted the light blanket covering him and slid in beside him.

Then the realization of what she was doing hit her, and she froze. She was such a bonehead. This was even worse than her earlier outburst by the oasis. If he woke and found her here, next to him... she'd never be able to look him in the eye again.

Terrified, she slowly lifted up the blanket. She was just swinging her leg back over the side of the bed when Sora's fingers touched her bare shoulder.

Kairi panicked. "Did you get the Keyblade?" she said inanely, and groaned inwardly.

The fingers left her shoulder, and she swung her feet out until they touched the floor. She sat on the edge of Sora's bed and covered her face with her hands. Sora probably thought she was insane. She felt sort of insane.

A rustling sound came from behind her, and the mattress dipped. When she peeked through her fingers, Sora's bare feet were sliding over the edge of the bed, one foot outside each of her knees. He sat up behind her, his chest lightly touching her back. His arm reached around her, and there was a flash of light.

The hand in front of her held a Keyblade. Dazed and still half-paralyzed, she looked at it. This one was solid and tan, its edges irregular. She lifted her hand and touched it; its surface was rough.

"Sandstone," Sora said into her ear. His voice was scratchy and full of sleep.

She hesitated. "What does it do?"

"Dunno," he mumbled.

The hand holding the Keyblade drooped and came to rest on his knee. The Keyblade tapped against her shin. Sora's cheek came to rest against her hair. His breathing was slow and steady; his breath washed over her ear with each exhalation. He wasn't really awake.

What now? she wondered. Could she just get up and go back to her room? Would he remember in the morning? Leaving wouldn't really solve their problems, she knew, but she had no idea how to fix the situation.

"Sora?" she said, trying to be brave.

"Hm?"

"Do you really love me more than anything?"

"Yeah," he said.

His arm moved around her waist, and he squeezed her. "Always have."

Then he yawned hugely. He moved away from her and flopped back onto the bed.

Kairi didn't move. "I'm sorry about earlier," she said.

Sora yawned again. "It's okay."

She waited, but he didn't say anything else. Looking over her shoulder, she saw that his eyes were closed.

"Sora? Do you want me to go?"

He yawned a third time and opened his eyes. She couldn't read the look he gave her, but he reached out and wrapped his fingers around her elbow. He tugged.

Kairi let him draw her back into the bed. His arms went around her like he'd held her a hundred times instead of once, and her fingers found the nape of his neck again. His hand touched her face, her hair, and then he propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her. The soft look was back in his eyes.

He opened his mouth to say something, and she wondered if he was going to elaborate on the loving-her-more-than-anything topic.

"I can't believe you thought I was gay," he said, and grinned. The dim light glinted off his teeth.

She narrowed her eyes and slid her hands under his shirt. Her knuckles brushed over the skin of his stomach and wiped the grin off his face. He swallowed, and his gaze flicked down to her mouth.

This time she let him kiss her. It was brief and sweet, just as she had always imagined, and then he rolled onto his back and sighed gustily. She propped herself up on an arm and saw that his eyes were closed. He was smiling a little, and so was she.

Kairi scooted close to him. She rested her head against his shoulder and draped her arm over his chest. Sora's arm curled around her shoulders and the fingers of his other hand found hers.

In moments he was asleep. She lay quietly, listening to his slow breathing.

"I love you more than anything, too," she said.