Disclaimer: I do not own the characters of Kingdom Hearts. They are owned by Square Enix or Disney, they can fight it out.

Attention! This is your first and only warning! This Fanfic contains a bunch of spoilers, so if you haven't played the game yet and don't want to know what happens, turn back now!

This is pretty much the tale of what happened to Kairi between the time she was kidnapped by Axel until the end of the game. I don't really know how long it is going to be, so I guess we'll see.

Please read and review!

"Kairi, Kairi!"

The laughter of the class was what brought her back to reality. She found herself lying flat on her face, the sweet-smelling wooden floor boards beneath her. Selphie was looking at her with concern, attempting to hold the class back.

"Sorry," Kairi muttered, sitting up and climbing back into her desk just as their teacher entered. The rest of the class set off to their own chairs, muttering under their breath. Kairi could feel her face burning. That was the third time she'd passed out in the last two weeks.

As the teacher began putting the day's schedule up on the board, Selphie turned to Kairi. "What happened? Was it another dream?"

Kairi nodded in embarrassment.

"How long has this been going on?" Selphie whispered.

"About a month."

Selphie whistled quietly and turned back around, pulling out her books and a bright pink pen with a huge feather on the end of it. Kairi went back to her own work, but try as she might, she couldn't focus. He just kept sliding into her mind, uninvited. Ever since that moment a month ago when he had suddenly waltzed back into her consciousness, she had been unable to shut him out. Sora was gone. She knew that. As gone as Riku was. They were off to save the world without her.

Late in the afternoon, Kairi and Selphie walked along the long dirt track. It passed the beach and then looped back around toward town, skirting civilization. It was peaceful, and the girls often took it on their way home. Over the past few days they had been staying late after school let out, working on a project for their chemistry lab.

"Damn, I can't believe it's already six o'clock," Selphie complained. "We never do anything but work anymore!" Kairi giggled. "By the way," Selphie went on, "Tidus and Wakka want to know if we wanna hang out tonight. What'dya think?"

"No thank you," Kairi answered. "Whenever you and Tidus get together it just turns into a make-out session anyway."

Selphie blushed but she looked pleased with herself. Tidus, one of the local boys, had been the subject of Selphie's interest for almost two months now. "Whatever. Hey, where are you going?"

Kairi had taken the left fork instead of the right where the road split at, the old gnarled tree. She glanced back at Selphie. "You go on. I want to take a walk on the beach."

"Are you sure you're alright?"

Kairi just waved her away. "I'm fine."

The sea air sure brought back memories.

Little tendrils of foam danced on top of the waves, stirred by the pervading ocean breeze. The sun had just begun to sink beneath the horizon, sending pink and honey-orange rays shooting through the deepening velvet blue of the sky. For some reason, it it made Kairi want to cry.

Arrghh! No matter what she did, she couldn't stop thinking about him! The color of his eyes, the sound of his voice, the kind way he had of asking what was wrong whenever she was depressed. It seemed hardly possible that she hadn't seen Sora in two years. She had come home from her kidnapping by those horrible Heartless things, only to…forget.

Kairi didn't know how it had happened, but somehow she had just managed to dismiss her time spent in other worlds, and at one point she had hardly been able to remember Sora's name. But everything was back now.

I wonder if the island is only safe because of them…?

She giggled a little. It sounded so silly; her two best friends…heroes.

"Wow, I can see why he's so into you."

Kairi whipped around, turning to face the voice. A man had appeared on the beside the tide line. He was tall and thin, his hair red and almost impossibly spiky. He definitely wasn't dressed for the beach. His clothing consisted of a black coat so long it reached down past the tops of his boots.

"Who're you?" Kairi asked, a little nervously. She had never seen this guy before. He didn't look like a typical inhabitant of her town. Or any town, for that matter.

"Axel," the man answered. His voice was confident, almost to the point of arrogance. He had the demeanor of one used to people jumping at his every whim.

Kairi wasn't feeling intimidated, however. Just slightly annoyed. How dare this idiot come and interrupt her nostalgia?

"What do you want?" she asked curtly.

"Oh? Is this a private beach or something?" Axel said innocently, glancing over his shoulder as though looking for some kind of signpost.

Kairi was silent for a moment. "No."

"Then I have every right to be here, too," he said, stretching and turning toward the ocean. He seemed to be focusing on the largest of the many islands that dotted the coast. "So that's where the two of you used to hang out."

"The two of who?"

He looked at her keenly. "You and Sora."

Kairi's eyes widened. "You know Sora?" Her feet carried her closer to the stranger in her excitement. "Where is he? Are you one of his new friends? Answer me!"

Axel just smiled. The expression made Kairi's blood run cold. It was like the smile of a snake as it stared at the little rat it was about to devour.

"Sure, I know Sora. We're, like, best friends." He moved so quickly that Kairi barely had time to blink. His hand enclosed her wrist in an iron grip, sending pain lancing up her arm.

"Ow, get off, you're hurting me!" She tried to pull away, but it was like he wasn't human. With his other hand, he made a slow, deliberate motion in midair, moving his forefinger up and down and then slashing diagonally. Kairi gasped at what began to form. It looked like black fog, appearing out of nowhere and surging together until it formed a sort of torpid, undulating vortex. It was toward this Axel pulled her, the same sarcastic smile still dominating on his lips.

Kairi held her breath as she was tugged through the mass of blackness. The touch of the fog chilled her to the bone, filling her with a sense of despair so acute that she found herself crying and shaking. She felt Axel release her wrist.

"You're fine," he said stiffly. "Stop freaking out."

Kairi looked up. She was kneeling on the ground, though you couldn't really call it ground. They had appeared in a tunnel of swirling colors, so dazzling Kairi had to shield her eyes.

"W-What is this?" she demanded, staring at Axel wildly.

Axel put his hands on his hips. "The Realm of Darkness," he announced, "Pretty nasty place."

Kairi didn't need to be told. She could feel it in every part of her. The terrible, consuming clutch of the darkness was pulling at the heart inside her. Once again it seemed she had been pulled into the dark mysterious dealings of the other worlds, though this time, she wasn't asleep.

I can't panic, I can't panic! She repeated this in her head over and over, but it didn't seem to be helping. The deep pits of despair were still pulling her in…

A sudden sharp sound echoed through the tunnel, cracking the muffled silence the thick air seemed to induce. Kairi stared around wildly, trying to ascertain the origin of the noise.

A few yards away sat a dog. He was big, yellow, and floppy-looking, with eyes like black buttons. His tail was swishing back and forth across the tunnel floor (or whatever it was they were standing on) and his mouth was open in a friendly expression.

It was probably another trick of Axel's, but upon looking his way Kairi saw that her kidnapper looked just as confused as she did.

"What are you doing here dog?" he demanded, indignant. "Animals can't come into the realm!"

"Come here, boy!" Kairi called. The dog did not need telling twice. He bounded in her direction, barreling through the swirl of lights at top speed. She braced herself, but the dog still almost knocked her to the ground. He was huge. Kairi wrapped her arms around his neck, feeling a little better. At least she felt brave enough to ask some questions.

"Why did you bring me here?" she asked, glaring at Axel with every ounce of hostility she had in her (which wasn't much).

Axel was looking at the dog with distaste. "Hey, this isn't our final destination. I'm just keeping you here while they prepare."

"They?"

"Organization 13."

The name seemed pretty forbidding to Kairi; not the kind of thing you ever wanted to be a part of, kind of like the chess club.

"You've got an important job to do," Axel was continuing. "You're gonna be our deluxe Sora-bait."

Kairi suddenly felt something beginning to replace her fear. Anger. "Sora-bait? There is no way you're using me for that!"

Axel grinned. "The captive doesn't get a choice, and let me tell you. You're the captive. Got it memorized?"

What do I do? Kairi had been taught, by teachers and parents and friends alike, what you were supposed to do if you were ever kidnapped or attacked. You were suppose to fight like crazy and scream for help. But there hadn't been any time to fight, and there wasn't anyone she could scream for. She was utterly alone.

But a cold nose against the palm of her hand reminded her that she wasn't completely alone. Great, I've got a dog, she thought. But isn't there some way out of here?

As though in answer to her question, a door appeared a few feet to her left. It was strangely insubstantial, as though she were looking at it from underwater. It's presence seemed to anger Axel even more than the dog had.

"What the hell is this?" he demanded. "What's with all the random shit cropping up everywhere?"

Kairi was glancing from him to the door, weighing her chances. She might not make it, but if she didn't move now she would lose the element of surprise…

Making up her mind, she lunged to her left, reaching the door in a matter of seconds. She had one arm through it, when she turned back without meaning to. Axel hadn't budged an inch, he was just standing there watching her, his arms folded.

"You know, if you go in there there's no telling where you're gonna come out."

Kairi didn't pause to consider this remark, just pulled a face and darted through the door, the big floppy dog at her heels.

Axel shook his head as the door disappeared. "God damn typical."

I know, I know, it was kinda short, but they're gonna get longer. If you liked it, then please, please, please leave me a review. It's what makes everything worth it.

Next Chapter: The Usual Spot