Masigla says, "Oh boy! My first oneshot in a while. :D Ha ha. Please don't kill me. I know I should be working on my other fic(s) but err… writing a drabble-slash-oneshot at the moment sounds more appealing to my writing muse. And there's more! This is also my first Kairiku. Is their relationship as portrayed here platonic or not? That's up to you to interpret! Have fun kids. And yes, the title is a Vienna Teng song reference. Love her stuff. Go listen to her!"

Lullaby for a Stormy Night
Masigla

Crash.

The loud, clapping sounds of thunder booms Kairi into full awareness in the usually quiet and still night. A tropical storm has plagued the Islands for nearly a week, and schools are even cancelled because of the severity of things. Not that anyone—students and teachers alike—are complaining at the sudden chance to skip out on homework or grading materials.

But at the same time, this is Destiny Islands. Tropical storms are not all that unnatural nor are they uninvited. The townsfolk are always prepared for another stormy night. However, this particular storm, named Vienna after some city in some far away place, is much, much stronger than the usual. Everyone blames it on global warming.

Kairi always feels silly during these restless and loud nights. She is nearing nine years of living on these familiar islands, having first found herself here at the tender age of five. But even then, she can't bring herself to admit this one simple thing: astraphobia—that is, fear of lightning or thunder. In Kairi's case, it is both. The only comfort she can bring to herself whenever nights like these came around are found in hiding herself beneath her lavender covers and daring not to even turn on her side to see out the bedroom window. The darkness of the night and the fury of the winds turn many things outside Kairi's house into completely different beings: trees into tall, looming creatures, and so much more. She dreads to even think of it. Closing her eyes tightly and yelping each time a booming and crashing sound comes into play, Kairi silently wishes this would all go away.

"Go away," Kairi chants, "Go away."

Crash.

No use. The thunder gods are against Kairi's wishes and continue to drop frightful explosions down on the citizens of Destiny Islands. Kairi is sure she definitely is not the only one on the verge of crying--little kids are, too. She does not find comfort in being compared to little kids. She is fourteen years old.

In the short gap between a clap of thunder, Kairi suddenly hears something different. Soothing, even. The sound of her favorite song mixed with the strange buzzing emitted by the cellphone's vibrations on her bedside table is heard. Her phone is ringing. Briefly forgetting her predicament, Kairi silently wonders who in the world would call her at this time of night in the middle of a raging storm.

Riku
Calling. . .

At the next clap of thunder, she finds herself shakily flipping her phone open. "H-Hello?"

"Kairi? It's Riku. Did I wake you?" the deep, maturing sound of her friend Riku flows through the speakers. Kairi clears her throat, since in the fear instilled in her it has dried.

"N-Nope," Kairi says, "I've been awake. Why a-are you calling?"

"This storm's pretty damn strong, isn't it? I can't get back to sleep." he admits with a chuckle.

Kairi finds herself peeking her head out from under her sheets and sitting up to lean against the headboard of her bed, replying, "Me neither. But—"

Crash!!

"Ahhhh--!" Kairi screams, nearly dropping her cellphone, "Oh god, oh god, oh my god." She realizes that she is shaking again as she scrambles to hold the phone up by her ear again.

"What was that?" Riku inquires after taking a brief moment to recover his hearing. That scream was high-pitched.

"No, nothing, just the thunder. That—that was really loud, don't you think? It sounded like it boomed down right outside my house!"

"I wouldn't really know that," Riku smugly says, "I don't live right next to you or near you, for that matter. Try a couple streets away."

"Yeah, but still…" Kairi bites her lip for a moment, "I really, really hate thunderstorms."

Only silence can be heard on the other end of the line.

Crash.

Kairi yelps again into the phone again—a bit more softly this time--and as if he was waiting for this moment to arrive, Riku laughs.

"Ha ha, Kairi," Riku says between his fit, "Are you scared of thunder?"

"Hey!" Kairi exclaims, "I knew you guys would laugh at me if you found out! But yes, I do have Astraphobia."

"Aww, come on, I'm just kidding. Lighten up, princess."

"Don't call me that—it creeps me out. And at least I don't have Arachnophobia."

"Hey, that was a rumor." Riku defends. Kairi smirks, unbeknownst to him.

"Quick! There's a tarantula crawling up your leeegs…"

"OH SHIT!" Riku profanes, and from the sounds that could be heard in the subsequent events, Kairi can tell that Riku has just fallen off of his full-sized bed and bursts into laughter.

"Not funny, Kairi," Riku sighs, "Not funny at all. Man, if I bruise myself, I'm going to blame you."

"Sorry, miss vanity." Kairi continues to laugh.

A bright flash of light shines through her window, and Kairi instinctively turns towards it in horror.

CRASH!!

This time, her phone drops to the ground. As the battery clicks out of place, her call with Riku is cut off. Kairi screams again, louder this time, and pulls her sheets up to her face again as tears start streaming down her face. She does not think a pillar of lightning has ever struck that near to her as before. It seems like the only thing that separated her from her fear was the wall.

For a few minutes, the cycle continues. Flash, crash, yelp, scream, cry. Her grip on the sheets gets tighter each time the lightning strikes, no matter how far away they are striking from her house now. Kairi braces herself for the next clap.

Ding-dong. Ding-dong-ding-dong-ding-dong.

Kairi momentarily forgets her fears again. Now that isn't what she was bracing for. Debating on whether or not it is safe for her to answer the door at this time of night with a storm out to get her, Kairi eventually decides to answer, just to make sure it isn't anyone who needs shelter. She slips on her lavender bedroom slippers and trods downstairs, holding on tightly to the railing and dropping down to sit on the steps and cringe periodically as the storm continues to rage on.

Finally, she approaches the door. She has brought her pillow with her, and she holds on tightly to it as she opens the door.

"Hey."

Kairi is surprised. Riku is at her door at precisely 2:48 AM, in drenched PJs, and wielding a pink umbrella that no longer looks usable. Kairi's eyes widen as her grip on the pillow loosens.

"What are you doing here, Riku?" she asks as she opens the door to let the soaking wet boy in, "And why is your umbrella pink?"

"It's my mom's," he explains, "It was dark, so I couldn't tell which umbrella I was grabbing. Go figure. And I'm here because I'm worried."

"You're worried?" Kairi almost grunts as she closes the door, "Two minutes ago on the phone, you were laughing at me!"

"Well, it is pretty funny, though." Riku smirks.

"There's a spider on your head."

"Oh fu—hey that's not cool."

"Serves you right!"

Flash. Crash.

Again, Kairi screams a little. Her first instinct is to step forward and grab the nearest object.

Nearest object is Riku.

At first, he wonders if this is a deliberate action or if the girl really is just deathly afraid. At the moment, he is not sure. He feels like the only right thing to do is to wrap his arms around her, but she might complain that he might get her wet, since he is soaked in his PJs.

"Uhh…?" He utters. The position is a bit awkward, too. The pillow is serving as a barrier between Riku and Kairi.

"Oh," Kairi's eyes open and she backs away slowly with her pillow, "Sorry."

Riku's first instinct is to tease. "Man, I'd feel bad if I had to marry you and sleep next to you during nights like these,"

And his face meets pillow.

Masigla says, "Er… I didn't know how to end it? 8D; My bad."