And The World's Alive

That night, Kairi laid awake for a long time. She'd opted to share a room with Cloud and Yuffie, not wanting to displace anyone. Yuffie and Cloud's room had two bunk beds- "They were cheap, y'know?"- and Kairi was sleeping in the top of one. Across the room, Cloud had claimed the top and Yuffie the bottom, and Kairi had spent some time watching in amusement as the two siblings bickered good-naturedly before finally going to sleep. At one a.m. It was now three in the morning.

This was going to take some getting used to.

Right at the moment, Kairi was just glad she didn't have to work in the morning. While watching Yuffie amuse herself by kicking the top of the bunk was funny, and the little cave...fort... thing she and Cloud had built out of the blankets was amusing, and the way they laughed and joked and traded insults and invented songs was entertaining, if they did this every single night Kairi was uncertain if she'd ever sleep again.

Dammit, the last song they'd been singing was still stuck in her brain. At least she was reasonably certain that it had existed before tonight.

We'll run away together
We'll spend some time forever
We'll never feel bad anymore

With those words marching through her head and Azland purring softly next to her, Kairi was slowly lured to sleep.

She stood on a plain made of black glass that stretched endlessly in all directions. Without consciously choosing a direction, Kairi turned and began walking.

With each slow, steady stride, light fountained from the glossy plain. With each burst of light, another figure fell into step with Kairi, strides chiming in unison. After the fourth figure, Kairi stopped, studying them. As she did so, each figure faltered, one by one, so that the chiming no longer sounded in unison. Now they sounded one after the other, chichichichime, and Kairi watched the bright ninja, the dragonsouled mage, the world-hopper, the outcast thief.

Then they all stopped, one last, loud chime. Kairi jumped as there was a sudden roar and all four figures slammed together. The instant they all met and fused, the world bled, swirled, shifted in a way she couldn't describe, and Kairi fell to her knees and squeezed her eyes shut.

A hand pulled her gently to her feet and Kairi slowly opened her eyes.

Yuffie stood before her, with the thief's clothing and the dragon's eyes and the ninja's hair and the world-hopper's smile, her hand looped around Kairi's wrist, and said one simple word.

"Come."

And the world shattered, and Kairi woke up.

"And we all stop dreaming, and we all start living..."

And dammit, they were still singing.