Chapter 10 - The Depths Below

Kairi looked at Sora appalled and quickly jumped off his lap, out of his grasp. Sora looked back at Kairi confused, his hands still in the air as if she hadn't moved. "What?"

"What do you mean what?" Kairi ran her hands through her hair. "You just said you were going to murder my Father!"

Sora dropped his hands to the side of her bed and scoffed. "I kind of thought we were on the same page here..."

Kairi looked at Sora revolted. "Same page? He's my Father! I'm not going to kill him! I was just throwing it out there that he might be the reason my Mother is gone but...that doesn't mean I want to kill him!"

"Then what does it mean?" Sora stood up from the side of the bed and walked over to a now pacing Kairi. "You can't just say all those things and expect me not to retort with what I said. You made it seem like you wanted it to happen, that you wanted to watch your Father crash and burn."

Kairi threw her hands into the air. "So what? Are you saying you're going to kill him FOR me?"

Sora shook his head. "No. I'm trying to trust you right now. You keep saying that it wasn't your fault for what happened to my parents so I'm trusting you and believing you. So that means, if it wasn't you it was either your Mom or Dad and you keep protesting it's not your Mom so it has to be your Dad!"

Kairi stopped pacing and looked at Sora with an empty expression. "Trying to trust me? Wait, are you just using me?" Sora looked at Kairi's offended look on her face and his heart broke. She had the same expression and emotion on her face now, that she had when her Father talked negative about her at dinner. She felt abandoned..."You still don't even trust me yet? After what we just did, I thought you cared! We just became officially, right? And now, it's just an act?!"

Sora threw his hands up in defense. "Kairi, stop. You know it's not like that."

"Then what are you trying to say, Sora? Because right now, it is very unclear what you are trying to get across." Kairi was fuming. Who wouldn't be? She just full, made out with him and agreed to be his and his alone, and now he throws this card? Sora walked up to Kairi and drew her into a hug with one arm around her shoulders and the other around her waist, as his head was resting on her shoulder, mouth right next to her ear.

"Stop, please. You know I didn't mean it like that. I really want to trust you, but everything's foggy right now. You've told me countless times that it wasn't your fault for what happened, and after having dinner with your Dad, I'm starting to believe you. I would never use you, and if I did...what would be the purpose? To get close to your Dad? I snuck in here once, I'm sure I could do it again. I would never, ever use you. Don't forget that..." Kairi relaxed in his hold and sighed. "Also, do you really think I don't care about you after that kiss? I'd be insane. I'd never be able to pull a stunt on you and not develop feelings after that." Sora kissed the tip of Kairis ear and pulled her tighter into the hug. Kairi finally gave in and wrapped her arms around his back.

"Everything you said, better be true." Kairi's words were muffled into Sora's suit shirt. He smiled. "Oh yeah? Or else what?"

"I'll never kiss or speak to you again..."

Sora laughed. "Well then, you have my word." Sora started to rub Kairi's back, making her yawn. "Tired?" Kairi nodded. Without another word, Sora lifted Kairi into his arms and carried her over to her bed. He laid her down soft and gently, with her head on the pillows. He grabbed her blankets and went to cover her up but her hand stopped him. Sora looked at a sleepy Kairi and blushed.

"Can you...stay?"

Sora gulped; nervous. "You..want me to stay?"

Kairi nodded. "You don't have to...it's just. Even though you've wanted to harm me and everything, I still missed you. I just don't want to wake up alone again...it's hard to explain."

Sora shook his head. "No, I get it. Just uh, let me take off this suit. I can't stand it anymore."

Kairi giggled softly. "Miss your street clothes?"

Sora sighed. "Oh my god, yes. How can you people wear this stuff. It's so...crowded and confined. No maneuverability. It sucks!"

Kairi pointed to the bathroom. "Then go change!"

"Into what?"

Kairi thought quietly for a moment. What would he change into? Kairi got up from the bed and walked towards the door that exited from the room, into the hallway. Sora followed her as she walked a few doors down, and then entered another room. She walked over to the small dresser in the room and opened it.

Sora looked around clueless. "Whos room is this?"

"My cousins." Kairi said, not even looking up. "He used to come to visit but recently he has stopped. He always left spare clothes here. I think they'll fit you..." Kairi pulled out almost every article of clothing. Sora stared at the clothing confused.

"Say Kairi, why are his clothes...tight and wicked bright? And so...girly?"

Kairi paused her rummaging and turned to Sora. "Oh um...He is uh...how do I say?"

"Gay?" Sora cut Kairi off, earning a glare from her.

"No. Just...different."

"Does he like girls?"

"...No."

"So...he's gay?"

Kairi rolled her eyes. "I hate that word..."

Sora laughed, making Kairi turn around to see what's funny. Sora shrugged. "You hate anything that is a little offensive..."

Kairi smiled. "That's not true." She walked up and poked his chest. "I don't hate you."

Sora smiled wickedly. "If you don't hate me, then what do you feel about me?" Kairi blushed and gave him a slight shove, making Sora laugh harder and louder. She murmured a 'get changed' and left the room.

Moments later, Sora entered back into Kairi's room, wearing baggy blue and plaid pajama pants and was shirtless. Kairi looked at Sora and blushed. Seeing him shirtless reminded her of the time they went to the hidden cave springs together. How she wanted to touch his chest, just to see if it was real...

Kairi shook her head. "What?"

Sora stared at her confused. "You zoned out. I said, do you still want me to stay with you?"

Kairi nodded, unable to say anything. Sora smiled softly and crawled into the bed next to Kairi. Sora stretched, cracking his back muscles in the process. Kairi sighed. "Sore?"

Sora nodded. He tucked his hands behind his head and sighed. "Hey, Kairi?" He heard a soft hum next to him. "Back to earlier, when you said your mom was a Freedom Fighter. Was she alive when my parents were brought here?" Kairi looked up at Sora staring straight at the ceiling. Kairi thought hard.

"I don't know honestly...I don't think I saw them."

She heard Sora sigh and her heart broke a little. She moved closer to him and laid her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist to hold him. Curious, she dragged her hand to his abs and started poking them. Sora shivered, making Kairi blush so she raised her hand to his chest and started to draw shapes on his skin. Sora watched her fascinated. "Do you think, she fought for them..." Kairis eyes met Soras and she sighed softly.

"I don't doubt it for a second."

Sora nodded as he wrapped his arm around Kairi and started stroking her arm. Kairi slowly started to drift off to sleep while continuing to draw on his stern chest. Sora noticed and kissed the top of her head, wishing her a good night, but Kairi was already asleep.

Sora waited for over a half hour, making sure Kairi was passed out, until he decided it was time to leave. He needed to find answers himself and there was only way he knew how. By being a street rat.

Sora lifted Kairi's limp arm off of his chest and placed it next to the pillow. He slowly started to shift off the bed when he froze from seeing her fidget. Once he knew she was still sound asleep, he got up off the bed and went to cover Kairi in the blanket. He noticed the cut on her arm that he had giving her earlier that day, and leaned down to kiss it. Sora felt ashamed as he exited the room quietly.

Sora started to navigate the castle quietly, mostly sticking to the shadows. He spent over a good 15 minutes before he was on the ground floor and found the door he was looking for. Sora quietly pushed it open to see a spiral staircase descending towards the lower levels of the castle. The descending spiral staircase was made of bricks and there were small lanterns placed a few feet away from each other, that dimly lit the way. Sora walked down the steps, getting colder and colder with every step he took. Finally reaching the bottom of the staircase, he walked onward down the dim hallway that smelled of odor and iron. Further down, he came into a small room with caging cells against the walls. The doors were wide open, which insinuated that no one has been in them recently. Sora felt a calming sensation from that conclusion.

"So, this is where you keep your prisoners..." Sora walking in and out of each of the cells, looking for any clue of a sign that his parents were here. As Sora walked into the last cell, starting to give up, he heard a crack underneath his foot. Sora froze and looked down slowly, picking up his foot to reveal a pocket watch. Bending down, he picked it up and started to brush off the grime to reveal a bronze plating. Sora shook as memories came back to him.

"D-Dad..." Sora opened it slowly to revealed a picture on the one side, behind cracked glass. The picture was worn out, but showed a man and woman smiling happily. The woman was holding her son in her arms, while her son had his cheek against hers, smiling wide. In his arms, he held a stuffed tiger. Sora smiled, remembering that stuffed tiger was his favorite toy until he lost it, so his parents bought him the stuffed bear that he later ran away with. Where was that bear? It had to be somewhere with Aladdin. Sora heard footsteps behind him and quickly turned around to see a groggy Kairi, rubbing her eyes tiredly.

"Sora?" She yawned, which made Sora's heart flutter. She was just too damn adorable to him. "What are you doing down here?"

Sora shook his head. "Just poking around. Bored and can't sleep."

Kairi looked at him with glazed eyes. "So you decide to explore the dungeon?"

Sora shrugged and started to fidget when Kairi looked towards his hands. "Sora, what is in your hand?"

Sora moved his hand behind his back and shrugged. "Nothing."

Kairi looked at him disappointed. "You didn't take anything, did you?"

Sora shrugged again which made Kairi reach forward, only for him to extend his hand further away from her, away from her reach. Kairi groaned. "Please, show me what you have."

"No."

Kairi was taken back by his strict response. "Sora please, show me." Sora hesitated. Kairi noticed his hesitation. "You found something didn't you? Something of your parents." Sora froze and looked towards his hand unsure. Kairi slowly took a step forward and placed her hand on his cheek. She moved her hand to the back of his neck, playing with the spiky tips of his hair. Sora sighed, relaxing finally as his stiff posture melted away. His eyes met Kairi's then moved down to his hand, with Kairi's eyes following motion. Still stroking his neck with one hand, she moved the other to his hand holding the item. She slowly and gently, pried his fingers open to reveal a dirt covered pocket watch, that held the original tint of bronze still. Kairi went to take it to see it better, but Sora inched his hand away quickly, like a frightened animal. Kairi looked back into his eyes, reassuring.

"It's okay. I won't break it. I promise." Sora barely nodded but just enough for Kairi to notice. When she reached for the watch again, he didn't hesitate and let her take it. Kairi withdrew her hand from Soras neck to examine the watch, looking for a way to open it.

"Top." Kairi tilted her head while still looking at the watch. Sora smiled softly and raised his hands to hold Kairis as she held the watch. "Press in the top, like this." Sora brushed her thumb towards the button on the top of the watch with his, and lightly pressed down on her thumb to make her press down on the button, until he heard a soft click. Kairi opened the watch - Soras hands still holding hers gently - as she gasped at the picture on the inside. Sora watched intrigued as she rubbed her thumb gently on the glass covered picture. "Careful, glass is broken. Don't cut yourself." Kairi bit her tongue to say a smart ass remark on how she already as enough cuts, but decided against it. He was already going through some emotional pain as it is...why add onto it? Sora watched as she continued to brush her thumb against the image and how a smile spread on her face.

"These are your parents?" Sora nodded. "Your mother is beautiful. You have her smile...but your fathers eyes." Sora heard her chuckle. "You were the cutest little kid...I've always wanted a real tiger, but a stuffed one would've made my heart just as happy. Your hair is still messy, well...messier." Kairi softly laughed as she looked up at Sora to see a slight smile tug at his lips.

Sora rubbed his thumbs against her hand. "Do they...look familiar at all to you? Even just a tiny bit?" Kairi shook her head sadly. Sora sighed. "It's okay.."

Kairi looked back towards the watch and noticed the other side was the actual watch part that took time. Kairi scrunched her face, disappointed. "Sora...the watch. It's broken. It's not moving anymore, just stuck on a single point of time."

"It's okay. It has even more sentimental value to me that way."

Kairi looked up. "Why?"

"Because..." Sora took it gently from her hands as he spoke, and looked at the time of the frozen watch. "It means that time as frozen completely for this watch. No time has passed since the last time my Dad held it in his hands. With the time frozen, the last person to hold it and look into it was him. Since it's frozen, it's like it held his image. Me looking at this now? It's like I can see his reflection in the glass, smell his scent of liquor, feel the warmth from his hands still on it like...he's still here."

Kairi smiled. "He is still here..." She watched Sora's eyes dart to hers with a spark in them, and sighed softly. She raised her hand to his bare chest, laying it on his heart. "I mean, right here. He's always been here, same with your Mother. They always have been next to you the whole time. Whenever you're sad, angry or even lonely...they were there to be with you. Even if you couldn't see them, there's no doubt in my mind that you couldn't feel them. Everyone who ever loved you, will always be right here. Just hold onto them, and you can see them whenever you want. Same with me."

Sora nodded. "I have you right here though in front of me..." Sora rubbed Kairi's chin with his thumb, lightly grazing her bottom lip. Kairi smiled gently. "And I'm not going anywhere." Sora leaned down and placed his forehead against hers, taking in her scent. Kairi grabbed his hand and squeezed gently. "Come on. Let's go to bed." Sora nodded and walked with Kairi, hand and hand, back up to her bedroom. Kairi laid in the bed, trying to get comfortable, while Sora opened the drawer in her nightstand and hid the pocket watch inside. The last thing he needed was to carry it around and have the King see the photo. If he ever did, he'd have to pray he had a poor memory, or maybe was even too stupid to put the pieces together.

"Sora." Sora snapped out of his thoughts and looked over to see Kairi snuggled in her blankets, waiting for him to join her. He climbed in bed as Kairi handed him some of her blanket to throw over himself. When he did, he was on his side and wrapped his arms around Kairi. Kairi wrapped her one arm around his waist and laid her other hand on his chest. Sora nuzzled his nose gently against hers, earning a giggle from Kairi. She thought it was the most romantic, cute gesture that Sora had given her. She couldn't wait to see the others. She pecked Sora on the lips, only to receive another peck from Sora. They then both leaned into each other and shared a kiss. Sora pecked her bottom lip, making Kairi open her mouth just enough to let Soras tongue mix with hers again. Sora pulled Kairi closer to him as Kairi moved her hand to his hair and started to gently grasp it. This time, their tongues didn't clash for dominance, but more like they were melting together. Tongues exploring each others mouths, thrilled by the sensation they were giving each other. Sora reached his hand to Kairi's face to hold her in place; not that she was intending on going anywhere.

When they broke away to catch their breath, Sora moved down slightly and started kissing her neck. Kairi pulled Sora closer to her as a moan escaped her lips, making her blush more then she already was. Her breathing became jagged as his tongue shot out to lick the skin of her neck and kiss it softly again afterwords. This feeling was new to Kairi, and she'd be lying if she said she didn't like it. Her thoughts kept going back and forth though with questions like : 'How can someone mistreat her one second and cause her pain, then instantly give her wonderful sensations and love the next?', or 'I wonder what Father would think that the boy he has been chasing for 10 years, is in his daughters bedroom right now, involved in a make-out session with her?'. She'd be lying if she said the thought didn't make her smile.

She let out another escaped moan as Sora nipped her neck with his teeth softly, then suck on it gently. Kairi kissed Soras face, making him stop the treatment on her neck and start kissing her lips again. Their tongues danced softly together one last time, before Sora pulled away and brushed his nose back and forth against Kairi's again, making her laugh quietly. Faces still inches away from each other, Sora smiled. "Sorry." He mumbled. Kairi pecked his lips, still running her fingers through his hair.

"It's perfectly fine."

Sora pulled Kairi closer, to where their legs intertwined and their bodies were as close as could be, to where they could feel each others heartbeats and body warmth. "It's just..." Kairi's heart skipped a beat at Sora's words.

"What?"

Sora sighed softly. "I just fucking like you so much." Kairi let out a sad sigh but still held her goofy smile. Even though those weren't the words she had hoped for, she still wouldn't change them for anything. "I freaking like you so much too." Sora smiled as Kairi snuggled into Sora's form as where his head laid on top of hers. Soon sleep overcame them both, and it was the best sleep they both have had in days.