Disclaimer: Kingdom Hearts does not belong to me, it's the property of Square Enix and Disney. No money has or will exchange hands. It was written purely for entertainment value.

Author Note: Re-edited version, September 2014. The SPOILERS for Birth By Sleep start in earnest now.

Chapter 10

Library floors were not meant for sleeping on, a fact Roxas was fast becoming familiar with and especially not when a lanky red head was sprawled across you pushing your hips just that bit further into the hard unforgiving floor underneath.

"We should take a couple of books and head back upstairs." He prodded Axel as he spoke hoping to get a reaction out of him and very much wanting to at least move somewhere more comfortable.

All he got in return was a firmer hug and a mumble of complaint.

"Axel." The tone in Roxas's voice meant that finally he did move, only to look at him though, moving his right arm to help prop him up. Axel winced when his elbow rested on the floor and sent an apologetic look to his friend underneath him.

"Sorry, you could have said something," Axel told him, removing himself and helping Roxas to his feet.

"Wasn't a problem until a couple of minutes ago," he replied lazily, content to be enveloped by Axel's arms once again as he rubbed his hands in soothing circles against his shoulders. "Don't take this the wrong way but it's more my lower back."

Axel just chuckled into his hair and lowered his massage, he could feel Roxas relax as he did and in turn it settled him. "We should head to bed, different time zones…"

"And expensive bedding?"

"Well that does have a lot to do with it. Seriously you should try it." Axel contemplated throwing Roxas over his shoulder and carrying him up the stairs but instead he held him just a bit closer for a moment before releasing him and taking his hand. "Come on, the sooner we do the sooner we can get started on all of this." He gestured with his free hand at all the books around them.

"Is there a shower anywhere around?" Roxas asked, following him to the ground floor exit of the library.

"Yeah, our room is en suit and the water's fine, all your stuff is in the bathroom." He pushed the door open for them as he spoke, leading Roxas up the stairs around the fountain and through to the residential wings entrance.

"Why?" He couldn't help the question and Axel seemed to shrug in response before he spoke.

"If we're going to be here for a while I figured it was best to unpack at least the essentials that we can live without. I don't think the worlds going to end if we leave without your shower poof."

"Or your hairgel?" Axel tugged on his hand for that comment.

"Hey! This is mostly natural you know."

"Mostly."

The tower seemed harmless enough, at least the entrance hall seemed welcoming, but they had had trouble the higher up they moved. Dusks and Heartless meant that although Kairi felt stronger she was overcome with exhaustion all at the same time.

"It looks so small from the outside but in here it seems to go on for ever." She dismissed her Keyblade, hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath. Sora at her side was doing much the same.

"I think we're nearly there though, we seem pretty high up." Kairi shrugged at his comment and stretched shaking her arms to re-energise herself.

"Shall we?"

They pushed open the door to be greeted by a room with a large desk and chair in front of them. There was a man sat at the desk, tall, old and wise with a long grey beard that split into two. On his head sat a tall blue hat with moons and stars on it.

The door shut behind the four when they entered, Donald and Goofy ran in front of Sora and Kairi and bowed so quickly they both almost toppled onto the desk in front of them.

"Master Yen Sid!" they yelled, clearly very surprised at their discovery. "Sora! Kairi! Show some respect!"

Kairi bowed, almost but not quite out of habit brought on from years of being the Mayors daughter and maybe from the years before, the ones she couldn't remember. Sora followed not far behind her looking at the floor in confusion and only standing when Kairi nudged him to do so.

"So you are Sora and you must be Kairi," he said looking to her for a moment as if to try and work out what she was doing there. The King had told him to expect her and had even gone so far as to explain how she had gotten to Sora in the first place. Yen Sid had had to admit to himself that the information had made him uncomfortable and he would have to wait for her reaction to what he had to say.

"I trust you have seen the King?"

"We have but we didn't really get the chance to talk to him," Sora explained scratching his head with his left hand.

"Then the task of instructing you all will lie with me." He waved his hand and a book appeared on the table in front of them, opened on the page they were told held important information vital for their journey.

Sora stepped forwards and Kairi joined him, together they read in silence. She could feel the wizard's eyes on her and tried to shrug it off as curiosity, he was after all focusing his attention equally on Sora as he waited for them to finish.

"Your Journey is not over yet, there is a new threat to the calm you have brought to the worlds." Yen Sid summoned images of Heartless and Nobodies and explained their relationship to each other. "There are some of these Nobodies with exceptional powers and abilities, they can think and appear to be able to feel but this is just a ruse to fool you, they have no hearts and therefore cannot really exist." His voice was flat, almost monotone.

"They don't exist?" Sora asked sounding forlorn at the idea.

Kairi's face showed nothing but concentration so Yen Sid continued. "These Higher Nobodies have come together to form a group called Organisation XIII and have control over the many forms of lower Nobodies." He summoned images of their members in black hooded cloaks. "They appear to be planning something and The King has gone to investigate." The images faded away and Sora looked to Kairi, searching her eyes for the answer to something Yen Sid was not privy to.

"We should find the King," Sora said finally, he seemed to have reached a silent agreement with Kairi. "He must have some idea where Riku is."

Yen Sid nodded. "Before you leave you should see the three good fairies, you seem to be in need of some new travelling clothes. They are through the door just over there."

Sora laughed along with Donald and Goofy at how much he'd grown in the past year, Kairi giggled along with them but didn't leave with the others when they started towards the large oak door.

"Kairi?" Sora asked.

"I think I have a few more questions for Master Yen Sid, things you probably know about but I don't want to hold us up… besides I kinda like this dress so…"

"We'll be back soon, but come find us when you're ready." He reached out his hand to hers and squeezed.

"I won't be long." Sora nodded and headed off with his friends and Kairi turned to Yen Sid, questions formed and ready to be asked. For a moment he appeared not to notice she is still there so Kairi called forth her Keyblade and as it chimed into her hands, Yen Sid looked straight at her.

Riku appeared to sleep soundly inside his lavish room. The covers are dark blue and his pillows black so his silver hair contrasted and complimented all at the same time. Naminé sat by his bedside with the Grey blanket the servants had brought for her after she had politely refused to move to her own room.

His cloak had been discarded and hidden somewhere only she knew where to find it and his blindfold left next to his pillow just incase he woke. Naminé knew he would want it to be there, knew he wouldn't leave the room without it. The light in the room was low but they had set a bright lamp next to her if she should want to turn it on.

She didn't.

What she wanted was to crawl up besides him in the bed and wrap her arms around his solid frame. She didn't want to fade away without hearing him again, without watching him practice or fight or talk to her, take her hand, lead her around the town and sit with her for hours whilst she drew.

Kairi would be able to. The thought kept running through her mind as she sat there, memories she didn't know she had surfacing of Kairi doing exactly that. Sora, Riku and Kairi as children all wrapped up together watching the fire on the Islands. Something tugged where her heart should have been, something that told Naminé she had the same rights as Kairi.

"Is it alright if I come in?" a soft feminine voice asked from the doorway, a small stream of light lit the room and set dust motes swirling in the revealed brightness.

"It's fine," Naminé replied, turing on the light by her side and watching as the glow grew and turned the room from a place of quiet despair to a restful peace once again.

"Mrs Potts said you weren't feeling too hungry before and didn't want to leave your friend so I've brought you some supper." She appeared to be in her early twenties at the very oldest with dark brown hair tied behind her with a red ribbon. Her dress was pink, gathered at her waist with a darker shade and went down past her knees. She held a large tray in her hands and set it down on a table that walked in with her. "My Name is Belle, the Beast told me of your arrival but I've been out in the gardens all day so haven't ben able to introduce myself before now."

"It's alright, My name is Naminé and this is Riku." Belle smiled kindly at them both as she set about sorting the food and bringing herself a chair to sit on.

"It's lovely to meet you and it's always nice to have more friends within this Castle. The Beast and everyone here are kind… even if he can get over protective at times… but he means well and I'm sure he's already said so but you will be safe here."

Naminé nodded as the orange juice poured it's self into the glass in front of her. She let her blanket fall as she took a sip. The lamp, it seemed did more than light the room because she was no longer cold at all.

"I brought meats and cheeses as well as bread and some cakes because I wasn't sure what you wanted and I didn't know what to bring for your friend," Belle explained, encouraging Naminé to help herself.

"I've got several potions that should help sustain him so he'll be fine until he wakes up." Naminé's voice was quiet but being in Belle's company seemed to ease her usual shyness around others. It was similar to Kairi's presence, a sign of a Princess of Heart but different all the same. There was no deep overriding connection to Belle as there had been with Kairi but if Naminé admitted it to herself then she knew exactly why that was. Still she could see herself having a friend here, one who so far hadn't treated her as anything different than an ordinary human girl… at least as close to that as possible in the current situation.

"It may well be too late this evening but I would like to show you around tomorrow." Belle didn't miss the quick look that the younger girl had thrown in her companions direction. "I will make sure that the servants are with him at all times, It will not take us long to get back here if we need to, there are several hidden passages within this castle and I will make sure you know them all.

"Are there any Heartless here?" she asked, layering the meat and cheese between two slices of brown bread.

Belle nodded. "Some, but the Beast will clear them for us. There are ways to avoid them and they don't appear as often as they once did, you should be able to walk around unharmed for the most part."

"Thank you."

"Your things have been put in your room but I can have some things moved in here for you, I'm sure we could even fit an extra bed in here if you like." Naminé flashed her eyes up to Belle's at the suggestion.

"Thank you for the offer, but I don't know how he'd feel about me being in here when he wakes up…" She didn't dare mention that it may not happen, she had to believe that it would.

Belle smiled kindly, noticing the blush across the girls cheeks as she talked. "Well there is a bathroom next door and your room is on the other side of that. After you've finished eating I'll watch over him if you like so you can freshen up and collect any of your things you want to bring in here."

"Thank you, I don't know what else to say."

"You don't have to, this Castle will be your home for as long as you need it." Belle paused before smiling again. "You should try the cake before hand though, it's chef's specialty."

Naminé nodded, brushing through her hair with her fingers before choosing a slice of the pink and white layered strawberry cake.

"King Mickey said you now weld a Keyblade. But how did it find you?" Yen Sid asked, eyes darting between Kairi and the Blade.

"It was a gift from a friend." She deliberately didn't say who because she wondered if Yen Sid would have been told where Riku is and isn't telling them.

"She would be glad to see you with it. I would say it was almost designed to be yours." There was a sadness then as he looked straight at her and Kairi blinked. This she hadn't expected and she gripped her Keyblade a little tighter. As the moment continued he looked at her without explanation.

"She?" Kairi eventually managed to utter.

"Oh." He crossed his arms, long blue sleeves creasing as he did so. "I once knew the other owner of your Keyblade, it was not hers in the same way it is yours… that comes from you. Her's was different and suited her well but for a time she was able to wield yours." Yen Sid stood from his chair and started to walk to the windows of the tower, Kairi followed still refusing to relinquish her Keyblade.

"Who was she?" Kairi asked again, starting to wonder if he'd forgotten she was there.

"You are not originally from the Islands." He stated. As if countering her question and changing the subject.

"No I'm not, I'm from Hollow Bastion… but the Islands are the only home I can remember." Her free hand touched the drop pearl necklace she always wore. "I landed on the beach of Destiny Islands, Sora and Riku always said I fell out of the sky." She sighed. "I'm sorry but I don't understand what this has to do with who my Keyblade was used by."

"And I am sorry I brought it up. It is a story perhaps best left for another time."

But Kairi shook her head.

"Could you at least tell me her name? Riku must have gotten hold of it somehow, before you mentioned it I thought that he had made it for me."

"He will have taken very good care of it before giving it to you although I must say I do not know how or when he would have met her. Kairi?" he caught her full attention with that and she looked at him. "I do not think your journey will take you to her… in truth I do not know her location and the current threat to the world from Organisation XIII should take precedence."

"I didn't think my journey would bring me here in quite the way it did, but it would still be nice to know who she was. You asked me about where I was from, did I meet her?" She hoped that she had even if the memory had left her.

"You may well have done but I do not know, I know that she visited your old world on several occasions and it would explain the connection you share with your Keyblade."

It didn't seem like he was going to tell her and Kairi felt her heart sink just a little. There had been no mention of any other Keybearers aside from those they had already met. Kairi remembered King Tritons reaction to the blade from her shared time with Sora's heart and it would be nice to hear something positive about the wielders of the past.

"Master Aqua," he said at last and she nodded smiling.

"Master Aqua."

"She was and no doubt is very deserving of that title wherever she is. If you are meant to find her Kairi then you will, if not I am sure your paths will cross at some point. But I do not think it will be on this journey, although I have been known to be wrong in the past."

She nodded and the silence descended again. Wondering what this woman looked like, what she had done to earn such a title, she looked at her Keyblade again somehow touched that this had once been used by such a person. Kairi willed a memory of their meeting to surface but nothing besides memories of her Grandmother and Hollow Bastion's Library ever had.

"I do not know where Riku is, King Mickey would not reveal his location to me," Yen Sid said after a long period of silence.

"We'll find him," Kairi told him with a strong determination.

"I am sure you will, but you should join Sora and the others, the Fairies have something for you as well." Kairi smiled and finally dismissed her Keyblade.

"Thank you Master Yen Sid." And with a smile she was off running towards the door and disappearing through it. She felt the need to change the mood, her questions were answered and she felt as though she was intruding on a private memory of the Wizards. Leaving with a smile felt like the best option.

He watched her go, knowing they would all soon return and wondering exactly what course it would take. So far things had not at all worked out as planned but perhaps that would end up working out for the better. He would have to wait and see.

"Hello dear," the three fairies greeted her the moment she stepped through, Sora smiling and turning to show off his new outfit.

The black trousers and jacket suited him and made him look just that little bit grown up, the belts were very Sora and although the zips in his shoes confused her somewhat she had to admit how good he looked.

"You look great Sora." Kairi beamed stepping closer to him.

"We would like to give you something to help you on your journey as well Kairi," the Green fairy told her.

"But your dress suits you so well we don't want to change it, we would like to cast a little magic on it though, just to give you a boost,"

Kairi nodded. "Sure, I'd be honoured." All at once the three fairies pointed their wands at her and flicked them upwards. She felt a warm spark settle over her and a feeling of empowerment all at the same time.

"There you are dear, that should come in handy."

Kairi ran her hands over her dress to find that although it looked and mostly felt the same there was something there, a power beneath the surface just within reach should she ever need it or perhaps something to act as protection throughout their journey.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome dear. Now Sora we have something else for you as well, here take this." They passed a golden swirling orb to Sora. He seemed to absorb it and a bright flash of light covered him revealing a change of clothing design and two Keyblades.

"Wow," Kairi muttered under her breath and Sora seemed equally fascinated. They hand't seen the other keyblade formed of stars and moons before but magic was radiating from it. "The red really suits you."

"Two Keyblades." He swung them around trying to get a feel for it.

"Use it only when you need it, there are other special abilities within your clothes that will open themselves up to you in time." The Blue fairy warned.

"Right." Sora's Clothes and second Keyblade disappeared. Kairi smiled, suddenly amused that she and Riku now had their own Keyblade and Sora could now use two… Axel had mentioned Roxas using two as well though, although his seemed to be permanent. Sora would only be using them for short amounts of time… still she wondered if it had anything to do with the connection between the two of them.

"Yen Sid has something else for you before you leave, you should go and see him."

Later, as they sat within the small confines of the Gummi ship Sora slipped into the small bed room Kairi was sitting in.

"You okay back here?" he asked sitting across from her on the small yellow beds. She had been staring out the small star shaped window watching the stars go by fascinated and slightly taken aback by it all.

Kairi turned slowly to look at him.

"I'm fine… this is just the first time since I left the Islands I've had to think about any of this. It's a little.."

"Terrifying?" Sora offered, almost bumping knees with her in the small gap between the beds.

She giggled. "Something like that." But her face seemed to turn serious again. "Sora, I really don't know what to do next… I knew where to come find you, I know a little about what and who we're fighting but we need to find Riku… I want to find out what happened to Naminé and there -"

"Is so much you want to ask right?" Sora again offered.

"I'm sorry." Kairi sighed, suddenly staring at the floor, her hair fell like a curtain to cover her face. It wasn't exactly what she wanted to say but the conversation she wanted to have wasn't here inside the ship, it was somewhere a little more spacious and private. As much as she liked and respected Donald and Goofy she didn't want to have this conversation somewhere they could interrupt.

There was a rustling and a small thud and all of a sudden there was a mass of Brown hair in her face as well as red and hands on her arms.

"Kairi it's going to be fine," Sora told her, nose bumping with hers and although she could barely see anything she knew he was looking right at her. She almost forgot to breathe. "We're going to Hollow Bastion to see Leon and the others, they'll know what's been going on since we left." He didn't move away and Kairi wondered if he hand any idea about his effect on her.

She couldn't see his hands shaking as he thought about putting his arms fully around her. All Kairi felt was the welcoming warmth when he finally decided to and nestled her neck against his shoulder.

"How long until we get there?" she asked in a whisper against his ear.

"A while," he told her, knowing they had at least half an hour before they reached orbit.

"When we get there I'd like to go for a walk." Her voice was soft but the sadness had gone, there was instead a hopeful sort of request.

"Sure, whatever you want Kairi." He didn't move, even though his knees where hurting from the pressure of the floor against them. He didn't care, not when Kairi was in his arms and breathing against his neck, not when he felt stronger and more able to face everything with her by his side. All they needed was Riku and things would be completely back to how they should always have been.