It had been three days since the battle with Gamryon, and Kairi still hadn't woken up. Chris was beginning to worry. He was almost sure she should have been awake by now. Sure, he was concerned about Riku, but he would be fine. Kairi though… he feared the worst. Every time she stirred, he got his hopes up, only to have them crushed when she didn't get up. It was maddening really, and the worst part was that he was unsure of why. Sure, she was his friend and all, but he felt… odd around her. Similar to how he felt around Savone and Ava, but different. It was almost as if… no that couldn't be it. He looked back over at the girl. She was only sleeping. That's what it looked like. Finally with a sigh, he went to the window and stared out. Everything seemed so peaceful right now. It was as if nothing was happening. The Organization had never come back. Everything was just normal.

"Chris…?" A weak voice called, breaking his train of thought. He turned around quickly, went over to the bed and knelt down. She was awake. Finally, she was awake.

"Kairi, you are ok. I'm glad you are awake." He said quietly, a soft smile on his face.

"Where are we?" She asked, looking up at him. "I remember being in the Keyblade Graveyard… Then waking up here."

"We're back in Twilight Town. Sarah's house to be exact. I have a key. You've been out for about three days. I carried you back here."

"Really…? Wait, where is Riku?" Seeing the expression on Chris's face fall, she began to fear the worst. She sat quickly and stared at her sandy haired companion. "Christopher, where is Riku?"

"He followed Jaeynin through the portal. I would have followed, but I couldn't leave you behind." He explained, thinking she would be angry. He was thoroughly surprised why she hugged him lightly.

"Thank you. Thank you for not leaving me alone." It took Chris a moment, but he soon realized that she was crying. At first he wasn't sure why, but then it hit him and he hugged the crying girl close. Sora had, unintentionally, left her alone. He felt bad for her, she really missed Sora.

"I won't leave you alone. I promise, Kairi." He said, trying to comfort her. She just nodded into his chest. They stayed like that for some time, Chris occasionally stroking her hair comfortingly. Yet neither of them realized just how close they'd become. To them, this was all because they were friends. They couldn't see what Riku saw. At last Kairi pulled away, leaving Chris with a weird feeling in his chest. A sense of sadness one might say.

"We should probably get ready to go find Riku, shouldn't we?" She asked, voice almost shy. A warm smile had spread across her face, but her eyes were full of foreign emotions and confusion. Chris so badly wanted to ask her what was on her mind and why she looked so confused, but he decided against it.

"Y-yeah. Let's go eat then get ready to go. " The Keyblader finally answered, smiling at her. With a soft giggle, the red-head grabbed his arm and drug him off, talking the whole way.


"Alright, have we got everything?" Chris asked as they walked away from the shops in Tram Common to the Old Mansion. Kairi rummaged through his bag, checking things off in her head as she went. Eventually she zipped it back up and walked beside him.

"Yep! Everything! Now, where is this opening to the Realm of the Inbetween?" She quizzed.

"If I heard Riku right, there should be one at the Old Mansion, which is where we are heading."

"You think we'll find Riku?"

"Yeah, we will." Chris answered, smiling at her. "It's going to take more than a few Nobodies to take him down." Kairi giggled and nodded her agreement, watching the ground where she walked. Thoughts flooded into her mind about the very brunette she walked with. Could she deny any longer what she felt for Christopher? No, she couldn't, but she also couldn't bring herself to say anything. Not here, not now, not yet. She had become so consumed by her thoughts that she hadn't even realized that the were approaching the gate. It wasn't until Chris spoke that she snapped back to reality. "Kairi, are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine. I was just… just thinking." she explained, smiling at him. The concern in his voice made her wonder if he was like that to all his friends, or just her. "Really, I'm fine."

"Well, alright. I'm going to have to unlock the gate. Guess they didn't want another incident like this." Chris said, happiness back in his voice. Raising his weapon,. He focused on the lock. A beam of light shot out and the lock faded away. He lowered his weapon, but quickly raised it again when the thorns of Nothing started swirling around the gate, eventually forming a portal. They both looked at the portal and over to each other. With a smile, the brunette look his red-headed friend in the eye and said, "Ready, Kairi? We've got work to do."