I found out that this girl I know is deaf from birth, but she speaks English just fine to me. She's so awesome.

I've been waiting for a few minutes for the kids to get up. I got up earlier and walked around town, but no one was awake, since no one was around. It's been a few hours, most likely.

So I went back to the asylum (since I don't know what it really is) and went back to our 'room', and waited.

And waited.

And waited.

Until Sora finally woke up.

He sat up quickly and said something about a zombie and a vacuum. I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow, and he was rubbing his eyes.

"What time is it?" He mumbled.

"Probably right after dawn." I sighed. "I've been up for a few hours."

"Really? Well, you wanna go look around; see if there's anything of interest?" Sora asked, stretching his arms upward.

I shrugged. "Sure." I slid off of the bed without waking Riku, and walked over to the door, my hand glowing blue before I opened it.

"What did you do?" Sora asked in a louder voice after the door silently closed.

"I made it so the door wouldn't creak when I opened it." I replied, shaking my hand quickly.

Sora looked at me with a surprised expression.

"Yeah, like you don't know that I'm a sorcerer." I said sarcastically.

Sora then grinned at me, allowing me to see little fangs where his canines were.

I couldn't help but smile back at Sora, even though it was a weak one. "Sora…?" I asked when we were out in the main area of town.

"Mm?" He asked, hopping onto the edge of the fountain, walking around the rim.

I hesitated. "What's your dad like?" I asked quietly.

Sora stopped in his tracks. He never told me about his dad, and neither did his mom. Was he a bad man like Riku's? I wanted to know. And after a year and a half of knowing them, I thought I should.

"Why do you want to know?" He asked, resuming his stroll.

"Well, you know about my parents by now. And…" I suddenly got nervous. "And if you don't want to tell me, it's fine." I waved my hands in front of me when Sora jumped down in front of me.

He took a deep breath. "My dad was awesome." He said with a faint smile, clasping his hands behind his back. "We used to do everything together."

"What happened?" I cautiously asked.

Sora winced a little. "Our world was in a war with another country."

He didn't have to say anything else, because I already knew what the ending was. "Oh…" I said, looking down. "Sorry about that." I rubbed the back of my neck. This is awkward.

"Naaah, don't be." Sora was suddenly cheerful again. "He went off to do something awesome, and even though he died because of it, it makes me happy to know that he didn't die the cowards' way." He was smiling again. "Why? What happened to yours?" He tilted his head slightly.

I instantly looked down. "I don't know, really." My shoulders slumped. "I mean, all these years I thought he was dead, and now that I know he's alive again…" I shuddered a little. "It's unnerving…" I glanced up at Sora before looking down again. "I mean, my dad and I were never that close. After my mom left, he just… wasn't himself. He seemed more agitated than he normally was, and after a year or so he left. He told me that he was going to war, like your dad, but I knew that was a lie. We weren't in any wars back then." I sat on the edge of the fountain, and Sora sat down next to me.

"That sucks…" Sora muttered. "So you're an orphan?"

I shrugged. "I consider myself to be. I mean, my mom's most likely dead, and same with my dad, so…" I shrugged again. "I just don't know…" I pressed my palms together, set my elbows on my knees, and put my chin on my thumbs. "It's so confusing."

"Well, yeah." Sora leaned back a little. "But aren't you happy knowing that your dad might be alive?"

"No, not really." I shook my head slightly. "Because again, my dad and I weren't close. I didn't know what his job was; I didn't know what he did when he wasn't home; I didn't even know how old he was." I sighed through my nose. "I'd rather have memories of him that are more like yours, really." I confessed, blinking once. "After all, he's the reason why I'm me today."

"Hey!" Sora exclaimed in an offensive way. "What's that supposed to mean? I like you just the way you are!" He patted my back roughly.

"Yeah, right." I rolled my eyes. "What about Cody?" I dropped my arms, leaving them to dangle on my knees. "What about me being a thief?"

"Those things just make you cooler!" Sora grinned. "You being a sorceress, you being a frickin' dragon, those things are all cool to me!" He turned to look ahead of us. "You're really inspirational, you know?" He said in a more quiet voice.

I snorted. "How so?"

"You've been through some of the worst things I can imagine, and you're still fighting. You've been shot, stabbed, all kinds of things! And yet you still have the goofiness of a regular teenager." He gripped my shoulder and shook it lightly.

"That's probably because of you." I smirked.

Sora laughed. "Most likely! But really, Yve. You're an artist, pianist… all those things, and you're still one of the nicest people I've met." He smiled reassuringly at me.

I took a deep breath, and then turned to look at him.

"How about this?" Sora grinned, almost evilly. "Let's make a Slap Bet.[1]"

"A 'slap bet'?" I echoed, not knowing what it was.

"Yeah. It's like a regular bet, but whoever wins gets to slap the other person in the face as hard as they possibly can, but no rings." He lifted my skin-tight glove that I always had on.

"Sounds painful…" I muttered, my eyebrows knitting.

"Yeah, but it's AWESOME." Sora laughed. "You wanna do it?" He asked.

"Um… sure." I shrugged. "What are we betting on, though?"

"If you become any less cooler to me than you are now, I win. If you stay the same in rank of coolness, then you win, okay?"

"Sure." I shrugged.

"Awesome." He pumped his fists happily.

"How about we make one now?" I asked, an evil smirk appearing on my face.

"What'll it be about?" He smirked back at me.

"If my father is actually alive, you win. If he isn't and we don't see him at this 'heart' place, I win."

Sora tapped his fingers together evilly. "I like it." He agreed.

"So it's a deal?" I held my left hand out.

"Deal." Sora took my hand and shook it, just as Kairi came outside.

She stopped when she saw us shaking hands.

"What happened?" She asked, looking at us with a somewhat worried look.

"We just made a slap bet." Sora said, letting go of my hand and jogging over to her, grinning all the way.

"Oh, no." She face palmed herself. "Why, Yvaine?" She asked, parting her fingers to look at me.

"Because I want the chance to slap Sora." I shrugged.

"Aw, what'd I do?" Sora looked at me with a pout.

"Nothing. It'd just be fun." I smirked.

"Please tell me I didn't just head 'slap bet'." Riku said, walking out and rubbing his eyes.

"You did." Kairi groaned.

"You two are idiots." Riku crossed his arms. "What's it over?" He asked, looking at me.

"My dad." I smiled at him. "If he's alive, then Sora wins. If he isn't, I win." I swung my legs a little.

"How will you know?" He raised an eyebrow at me.

"We'll meet him at the 'heart'."

"And where is that?" Kairi and Sora asked, Kairi sounding disappointed and Sora sounding happier.

I shrugged. "We'll have to find out, won't we?"

For those of you who know what a Slap Bet is from, you get extra points. :D And I'll love you forever.