Disclaimer: I don't own Kingdom Hearts but I'm living like life's going out of style.

A/N: Okay, I'm so sorry that the last chapter was so short. But it was (and still is) 12:30 am, and I was (and am) tired as... I don't know, something that's really tired. So I'll go to bed, and write later. Maybe tomorrow, maybe when I get back from camp. Please check out my new story, Blood! And I updated in With Effects Akin to Narcotics, too, so check that out, too! This chapter is not gonna have any action at all, and will really just be about relationship development, so all you hopeless romantics out there (like me) will have a blast with this one! I'll try my best to make it awesome! Well good night and sleep tight and sweet dreams and all that to all you guys out there reading this! I love you all and... oh who am I kidding, I'm going to bed. Read and review... *sleep*

Woohoo back from camp! It was kickass, and I met some awesome people, and I will now name them cuz they're cool like that, and all you guys can be like "oh they're so cool". So there's Shelbi, one of my new bffs, and give a lot of credit to her when it comes to With Effects Akin to Narcotics, cuz she gave me a shitload of new ideas and info. Thanks for all the help with my research about the "candy" Shelbi! I love you! And then there's Danielle, Shelbi's sister. She was so cool and really fun to talk to, and I will text her constantly lol. It was hilarious to watch her and Shelbi fight, and I still crack up when I think of the lead singer of Led Zeppelin! Then there's Katie (camper Katie, not counselor, not yet at least), who was thirteen but totally didn't seem like it. She was one of the biggest supporters of my stories and is even going around showing them to her friends! I didn't get to hang out with her much, but I have her number, so we are soooo keeping in touch! And then the counselors Vicky, Erin, and Katie. Vicky was one of my favorite counselors ever, she was so cool. She was really easy to talk to and wasn't all "life is perfect" but also wasn't like emo. I still haven't forgotten how she cracked up when she was reading the ideas for Narcotics. Erin read Narcotics and loved it, and she probably had the most influence on me when it came to that story besides Shelbi. She's another reason I'm continuing it, so I hope you're reading Erin! Katie was awesome, and so sweet when it came to my stories. She really liked them, and she called me "really talented" so that made me smile =). So the rest of Fire, Narcotics, and Blood is dedicated to all you guys! I love you all!

Well, I promised my mom I'd go to bed by midnight tonight, so with two minutes left to go, I better write later. Sorry about how long this is lol, and I'll update as soon as I can. Goodnight guys! And don't forget to read and review!

Fire Resides in Her Heart (Axel+Kairi)

Chapter Twenty-Four

Magic Carpet Ride

~Tifa's Theme - Final Fantasy VII:Advent Children playing~

Jasmine - who I learned was the Princess of this land, Agrabah, and a Princess of the Heart, like me - led us all to separate rooms. Selphie and I had rooms pretty close to each other, just a little walk across the hall. Axel's room was on the floor underneath us, down the hall quite a ways. I smiled a little inside at that. It was nice to know that I wasn't the only one suspicious of Axel's motives.

I changed into a silky purple dress that resembled Jasmine's outfit, grateful for the smell of clean clothes. I loved my green dress, but it was starting to smell a little too much like me.

My door opened, and I whipped around, my heart already pumping and adrenaline coursing through my veins.

It was Selphie, smiling and looking around my room in awe.

I let myself relax. The reflexes I'd gained from fighting Hollows were useful, but not at times like this. I breifly wondered if I'd even have trouble sleeping tonight.

"Isn't this crazy?" Selphie asked, tilting her head up to look at the raised ceiling while walking toward me.

I pushed a vase to the side right before she sat down on the edge of a table, not paying attention to where she was going. I smiled back and laughed a little. "Yeah, it is," I replied. "Sora never said anything about a palace."

Selphie looked at me. "That must mean he's never stayed here before," she said.

"Probably," I agreed, walking around my room absentmindedly.

Selphie pushed herself up from the table and walked with me. "That means we've actually done something he hasn't before!" she exclaimed excitedly. "This is great! Now we'll have new stories to tell!"

I smiled. "You're right," I said softly, stopping in the middle of my room.

Selphie pursed her lips and walked in front of me, turning to pin with me with a concerned look. "Are you okay, Kairi?" she asked, her hands on her hips. "You're not talking much."

I blinked, then looked away. "I don't know," I said thoughtfully. "I guess I'm just tired."

Selphie stood there for a few more seconds, then sighed. "Okay," she breathed. "I'm tired, too, anyways. Can you believe we've already saved two worlds?" She smiled.

I grinned back. "It really is incredible, huh?"

Selphie nodded, then turned around. "Well, I'm gonna get some sleep. Night Kai!" She sent me a wave, then walked outside and shut the door behind her.

I stood there for a moment. "Night, Selph," I muttered. I sighed and walked out to the balcony just outside my room, separated only by thin purple curtains.

I leaned on the stone banister, folding my arms on it and staring out to the stars. I felt a little bad about what just happened. I'd basically just blown Selphie off. And I didn't even know why!

Why wasn't I talking very much? Maybe I was just tired. After all, as Selphie said, we had saved two worlds. In one day. I let out another sigh and let my eyes travel to the moon. That must be it. I was tired.

Suddenly the moon was blocked out by a face.

I screamed.

"What are you - Shut up!" A hand clasped over my mouth, and another gripped my shoulder.

I shook my head and struggled. Not this, I thought. Not again!

"Kairi! Calm down!"

I opened my eyes wide, recognizing the voice. My eyes fixed on his, then I glared at him.

It was Axel.

I pushed him away and wiped my mouth. "What are you doing?!" I barked angrily.

Axel crossed his arms. "Scaring you, apparently."

I opened my mouth to say something, then noticed where he was standing. Or, more like where he wasn't standing. "Are you -... Are you floating?"

His expression brightened immediately. "Oh, yeah!" He raised himself higher in the air, showing what he was standing on. "Check out what I found!"

Underneath his feet was a blue and purple carpet, with yellow fringes, grouped together at the corners so it almost looked like it had hands and feet.

I stepped forward, my eyes growing larger with every step. "Ohmygod," I breathed, running my hand along its yellow fringe.

A ripple went through the fabric, and suddenly Axel was on his knees, clinging to the carpet as it made a giant circle in the sky. I gasped in surprise and fear for Axel, but when I realized he was fine, I let myself laugh.

Axel came to rest, cross-legged, on the carpet, in front of me again. He let out a breath, then laughed with me, running a hand through his hair in embarrassment.

I put a hand in front of my lips to calm myself. "So it's alive?" I asked, looking at it as I spoke, as if I was addressing it.

Axel shrugged. "I guess," he answered. The carpet folded at the top and bobbed up and down, as if it were nodding.

I giggled, then held my hand out. "Well, it's nice to meet you, Carpet," I said.

Carpet jerked forward and grabbed my hand with its 'hand', shaking mine violently. I laughed again, and stepped forward when my hand was free.

I looked at Axel, smiling. "Where'd you find him?"

He shrugged. "It was just in my room, rolled up in a corner."

"That's weird," I muttered, but didn't really acknowledge it. I tickled Carpet's hand, and another ripple went through him.

Randomly, Axel stood up. "Come with me," he said, holding out a hand to me.

I looked up into his expectant eyes. "Where?" I asked.

"Anywhere," he answered, smiling. "Come on, Kairi, don't you trust me?"

I narrowed my eyes at him. "No," I replied coldly. "Not at all, actually."

He rolled his eyes, then tapped his foot on Carpet. He flew around me, then behind me, and I let out an "umph!" as Carpet knocked me off my feet and onto him, sitting in front of Axel. Carpet swerved to the side, and I nearly fell off.

"Woah!" Axel wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me close up against him. "Careful there, princess," he warned, his voice in my ear.

I felt my face grow hot, and I couldn't tell if it was from embarrassment or a reaction to how close we were. Nevertheless, I straightened my shoulders and tried to look competant. "I'm fine, don't worry," I said.

Axel just laughed and held on tighter as Carpet vaulted off into the stars.

~A Whole New World - Disney's Aladdin playing~

At first, I was scared. Here I was, flying through the air a hundred feet off the ground with a man who not only kidnapped me, but who I hated with all my being. But the more I saw of the gorgeous landscape, the more comfortable I became.

Axel leaned close to me and started to whisper words into my ear; I had to strain myself a little to hear him. "I can show you the world," he said, his voice full of emotion and passion. "Shining, shimmering, splendid. Tell me, princess, now when did you last let your heart decide?"

My face flushed. His words seemed to reach down into my heart. He was making so much sense!

"I can open your eyes," he continued, taking his arms off my waist to put his hands on my shoulders. "Take you wonder by wonder. Over -" Carpet went over a pyramid "- sideways -" around another one "-and under -" and underneath the sphinx's head "-on a magic carpet ride!"

I laughed as the wind blew my hair back, and Axel moved his head above my right shoulder. "A whole new world! A new, fantastic point of view!" He gestured with his hand to the cloudless night, and the ground far beneath us. "No one to tell us no! Or where to go! Or say we're only dreaming," he added softly.

I couldn't help it, the words were rushing to my head, desperate to escape. "A whole new world!" I whispered, and he stopped, almost surprised that I joined in. "A dazzling place I never knew! But when I'm way up here, it's crystal clear that now I'm in a whole new world..." I turned my head to face him, and he looked at me, grinning. "...with you."

"Now I'm in a whole new world with you!" His voice started soft, but grew with emotion as he spoke, his smile growing bigger with each word.

"Unbelievable sights!" I turned my attention to a herd of wild horses running across the sand, into the moonlight. "Indescribeable feeling! Soaring, tumbling, we're weaving through an endless diamond sky!"

Carpet shot upward, taking us straight through a puffy white cloud.

"A whole new world!" I covered my eyes with my hands, but Axel pulled them away gently.

"Don't you dare close your eyes!"

"A hundred thousand things to see!"

"Hold your breath, it gets better!"

"I'm like a shooting star! I've come so far! I can't go back to where I used to be!"

"A whole new world!"

"Every turn a surprise!"

"With new horizons to percieve!"

"Every moment gets better!"

Axel and I turned to each other, our faces lit up with excitement. "I'll chase them anywhere!" we said together. "There's time to spare! Let me share this whole new world with you."

Axel got a soft look in his eyes, and the excitement dimmed from his face, replaced by something else, something I couldn't really identify. "A whole new world," he whispered.

"A whole new world," I repeated, feeling my breath come back to me as Carpet slowed down.

"That's where we'll be." Carpet pulled up to my balcony.

"That's where we'll be." Axel stood and helped me up.

"A thrilling chase..." Carpet stopped above the white stone and folded his top half, making a sort of stairs.

"A wondrous place..." I stepped down carefully, holding on to Axel's hand for support.

"For you and me." We breathed the words together, our eyes never leaving each other, as I stepped onto the balcony and my hand slid from his, slowly, unwillingly.

Axel grinned at me, and I smiled back. "See you tomorrow, princess," he whispered.

"Goodnight," I said under my breath as he and Carpet disappeared underneath the balcony.

A/N: Okay, I am so sorry about the corniness of that. I couldn't help myself! The Disney fan inside of me was going crazy as I writing this! Besides, the lyrics of that song fit really well in this story in general when it comes to Axel and Kairi's relationship. So I hope you guys don't hate me for adding a Disney song to my story. Once again, I couldn't help it. I am very sorry. But I hope i at least incorporated it in there well.