Back again! Weeellll, we've got another little filler chapp, since a bit of time has to pass for the next trip to the Pridelands and whatnot. So read, review, and-

Kiera: (Teleports in out of nowhere) Hiya!

Me: (Falls out of chair) THE HELL!

Kiera: (Looks around) ...Oh. Damn, I left Sora behind by accident again! Hold on! (Disappears, then reappears with Sora)

Sora: (Temple throbbing) I THOUGHT YOU WERE A MASTER AT THIS WHOLE TELEPORTATION THING!

Kiera: Pffft, who told you THAT?

Sora: ...YOU.

Kiera: ...Oh. My bad! Hehehe...he...he... MANDY, AREN'T THERE PRESENTS HERE LIKE I TOLD SORA THERE WAS?

Me: Um...no...

Sora: KIERA, DAMMIT, YOU-

Me: Oh, wait, YES, YES THERE IS! They're from a reviewer and friend of mine, yukicrewger2! My baaaad. (Tosses them their presents)

Kiera: HA! I get TWO! (Opens both presents at once in under fifteen seconds)

Sora: (Lets out whistle) Jeez, Kiera, I knew you were fast, but-

Kiera: OOOOHH! ...What's this? (Holding up random jar)

Me: Read the note. (Looks at portion of audience that also reads my Naruto story) ...De ja vu, anyone?

Kiera: (Shrugs and reads note attached to jar) "Two for Kiera, an anti-magic/anti-burn salve for her shoulder, as well as various VHS/DVDs/Blue-Ray movies off of her want list -Yuki". Awesome! (Looks further in the second box) OOOHHH, HERE THEY ARE! FOUND THE MOVIES!

Sora: (Rolls eyes and opens his) AWESOME! (Reads note) "A Key Chain for Sora, one I call frozen beast, it's blue and silver and has what looks to be three wolf teeth for the key's teeth, that also has a special technique called icestrike. -Yuki"

Kiera: Wow, that's pretty cool, too. ...BUT NOT AS COOL AS MY MOVIES! (Cradles movies affectionately) I shall name each and every one of you, and you shall love your new names!

Me and Sora: (Major sweatdrops)

Sora: ...(Temple throb) ...Why do you hate me? Sticking me with her, REALLY?

Me: (Laughs innocently) U-Uhhh...read, review,review some more, and ENJOOOOY!

Kiera was just about to bite into her brownie (which was piled high with toppings) when Goofy suddenly had a thought. "You guys!" he exclaimed, making them all jump.

"What's the matter, Goofy?" Donald asked.

"That new world that opened up! We should probably go check it out."

Sora waved him off, obviously really wanting to eat his brownie. "Nah, I already did. Looked pretty calm. Except for those weird machines..." He shuddered at the thought, and Kiera gave him a skeptical look. "What machines?"

"Please don't ask..."

She huffed, pouting and crossing her arms. "That's your answer for everything to do with last night!"

"Do you really think we need to? As in absolutely, positively, without a doubt think we need to go there?" Sora asked Goofy.

Kiera stood and smirked at him, brownie in hand. "Why, are you too much of a scaaaaredy-cat to go?"

He gave her a rather dirty look. "NO."

"Then let's go!"

"FINE, LET'S GO!" Sora shouted, leading the way. Kiera and Donald snickered to themselves and exchanged a fist-bump. "Female encouragement. That's all it takes sometimes, boys."

When they descended the ship, Kiera immediately gasped in disbelief. "...What?" Sora asked, but she ignored him. She put a hand to her mouth, shaking her head and tearing up. She dropped her damn brownie, too, but she didn't care.

"Kiera, what's the matter?" Goofy asked; they were obviously at least a little worried. She looked around, still not believing where she was. "The river...the Mississippi...the Dolly Parton bridge..."

"The M-lookin' thing?" Sora asked, and she nodded.

"It's all...it's all here...but...this can't be...can it? Can we really...Am I really home?" she wondered, making everyone jump in surprise.

"HOME?" they shouted, and she nodded happily. "Home. I...I'm home. You guys, I live here!" she said happily, looking around some more and breathing deeply. "Ahhh, it still smells like cold air and water and crime, just like last winter. And there, there's that hobo guy that lives in his car year-round!" she exclaimed, pointing at an old parked car.

"Those machines are called 'cars'?" Sora asked, and she nodded again.

"Yeah. I drive those."

"I smashed one in half last night. It wasn't yours, was it?" he asked thoughtfully. Her temple throbbed. "If it was, I'm gonna be really pissed at my momma. She's got nowhere to be, she sure as hell shouldn't be-..." she trailed off before gasping. "My momma!" she shouted before running off.

"Where're you going?" Donald called after her. Kiera sighed impatiently, gesturing for them to follow. "Home. Comin'?"

Sora looked at them. "...Guys, we better follow her. She might know a secret to getting past those 'cars' unscathed."

They looked at the cars whizzing by, then nodded quickly at each other before running like mad to catch up with her. THAT got her laughing as she waited patiently by the "Walk, Don't Walk" sign. She pointed to the button. "This is how you outsmart the cars," she explained with a smirk.

After pressing the button, she watched the traffic lights. When the sign across the street finally told them they could walk, she did so. They watched her, and she turned around in the middle of the road to sigh exasperatedly. "HAUL SOME ASS BEFORE THE LIGHTS CHANGE!" she screeched.

And haul ass they did.

FIFTY-SEVENMINUTES LATER...

"Are we almost there?" Donald asked, obviously not happy. Kiera didn't blame him; people kept asking Donald and Goofy if they realized Halloween had passed already.

As for Sora, he was thoroughly enjoying himself. Especially after the Coyote Ugly girls waved at him and called his name from the doorway when they passed on Beale Street. Kiera had asked about it, but he stuck to his excuse of "I thought I could find you a present in there!".

"Almost," she replied, pointing to a street sign. "I live about three streets over from here. We'll be there in no time. ...Goofy, don't eat that!" she shouted as Goofy attempted to taste some gum left on a street pole.

"Awww, shucks, why not?" he wondered.

"Because it's been in someone's mouth already!"

"...Oh. Gawrsh, why didn't you say that when I ate all that candy earlier?" he wondered, rubbing his stomach thoughtfully. Kiera and Sora exchanged a look before shuddering. "Ewww..."

Sora suddenly stopped and ran over to a curb. "Hey, guys, I saw this last night! It's this cross with 'DAD' on it, and it made me so depressed...Kiera, do these people with the crosses just die randomly in the street?" he asked.

Kiera slowly followed them over to look at it, even though she'd been the one who put the cross there in the first place. She shook her head at his question. "No. Some are shot or stabbed there. Others, like this guy, were in car crashes."

"You know his family?" Donald asked, looking at the little message she'd written. Kiera smiled sadly. "I...guess you could say that. They were nice people."

"What happened to 'em?" Goofy asked, brows furrowed.

"...They fell apart," she replied simply, her voice breaking at the end. Sora stood up. "C'mon, guys, let's keep going," he said suddenly. The other two shrugged and looked at Kiera, who nodded and led the way. Not long after, Sora had fallen into step beside her, and squeezed her shoulder. "...Sorry, I didn't know it was-"

"Don't worry about it. I just wanna see if my house is still in one piece," she said with a half-laugh.

FIFTEENMINUTES LATER...

Kiera's pace quickened even more when they turned onto her street. Hers was the fifth one down. When they reached it, she let out a huge breath. "...There it is," she breathed, her breath appearing as a fog in front of her.

"It looks normal to me. Just like how I saw it last night," Sora commented. She nodded happily, too glad to be home to even bother with asking him why he had seen her house last night. "It's supposed to."

"...Dontchya wanna go inside?" Goofy asked. Kiera laughed. "More than anything. ...Hmm, looks like the neighbors aren't home," she mused as she walked to the front door, her friends slowly following.

She popped the screen out of one of the windows to get to the toolbox, under which was her house key. Sora sweatdropped. "Well...that's one way to make sure you never get locked out," he commented. She beamed at him. "I know, I'm pretty clever."

Kiera unlocked the door, and carefully pushed it open. "Mommaaaa?" she called out, turning on the lights. Her friends jumped after her mom suddenly came into view once the lights were on. She was sound asleep on the couch, as usual.

Dip on her face. As usual.

Tons of beer bottles littered everywhere. ...Not usual. Kiera was usually there to clean them up a night at a time. And the tv wasn't on. Also not usual.

Kiera sighed. "...Yep. I'm home."

The other three watched her, and the events of the next ten minutes or so made them realize how bad things had really been for her before meeting them.

She gently shook her mother awake, and the latter jumped in surprise. Kiera smiled at her, and her mom stared back for the longest time. "...Kiera," she said slowly, nodding to herself as if confirming her name.

"Yeah. Yeah, momma, I'm home," she said a little breathlessly, both hands on her mom's shoulders.

"...Kiera? You...You never came back with the beer after your friend's party," she said in that same slow tone. Kiera's face fell slightly, but she quickly recovered. "Momma, that was months ago. It's December now. It's Christmas Day. And...it looks like you've been able to get plenty of beer since then," Kiera said with a sweatdrop, looking pointedly at all the beer cans and bottles and whatnot littered everywhere.

Mom huffed. "Yeah, no thanks to you! Do you have any idea how much money I had to blow on beer?"

"Actually, I do. I used to blow that amount every week. More some days, what with the bills and groceries," Kiera snapped.

Suddenly, Goofy pointed to something outside. "Gawrsh, Kiera, was that huge pile always there?" he wondered.

Sora nodded. "It was there when I picked out her present."

"Pile?" she repeated, standing on her tiptoes to look past Goofy. There was indeed a huge pile on the side of the street, and it looked a lot like... "Is that...?" Kiera wondered before running outside.

She picked up a couple random objects. It was unmistakeably her things. "...Kiera?" Donald called carefully, not liking the look of pure disbelief on her face that quickly turned to anger. "MOMMAAAA!" Kiera bellowed, running back inside.

Her mom was standing up now, wiping the dip off her face with the back of her hand. Kiera pointed towards the open door angrily, eyes flashing. "What the HELL is my stuff doing by the side of the street?"

Mom looked her dead in the eyes and shrugged. "You weren't here. It was taking up space. I was hoping to get good money off it. You're lucky the electricity's still on, what with you running off and not paying the bills like you promised!"

Kiera looked about to strangle someone, and Sora looked at Goofy and Donald. "Maybe we should-"

"There...is SO MUCH wrong with that sentence...I don't even know where to begin! But how about the fact that GARBAGE COLLECTORS DON'T PAY YOU ANYTHING FOR THE STUFF YOU PUT ON THE CURB, MOMMA!" she exclaimed.

Mom blinked at her for a second, and then she started laughing. Just laughing. "Hehehehehe! I suppose you're right! Ahhhh..." she said, still laughing as she plopped down on the ground. "That was pretty stupid of me, huuuuh?"

Kiera sighed and shook her head before closing her eyes, summoning all her objects back into her room. "Hey, the pile's gone!" Goofy informed them. Kiera nodded. "Good. It should all be back in my room now. Momma, I can't believe you did that. You're SO LUCKY they didn't pick up garbage over the holidays or I swear I woulda-"

"Woulda done whaaat?" Mom asked with a hiccup. "...Scold me and send me to my room?" With that, she started giggling at her little joke, hiccuping again at the end.

Suddenly, she stopped giggling after noticing Goofy, Donald, and Sora. "...Who're they? And why're those two dressed like Goofy and Donald? You said it was Christmas, right?"

Kiera sighed heavily. "Mom, these are my friends. The ones I've been with for months. Sora, Donald, and Goofy."

"...No, seriously," her mom said with a giggle.

"Seriously. I got kidnapped at my cousin's party and these guys let me tag along with 'em. If not for them...I'd probably be dead right now," she said thoughtfully.

Mom sniffled a little. "But...if you were dead...who would take care of me...?" She started crying, making everyone sweatdrop as she turned her pleading eyes up to Kiera. "Honey, please don't leave me like that ever again! It was so scary, you just have no idea!"

Kiera looked rather distressed as her mom crawled towards her and locked her arms around her leg, crying. She looked at her friends, who were gaping at them with dropped jaws and sweatdrops.

"...Feel free to take a look around. Help yourself to anything in the fridge, but I'd look at the due date first. I'm gonna be a while."

They happily complied, leaving her to deal with the wreck formally known as her mother. Kiera sighed again as her mom continued to cry rather loudly, trying to wriggle her leg out of her grip. "Momma...C'mon, lemme go."

"No! You'll leave again!"

"No, I...I won't. I'm home now." Kiera had found herself saying it before even realizing what she was saying, but there it was. She was staying?

Of course you're staying. Isn't that why Memphis was unlocked as the next world to visit? There's no Heartless around, so...this is the part where Sora, Donald, and Goofy drop you off and continue without you. Simple.

Mom sniffled. "...You are?"

"Y-Yes. ...Yeah, I guess I am." Mom stood and brushed herself off, smiling. "That's good! ...Can, um...Can you go -"

Kiera's temple throbbed as she stomped off. "YES, I'll go get your damn beer! Guys, I'll be back in a little while!" she shouted over her shoulder, slamming the door behind her.

"Unbelievable. Un...fucking...believable. I dunno what's worse: her doing that little act, or me still being surprised by that little act," she grumbled to herself, shoving her hands in her jacket pockets dejectedly. She was wearing the one with all the random burgers and fries and dinosaurs on them.

"Hey, wait up!" Sora called out. Kiera turned around as he ran after her, then sighed as he caught up. "Where're we going?"

"I'm going to the store. To get beer. And then I'm going home. What about you?" she asked moodily, turning onto the street where the nearest convenience store was located.

Less than a block away. Pretty damn convenient.

"Well, it sounds like I'm going to the store with Kiera to get some beer. And then I'm going back to her house."

Kiera just sighed and swung the door to the convenience store open, hoping it would hit someone in the face. It did. "OW!" Sora whined, rubbing the side of his face.

Okay, so maybe that was intended to hit just anybody, but it hitting Sora made it even better. She plucked a case of Bud Light off the refridgerated shelf, nearly hitting Sora with that door as well. He dodged it just in time, nearly slipping and falling flat on his back due to the wet floor. "Kiera, jeez, calm down!"

"I AM CALM!" she shouted, slamming the beer down at the pay counter and summoning the amount due. Of course, by this time, the whole store was staring at her.

"You must be a new employee. See, here, they know I'm buyin' this for my momma. Ask anyone else who works here, I'm your favorite customer. It would be in your best interest to just lemme by without asking for ID. Keep the change," she growled at the man behind the counter, who nodded as if he feared for his life. "H-Have a good day!" he called out as Kiera snatched her case of beer and stomped out. "Ha! You're funny, man!"

"Kiera?"

"WHAT."

"What's wrong?"

"Nothing's wrong, I'm just tired."

"Uh-huh."

"SIT!"

THUD.

"Owww...Yeah, you're totally alright."

"DON'T QUESTION ME!" she shouted, angrier than she'd ever been in her whole life. She wasn't entirely sure who exactly she was angry at. Her mother? Herself? The whole world?

The whole world. That works. Sure, why not. Isn't that all teenagers are good for? Hating the whole world? "Hey, Kiera, calm down," Sora said gently, somehow ending up in front of her.

"I told you, I'm calm," she protested.

"No you're not."

"Yes I am."

"NO, you're not."

"YES, I am!"

He wiped her cheeks with his thumb, and she realized there were tears there. "Then whaddaya call these?" he asked matter-of-factly. Kiera stared at him for the longest time before turning away, plopping onto the curb. "Go away."

"Kiera-"

"GO...away," she repeated in a shaky voice, tired of him being there every time she started crying. It was...unsettling. Especially since now her anger was gone and all that was left was...sadness.

"...I'm staying here," she told him simply.

"Aw, c'mon, your house is only a couple streets away."

"No, I mean...I'm staying here. In Memphis. On Earth. ...I'm staying here," she repeated, sniffling. She wiped at her face with the sleeve of her jacket, but that just made new tears start coming.

"...What?" he asked, dumbfounded. "Y-You can't be serious."

"I am."

"You...You can't!"

"Why not?"

"Because you can't!"

"WHY NOT, Sora? I live here!"

"But...But you...You can't just call it quits now!"

"Call what quits? Being dragged into some other universe against my will? Having to fight Heartless left and right? Damn Organization members terrorizing me and burning my shoulder? Missing home, and being terrified my momma's gonna do something stupid and risk her life, and I won't be there to help her? ...Calling all that quits...sounds pretty damn good," she snapped, her voice shaking more than she'd ever heard any voice shake.

There was a bit of a silence (that was filled with her sniffling), and then Sora plopped onto the curb beside her. "Go away," she repeated.

"Since when have I done what you wanted me to?" he pointed out. Her temple throbbed. "...That's true."

"Kiera, why do you wanna stay?"

She sighed. "On top of being dragged away against my will in the first place, you mean? ...My momma needs me. She...She's the only family I really have, Sora. Once she's gone...that's it. Even if she doesn't really care all that much anymore...I still care about her. Someone has to."

He sighed as well, turning towards her. "Kiera, listen, I-" He cut off abruptly as they heard screaming from the convenience store, which they were sitting outside of. "WHAT THE HELL IS THAT?" a woman shrieked.

They exchanged a look and shot up, running back in. There were two different Heartless there, accompanied by three Dusks. The man behind the counter ducked behind the register before pulling out a shotgun, spastically trying to load it but spilling the bullets everywhere.

The two teens exchanged a look before sighing. Sora summoned his Keyblade, and Kiera summoned some pots and pans. "We'll take care of it!"

"EVERYONE GET THE HELL OUT!" Kiera shouted, making even Sora jump. Everyone, obviously remembering her temper from earlier, immediately ran out like she said. A few people stole handfuls of items on the way.

A few minutes later, Sora had vanquished the last Dusk. The Heartless had been smacked around by Kiera already. The man behind the counter stood gaping at them, and she smiled at him. "...Aren't ya glad I'm your favorite customer NOW?"

He started laughing, and Sora made his Keyblade disappear. "You...don't mind keepin' this to yourself, do you?" he asked.

The man nodded quickly. "N-No problem!"

"Thanks. You'll do just fine here," Kiera said cheerfully before heading back outside, grabbing her case of beer on the way back home.

"Sora, why the hell are there Heartless here?" she wondered.

"Huhhh...I dunno. There weren't any last night. Maybe they're like the other worlds we visited a second time, in that they're just showing up because we're here. Once we find the key for this world to unlock a path, this world'll be locked, and they won't show up anymore."

Kiera nodded. "That'd be nice. I don't wanna have to fight 'em by myself."

"You won't be," he said simply. She just rolled her eyes. No use in arguing right now. He'll be leaving soon anyways. ...Even if I have to drag him back onto the ship myself before teleporting outta there.

Once they got inside, they sweatdropped. Donald and Goofy were sitting on the floor playing cards with her mother.

"Got any twos?" Donald asked.

"Go fish!" the other two replied cheerfully.

Kiera sighed and shook her head before climbing up her stairs without a word. She didn't stop to look at the pictures on the wall, like she usually did. She just headed straight for her room and swung open the door.

Everything was back to normal. Except... "You can't be quiet worth a damn, can you?" she asked Sora dully.

"Damn you and your bionic hearing," he muttered.

She sweatdropped. "My hearing's far from bionic. You're just loud as crap." He looked around her room with interest, while she flopped onto her back on her bed and tried to remember the last time she'd laid in it.

"So this is where Kiera sleeps," he said to himself.

Kiera nodded. "Yeah. Sure is."

"...It'll be here later, you know. No need to come back home early," he pointed out, making her sigh. "Sora, I'm staying. Period. The end. Fin. Goodbye."

"No, NOT the end. I'm not done arguing with you yet!"

"Well I'M done arguing with YOU," she snapped, standing up and going downstairs.

"...You can't avoid me, I'm not leaving this alone," he commented after sliding down the banister and following her into the hallway. Mom and the other two turned to look at them as they continued to argue.

"And I'm not leaving with y'all, so THERE," she replied, sticking her tongue out at him before picking up the case of beer she'd abandoned earlier.

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm not! You don't control me! In fact, if anything, I control you!"

"You're coming with us, and that's all there is to it!"

"You can't tell me what to do, Sora, you're not superior to me in any way, shape or form. I'M TIRED OF BEING TOLD WHAT TO DO, I'M TIRED OF SAYING THE SAME THINGS OVER AND OVER, AND I'M ESPECIALLY TIRED OF YOU!" she shouted, slamming the beer down onto the counter for emphasis before opening the case and loading them into the fridge.

"You know that's a load of crap just as much as I do."

"No, I really mean it. I PROMISE!" She dropped a can, and he picked it up for her. She snatched it out of his hand before putting it in the fridge and slamming the door shut. "Kiera-"

"GO AWAY!" she practically screamed, desperately wanting him to get out of her sight before she gave in and left home again.

She needed to stay. Had to. The sooner they both realized that, the better. Even now, she was still trying to convince herself what she was doing was right.

Sora looked at her for a long time before sighing and leaving the kitchen. Kiera felt very old and tired once she was alone in there, and even more so when she heard her friends leaving and the door shutting.

Four Heartless appeared, and she wiped them all out with one swing of her aluminum bat. "NOT NOW!" she screeched before composing herself and walking into the den. Mom was sitting on the couch again, dozing off. "Kiera..."

"Yes, momma?"

"...Thank you..." Kiera looked at her hopefully. "...Thank you for restocking us on beer," she continued. Her heart dropped to her toes, but she smiled at her mom anyway. "...You're welcome, momma."

"Can you...Can you get me one?"

"Sure."

"And for crying out loud, clean this mess up," she said groggily, referring to all the beer cans and bottles. Kiera sighed and nodded as her mom stretched out on the couch and turned on the tv. Roseanne's voice was soon blaring throughout the room.

By the time Kiera was back with the can of beer, she was asleep. Not snoring yet, but asleep nonetheless.

She felt her body start trembling as she set the beer down on the tv tray after pushing some cans onto the floor, but she ignored it, hoping the urge to cry would go away.

It didn't.

It just grew stronger as she picked up the cans she'd knocked down, and put them in a trash bag before putting all the other ones in that same bag. She had tied the yellow strings together and was about to head for the front door to take it out to be collected on their trash's pickup day, but then her knees shook even more.

So she sank to the ground and started crying. Just crying a fricking river, and not caring how pathetic it was since she'd chosen to stay herself. But...it was so lonely...she had forgotten how lonely it really was back home.

Through all the tears that were blocking her vision, she saw a shadow that wasn't hers being cast against the coffee table. That shadow sat down next to her. Then the shadow tucked some hair behind her left ear.

She knew that touch anywhere. ...Mainly because of the pull she felt from it. "You're still here," she commented with a sniffle.

"Of course I am," Sora replied. "Why're you so upset? You're the one who told me you wanted to stay."

She shook her head. "I don't wanna stay, you moron. Are you kidding me? Being with you guys has been the best time of my life! ...Next to all the best pranks I've pulled. B-But still. ...I don't wanna stay, I just..."

She trailed off, looking over at her mom. "...What's gonna happen to her while I'm gone? You saw the woman, she's not stable enough to take care of herself! And...I'm the one who promised to take care of her. Back when dad di- ...After the accident. I told her I'd take care of her, and that she wouldn't have to worry anymore, and that I can handle it, and..." she cut off with a hiccup and sob, hanging her head.

"So it's up to me. I gotta...I gotta keep my promise."

There was silence for a few moments before Sora spoke. "...Kiera, you can't keep a promise like that. You're just a kid, you can't do all this by yourself. And besides...You shouldn't have to keep a promise to someone if they treat you like she does."

She looked up at him hesitantly. "...She's just emotionally damaged, is all. She-"

"She still doesn't get to treat you like that. No one does. Not while I'm around, at least."

"But she's my mom, I mean-" He interrupted her by caressing the sides of her face. That made her shut up real quick.

"You know what your problem is? You keep saying that she's all you have left, so of course you wanna keep her around. But she's not all you have left. You've got us. And me. And we...I...wanna take care of you. Besides...Didn't you say something once about being my Gatekeeper? Aren't you supposed to be saving my ass when it needs saving? How can ya do that if you call it quits before our quest is over?"

"I...guess I can't. I forgot about that," she admitted, not able to break eye contact. Did that surprise her? Of course not. It only happened just about every time he looked at her like that.

She blinked her tears away, laughing a little. "Jeez, I guess me and momma are both wrecks. I'm startin' to understand why dad didn't come back!" she said with a halfhearted smile.

Sora shook his head. "I'm not. I can't even think about leaving you behind." She started turning bright red, which just made him smirk. "Kieraaa's bluuuushing," he said in a sing-song tone.

"A-Am not!"

"Are so!"

"Well, uh...Maybe you shouldn't say stuff like that when you have your hands on people's faces!" she accused.

"Oh. Ohhh, o-kay. So I wonder what would happen if I did this," he said innocently. One of his hands went to her hair, and the other ran down the length of her neck. Her eyes tried to flutter closed out of instinct, but luckily, she stopped that from happening just in time. Just like how she bit her lip to keep from making a stupid noise.

She smirked at him defiantly. "You'll have to do better than that. Waaay better."

"Oh, what a shame," he muttered, already leaning in. She chuckled, leaning in herself. Did she care? Not a bit. Hell, half of her (okay, maybe two-thirds) was practically BEGGING for her to let things unfold.

She would've let things unfold, too, if it weren't for her damn mother. Their lips were already touching, they were already kissing, when they heard a rather loud:

"Bown-chika-chika-BOWN-wow-wow-wow!" It was followed with a high-pitched giggle and hiccup, making them both jump.

They slowly turned their heads to look at Grace Sage, who was currently watching them from her comfortable-looking spot on the couch. She was grinning from ear to ear, too. The freak. And ironically, during that long awkward silence, Roseanne's laugh track started going right on cue.

"Oh, don't mind me. I'll just sip my beer and go to my room," Grace said innocently, popping her beer can open.

She had just started to gulp some down when the can suddenly lit up, floating into the air. "What the hell?" she said weakly.

"...Oh, no WAY," Sora and Kiera said slowly. All we had to do to unlock it was for Sora to change my mind? Or kiss...? Oh, screw it, who cares...

They exchanged a look, and Kiera sighed before detaching his hand from her hair. "Go ahead, Key Boy. See if I care."

He didn't look very happy about it, either, but locked Earth anyway. Now there'd be no more Heartless, which made Kiera feel extremely relieved.

"...Kiera Reilly Sage! You kissing a boy in my den, I was cool with that, but I'll be DAMNED if I let that boy take my floating beer can!" she hollered, making Kiera and Sora sweatdrop.

"...Momma, if it means that much to you, I can get you ANOTHER beer."

"...That's a start," she said with an important sniff before flopping back onto the couch, propping her feet up. "You could do the dishes while you're at it." Kiera opened her mouth to explain she was leaving again, but Sora covered her mouth with his hand and dragged her into the kitchen. "RIGHT AWAY, MA'AM!" he said quickly.

"But Sora, I'm goi-"

"We'll just leave," he said quietly, tossing her the beer from her fridge. She grinned at him. "...Sora, I do believe I respect you a little more now. Lying to my momma like that...well done!" she said cheerfully, taking the beer to her mom.

Apparently, Sora thought she was joking at first, but eventually seemed to realize she was serious. Either way, he started grinning. "Night, momma. I love you," Kiera said sincerely, kissing the top of her head.

"...Unfortunately," she added under her breath once she was out of her mom's range of hearing.

"DON'T FORGET THE DISHES!" she called after her, but Kiera was too busy grabbing Sora by the shoulder and teleporting them out of there. A few seconds later, they were out in her front yard. She looked around, squinting in the dark. "...Where's Donald and Goofy?"

"Gummi Ship. They left me to get you all on my own." Kiera nodded, and she checked her mailbox out of habit. It was empty, surprisingly. "Wow, she actually checks the mail?" Kiera wondered to herself.

Sora chuckled to himself, in his own little world. "Of course, I figured all I had to do was talk some sense into you and touch you in the right places, and you'd be coming with us in no time at all."

Kiera's temple throbbed menacingly as she turned to look at him. His face immediately fell. "Oh, crap, that came out reeeeally wrong."

"Ya think? SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIT SIIIIIIIT!"

THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUD THUUUUUUD.

"...DAMMIT, KIERA!"