Sora laid back on his dorm room bed late in the evening, exhausted from a particularly long day of classes. He glanced at his desk, books stacked on top of each other with his laptop open to a blank writing document before groaning. Now that they were headed towards winter break, they were getting ready for finals which meant almost double the work and the studying hours.

But even though his studies were weighing heavy on him, other things on his mind seemed to be a bit bigger than the stress of school.

A soft knock on the door tore Sora from his thoughts. Sighing heavily, the spiky-haired young man jumped to his feet and went to meet his visitor. When Sora opened the door, he smiled when he saw Kairi standing there with her books in her arms and a bag of, what he assumed were, homemade cookies.

"I saw you nodding off in class," she started sweetly as she entered his room. "I figured we could review the notes, so you don't fall behind."

Sora shut the door and laughed awkwardly. "My bad. I didn't sleep so well last night," he admitted. "It's been a lot going on."

Kairi pulled off her hoodie and folded it neatly before setting it on the edge of Sora's messy bed. The redhead pulled her hair back into a ponytail and sat in Sora's desk chair. When she looked at him, he saw a rueful smile on her face.

"I know," she said quietly. "Have you heard from Roxas and Naminé?"

Sora shook his head, his smile gone. He sat back on his bed, carefully avoiding sitting on Kairi's hoodie. "I talked to Roxas last night," he replied. "They're still trying to process it all."

Kairi's gaze shifted to the floor. "I can see why…."

The day after Sora spotted Ven, the authorities went to Roxas' and Naminé's families and told them that Ventus and his friend Terra were wanted criminals. Shortly after, Axel revealed to Roxas (who then told Sora and the others) that Ventus and his friend also attacked him and Jasmine. Axel advised the group to steer clear from the two and, if they spot either one of them, to notify the police immediately.

"I still feel bad," Sora admitted quietly. "I should've called Jasmine sooner."

"Hey," Kairi called out, stopping Sora dead immediately. "There's nothing you could've done differently. No one knew what was going on - how were we supposed to know that Ven would do that?"

Shrugging his shoulders, Sora conceded. "I know," he sighed. "I think I'm just kinda in shock."

Kairi got up, sat next to Sora, took his free hand, and laced their fingers together. "I think we all are."

"I can't believe Ven would do that," Sora continued.

"Me neither," Kairi admitted, still in disbelief over the whole thing. "I thought Ven and Jasmine had something going on."

"They did, but clearly something happened."

Kairi frowned. "Whatever it was, there was still no reason for him to hurt her."

Sora's thoughts drifted. He recalled the day he went to his parent's house and ran into Axel when he was on his way out. While the redhead didn't say why he was there, his parents gave him a short rundown of what happened.

"What is it?" Kairi asked curiously, studying Sora's face.

"…Axel went to see my mom and dad," he revealed.

"Really?" Kairi was taken aback by this. "Why would Axel need to talk to your parents?"

"He was asking about Vanitas' parents...my aunt and uncle," he clarified. "He wanted to know about how they died."

Kairi reeled back. "Didn't they die in an accident?"

"They did," Sora replied, feeling uneasy about the whole thing. "But…the weird thing is how my mom and dad acted."

"What do you mean?"

Sora sighed, recalling how off his parents seemed to be after the visit. "It feels like…I don't know…like there's something they aren't telling me. Like…there's something they aren't sure about. It's hard to explain."

Kairi sat quietly, not sure what to make of everything. But then, an idea hit her. "Why don't you go talk to Axel? Jasmine might know why too."

"I don't think she can say much right now," Sora said. "I tried calling her to see if she was okay, and she didn't pick up."

"Give it time. Jasmine might just be laying low for a while," Kairi reasoned. "Even if she doesn't tell you everything, she'll tell you something. She always does, Sora."

Sora mulled over the suggestion. Kairi was right - Jasmine would be the best person to talk to about this. He wasn't sure if she and Axel had a conversation about this, but if nothing else, she could also look into it.

"Are you gonna tell Riku?" Kairi asked curiously.

"He already knows," Sora revealed, sighing heavily. "He thinks it's weird too. But I've been trying to not bring up Jasmine too much. He was worried after we all found out what Ven did."

The redhead inhaled sharply. "I feel bad for him – even though he tried to ask her out while dealing with those other girls."

"Jasmine didn't care," Sora told Kairi. "But it's probably because she already said yes to Prince Noctis. Plus, she'd been with Ven on and off for so long."

Kairi's expression turned curious. "I thought that was a fling, though."

Sora sighed heavily. "That's what Jasmine said, but not many people believe that between you and me. Roxas swears more was going on."

With the mention of Roxas, Kairi decided to switch gears. "How is Roxas's family handling everything? I know everyone is pretty devastated about the Ven news."

"Well," Sora tried to accurately articulate what Roxas and Naminé had told him. "I think it's more of a shock thing, you know? All this time, they thought Ven was away on a mission, and now the police are out looking for him."

"I think the other problem is that everyone told them nothing was wrong. So it looks like Jasmine and the others were keeping secrets from us."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Sora replied. "BUT, Roxas isn't mad about that. They know that Jasmine and the others can't always tell us what's happening because of SOLDIER. While it sucks, they get that there's just some stuff they can't talk about. But the problem is, we have Axel wondering about Vanitas' family, Ven and his friend are criminals, and Jasmine is in the hospital."

"Sora," Kairi said sternly. "We shouldn't get involved. Let the police handle it."

Sora straightened up and focused his gaze on the clock on his dresser. "I know, but I'm not sure how much longer we can stay out of this, Kai. I don't think it'll stop here if my parents are involved."

Kairi fell silent and sat on Sora's words. Even though she didn't want to admit it, he was right. Over the years since Vanitas' appearance, it seemed as though they hadn't seen true peace. Everyone he'd come across, from Jasmine, Roxas, Riku, and more, had met nothing but misfortune since he came back into the picture. If Sora was right, and Kairi believed he was, it wouldn't stop unless more people got involved.

"So what now?" Kairi asked, breaking the silence.

"…I guess I can try talking to Axel. If that doesn't work, go see Jasmine."

Kairi gave Sora's hands a squeeze. When he looked at Kairi, he was met with the warmest, most sincere smile he'd ever seen.

"WE will figure it out," she clarified. "Don't try and talk me out of it because it won't work."

Before Sora could say anything else, she planted a kiss on his cheek and jumped to her feet.

"Now that we've got that settled," she said as she grabbed the bag of cookies, "let's get to work. We can't bomb our classes on top of everything else." Kairi hurled the bag at Sora, who just barely caught it. "Deal?"

Sora sighed before he cracked a smile, thinking how lucky he was to have someone like Kairi in his life. He had many friends who would do anything for him, but Kairi was his one in a million. Knowing he had her by his side, he knew he could get through this and anything else that came his way.

"Deal," he said finally before stuffing a cookie in his mouth.

Author's Note: Glad to see you guys again! Thanks as always for your patience. I'm not the most consistent, but I appreciate that you guys read when you do. It means a lot to me. As usual, thank you for the messages, and I wanted to thank rawrrbreee for the review. I hope to see you guys next time (I hope to get something out before Halloween). As usual, let me know what you think, and I'll see you all next time.

Take care!