Spyke- I do not procrastinate!

Xilver- Yes ma'am! Here it is, all wrapped up and easy to view, just for you! –bows-

Chapter Two: Stars


Ookami sighed, before rolling onto her side to stare at the dark walls quietly. The stars glowed oddly, and she watched as one by one the faded, the last of their light diminished until the tomorrow night, when they would all be lit again. She sighed again, realizing things always turned out like that for her. Never Spyke, or Kitsune, or Xilver... But her.

She remembered having an argument with her parents before this all happened. What was it about? She didn't know. Hell it was probably for something stupid like not picking up her stuffed animals that practically reproduced in her room she had so many and got them so often.

Her stuffed animals...

Probably the only things she had ever found that she could truly talk to. She rubbed her eyes wearily, before rolling onto her other side to see Sephiroth on the floor, fast asleep. A faint smile appeared on her lips, only for it to fade as she saw a star behind him blink out.

She hated the stars. Ever since they had fallen into darkness, she had hated the stars. The night before there were hundreds of them, but on that night... The stars refused to shine... She only vaguely remembered things before the 'incident', the stars being one of the few things... And yet for some reason, she had surrounded herself with the things she hated most.

"You're still awake," she heard a soft voice, and she almost jumped from her skin.

Sephiroth was staring at her, a calculating look on his face. Ookami swallowed, and then nodded, glad for the darkness that covered the room as she wiped her eyes. She heard the gentle rustle of fabrics and when she looked at Sephiroth she saw he was sitting up. Without thinking, she stood and walked over to his sleeping bag, collapsing on the floor next to him in a tight ball.

Fingers gently brushed through her hair and a soft hum reached her ears. Scooting closer to him, she rested her head on his lap and closed her eyes, finally falling asleep a moment later.

XOXOXOX

When she woke up again early in the morning, Sephiroth was lying back down, fast asleep once more, one arm under his pillow and the other wrapped in Ookami's hair. Giggling softly, she carefully stood up and nudged him gently with her foot, only for him to wrinkle his nose and roll over.

Putting her hands on her hips in mock anger, she snorted and pulled her black silver starred robe before slipping out of her room quietly. The hall had been cleaned the night before, oddly enough, so it made walking down the halls much easier. Jumping over the fifth step from the bottom, she landed on the third and continued without the loud squeaking waking up the house... besides the fact the walls were ubber thick.

She entered the living room where Cloud was busy folding his cloak and noticing Spyke wasn't there, she tilted her head to the side wondering where on Earth he could be. Walking to one of the doors, she pushed it open, not quite ready for the sudden burst of light.

She noted how Spyke seemed sort of distant and sad, and regretted having come look for him deep down. So maybe having a bad memory wasn't so bad- she didn't remember everything that happened. She did remember a Get Well Card and Lolli Pop though...

"The memory?" she found herself asking, already knowing the answer.

She watched as he nodded and walked past her on his way to get inside. She narrowed her eyes and looked up, but saw no stars. Good. No stars was always a good thing. Closing the door gently, she turned around and walked to the kitchen, pouring a bowl of frosted flakes and grabbing a spoon, not even bothering with milk. She ate quietly, her gaze on Spyke.

Sephiroth entered the room, grabbed the reduced fat milk knowing Ookami was allergic to whole, and poured it in the bowl, watching her continue to eat it, not even noticing. Mumbling something to himself, he hopped onto the counter behind her, playing with a lock of her hair bored.

Sora then decided to stumble down the stairs, stepping on the loud squeaky one and yawned loudly, a few sets of eyes then cast upon him.

"Sleep well?" Cloud asked, sitting on a couch in the living room, watching some cheesy cartoons.

"Yeah. Couldn't hear a thing," Sora replied sleepily.

"That's because the walls are twice as thick as normal ones. With everything that happens at night and all, you can't have thin walls," Spyke said causing Sora to look at him.

"What sort of things?" Sora asked.

"Televisions with the volume up to max on their MTV music, radios blaring so loud you eardrums don't stop ringing for weeks, Ookami's sleep talking..." Cloud said counting on his fingers receiving a glare from Ookami. "I was kidding!"

"You can't take a joke can you, Ookami?" Spyke asked receiving a punch in the arm from Ookami. "Hey, you don't need to dislocate my shoulder again."

"That time it was because you pulled my hair. Besides, we were five then," Ookami said with a maniacal grin. How on Earth- or Traverse Town, whatever- did she remember that?

"You've always been strong then, haven't you?" Sephiroth asked as Spyke rubbed his arm where Ookami punched it.

"Yeah, that's her," Spyke said. "Always strong. She was never once a weakling." Spyke looked up at the ceiling with his arms reaching up, bent at the elbows, forcing a tear.

"Quit the sarcasm act, Spyke." Sephiroth said, tugging rather harshly on Ookami's hair causing her to spill some milk down her robe fronts and she glared at him.

"Aw... I was just getting to the good part!" Spyke complained.

"Let's see it!" Sora urged, wanting to see Spyke perform.

"Alright! The kid wants to see it, so here it goes!" Spyke said getting no objections, and went again into the pose, forcing yet another tear. "Even in the heat of battle," a fiery creature popped up and Spyke kicked it away. "In the cold of loneliness," a few snowflakes began falling around Spyke and he whisked them away with a wave of his arm. "And during tough storms within herself," lightning flashed in the background and rain started falling. Spyke pulled out his Keyblade in a very heroic sort of way and it stopped. "Our own Ookami has looked her demons in the eye," a miniature Darkside came up from the ground, "And always won!" Spyke took a well-aimed smack and the cardboard Heartless was destroyed.

Sora clapped, obviously amused. Spyke took a bow and sat on the couch eyes focused on the television. Donald came downstairs and sat on an armchair next to the empty fireplace.

"Sora," Donald said. "We should get going after Goofy wakes up."

"Huh?" Sora said. "Okay."

"In the meantime..." Spyke began, getting up and walking into the kitchen. "You should get something to eat." Spyke pulled out some breakfast bars and threw one each to Sora and Donald. Goofy began walking down the stairs stretching and Spyke threw him one too. The three ate and were soon ready to go.

"Thanks for the hospitality," Donald said.

"Yeah, maybe we'll visit again sometime," Goofy said.

"If we can," Sora said gloomily. "When we defeat Ansem, the destroyed worlds will be restored, and the borders rebuilt. Leon, Yuffie, and Aerith told us."

"Tell you what; you could use a little help, right?" Spyke said, grinning.

"Yeah, I guess," Sora replied.

"Well, I'll go with ya!" Spyke said.

"Wow! Really?" Sora asked excitedly.

"Yeah. Really. Now let's get going before I change my mind."

Spyke, Sora, Goofy, and Donald said their goodbyes and walked out the door. Ookami watched, one hand holding her bowl, the other on her hip. Sephiroth saw the pose and rolled his eyes, before taking the bowl before she spilled more. Sadly, it wasn't quick enough.

"Ookami!" Sephiroth hissed, having milk now on his pants.

"You're the one who took my bowl," she pointed out coldly, stalking off to her room.

"And who ever said I had it easy?" Sephiroth scowled, putting the bowl on the counter to rub his eyes tiredly.